Steam Next Fest is full of Balatro-likes: here's 7 demos I think you should try

Steam Next Fest is full of Balatro-likes: here’s 7 demos I think you should try | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Puzzle Devs behind GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and TimeSplitters are done with big shooters after getting burned by Embracer, so their next game is a Balatro-like twist on Scrabble—and you can try the demo now Strategy Steam Next Fest hasn’t even started, and its first must-play demo is already here Games The best PC games to play right now Card Game If you’ve ever had a crippling Vampire Survivors or Slay the Spire habit, avoid Vampire Crawlers at all costs Horror Burglin’ Gnomes is the next great friend-slop game that everyone with a PC and at least one other friend should check out Roguelike To celebrate 2 years of Balatro, creator LocalThunk reflected on dropping out of an engineering program to make games: ‘Even if I could warn myself I’m not sure what I could have said to prepare for the insanity’ Games The best free games on Steam Survival & Crafting The latest Steam Next Fest features a pile of Palworld-likes as witches and airships battle over the creature-collecting survival subgenre Games Steam Next Fest is back and you’ve once again got just 7 days to find your favorite demos among hundreds of choices Platforms Five new Steam games you probably missed (February 23, 2026) Games The best browser games Card Game The Killing Stone combines occult contract law with card-battling in an isolated 17th century mansion Roguelike Two of Mewgenics’ most memorable areas were directly inspired by a brutal and brilliant tabletop RPG Games Gacha games are bigger than ever before—here are the best you can play right now Games The 20 best cozy games on PC that aren’t farm sims PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Arc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutGame Quizzes Games Roguelike Steam Next Fest is full of Balatro-likes: here’s 7 demos I think you should try Features By Christopher Livingston published 25 February 2026 From pushing coins to sweeping mines, developers are still trying to capture LocalThunk’s magic. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Stray Fawn) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Signup + Every Thursday GTA 6 O’clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O’clock experts. Signup + Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what’s on the horizon. Signup + Every Thursday The Setup Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more. Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Steam Next Fest is in full swing, and when I’m not sailing the high seas in search of pirate survival adventures in Windrose, I’m diving headfirst into the big pile of Balatro-like deckbuilders that are showcasing new demos.As always, there’s a bunch of developers hoping to strike Balatro-sized jackpots by twisting well-known games using magic morphing multipliers: I’ve played demos that use chess, billiards, pachinko, roulette, slot machines, coin pushers, gashapon… even a few that are just doing poker again.If you’re looking for some ideas on which to try first (because we still don’t know how far off Balatro 1.1 is), here are the seven best Balatro-likes I played at Steam Next Fest. And if I’ve missed a few, please let me know in the comments. Related articles I spent 2025 digging through all the word game roguelikes flooding Steam to see if any could capture Balatro’s magic—here are the highly scientific results Steam Next Fest is back and you’ve once again got just 7 days to find your favorite demos among hundreds of choices Steam Next Fest hasn’t even started, and its first must-play demo is already here ♟️ Balatro but it’s chess: Gambonanza (Image credit: Stray Fawn Games)I was dubious for a second because Gambonanza’s main menu is so deeply Balatro-fied you can even drag the chess piece around the screen, same as you can the ace of spades. But the game quickly establishes its own style and personality and I wound up replaying it a whole bunch of times.On a tiny chessboard you face off against the computer with just a few chess pieces that move in the standard ways. But after each mini-match you can spend money to enchant tiles and purchase gambits that will change the rules. Create phantom pieces, make pawns move like kings, even duplicate a piece when it gets captured… after a couple hours, I’m still finding new ways to enchant my board and arsenal. The bosses I’ve seen are distinctive and fun, like one that makes several of its pieces uncapturable for most of the match (that’s him at the top of the page). The experience is hurt a tiny bit by how dumb your CP