Balatro

I have started the game on my XBox before moving to my PC. The game works well on both platforms.

Quality: The more I played, the more I discovered there really are a multiple ways to get through the eight rounds required to register a win. Beyond that, I personally haven't been able to make too many strategies work to get the points needed to do win the postgame rounds. The challenges are a great way to learn some strategies you might not have thought of as they require you to learn them for completing the challenges.

Value: Being on every platform is a huge boost and it is currently on GamePass as of this writing. Beyond that, it can provide hundreds of hours of entertainment as you try to complete all eight stakes for all fifteen decks.

Niche: Combining poker with rogue-lite elements isn't something I ever thought of nor something I would have thought would work if someone pitched it to me. I would have been very wrong. LocalThunk hit it out of the park with it.

Confidence: I have completed at least one game with every deck and have completed every stake with some of them as well. I continue trying to work through the decks and stakes I haven't completed. The games can be quickly played and can also just be resumed if you have to stop at any time.