"First and foremost, because they're the grimmest form of gambling: there's no skill involved at all because every single machine is fixed, paying out when its programming tells it to, and designed to always take in far more than it ever gives. There's also something unpleasantly ironic about their bright, cheerful presentation, colorful fruits and gems spinning around as a hundred colored lights flash on and off in enticing patterns, all designed to take your money."
"There's a demonic nature to all the proceedings, the game's dirty pixel graphics reminiscent of 2021's horror card game Inscryption (one of a number of games with which it can be bought in a two-game bundle), and a subtitled narrator mockingly explaining your predicament. You need to make a fixed number of coins within three rounds of playing on the slot machine, and if you fall short the floor opens up beneath you and you fall to your death."
Balatro's success has spurred a wave of gambling-adjacent roguelites, including picture-pairs deckbuilders, Mahjong-based cat-themed titles, and hybrid deckbuilding/slot/rune-matching games. CloverPit places players before a dilapidated, blood-stained slot machine inside a grimy cell-like room and turns the inherent sadness of slots into lethal stakes. The game uses dirty pixel graphics and a subtitled, mocking narrator to create a demonic atmosphere. Players must reach a fixed coin target within three rounds or the floor opens and they fall to their death. Succeeding raises the target for a new Deadline and forces further rounds, escalating pressure to keep playing.
Read at Kotaku
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