Indie game crossovers are big business right now. As developers attempt to increase the tail of their hit games, they form alliances with other successful indies in order to cross-pollinate their playerbases, encouraging Indie Enjoyers to branch out, support more developers, and play more great games.
Balatrohas forged these relationships with aplomb. Somehow getting developers the size of CD Projekt Red on board with its addictive brand of roguelike not-quite-poker, it hascard backsinspired by The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, The Binding of Isaac, Among Us, and Dave the Diver. But the latter of these games has taken the crossover a step further.
Dave the Diveris another master of crossovers. As well as the Dredge collaboration that felttailored to my exact tastesand the Godzilla DLC that felttailored to my exact tastes, it now has a Balatro crossover that feelstailored to my exact tastes. Damn, this game keeps giving to me in particular.
But how do you crossover with a poker game? Can you pull a joker card in Dave’s sushi restaurant? Can you find aces and kings under the waves? No, you’re able to just play Balatro in Dave the Diver.
This is great. Dave the Diver has an incredibly engaging gameplay loop, but sometimes you get tired of the constant fishing/sushi-making repetition. What do you need to reset your brain and refresh your palate? A couple of rounds of Balatro. It’s a fantastic addition to the game, and brilliant for Balatro. What better advert for your game than the ability to play the entire thing inside another game?
Every other game should take note. All of them. Every game should implement Balatro. If Dave the Diver can do it, Cyberpunk 2077 surely can. Massive RPGs constantly try to reinvent Gwent withOrlogorQueen’s Blood, but why bother with all that thinking when you could just put Balatro in instead? You could even give the cards an Assassin’s Creed or Final Fantasy flavour if you wanted, which could in turn be implemented into Balatro itself (the standalone version, that is).
It may be more difficult for indies or games that aren’t sprawling RPGs, but it’s doable. Maybe Lieutenant Titus could settle down on the battle barge for a round or two in between missions inSpace Marine 2? You could jump on your disc to choose your hand in Animal Well. It’s probably already inLike A Dragon: Infinite Wealthsomewhere.
Obviously I’m not being entirely serious here, but I’m loving this era of indie crossovers. I’m also loving Balatro. After putting dozens of hours into the game since February, I’ve poured dozens more in since it’s been ported to mobile, and I imagine I’ll play a round or five in Dave the Diver, too. I might not beat the gold ante this time around, but it’ll be the perfect palate cleanser.
I’m also pleased that Balatro has that CDPR backing. It makes me confident that not all triple-A studios are set on creating once-a-decade, billion-dollar masterpieces that cost a hundred dollars for players to purchase. Does CDPR’s support for Balatro indicate that it’s working on some smaller games in addition to all the Witcher spinoffs and Cyberpunk sequels, or is it just a studio with taste?
The crossover is ultimately meaningless. All the games involved are just trying to promote themselves, to sell more copies. I can’t begrudge this, especially not for solo devs like LocalThunk. But it makes me wish that triple-A studios took more risks, made more small, weird games, and put Balatro into their big games. After all, what is there to lose?
