Gambling mechanics—randomness, risk, and reward—have been around for centuries, first appearing in games played more than 2000 years ago. Evidence of the oldest known gambling games has been found in ancient Mesopotamia and in China during the Han Dynasty, a testament to humanity’s enduring fascination with games of chance and uncertainty.
These early games used dice made from animal bones, ivory, and wood; later, Greeks and Romans crafted them with bronze, agate, and even onyx. Today, these cubical dice are a core part of many board games and casino games, just like playing cards. Modern gambling games have evolved from these early prototypes, but there are a few new creations that take the same mechanics to the next level. These games today are mostly found on online platforms, although physical establishments also host them.
Whether it’s a game featuring a progressive jackpot or a slot machine based on an iconic IP like Dragon Ball, they all attract players who want to test their luck and chase adrenaline.
In recent years, several indie developers have turned these gambling mechanics into something deeply engaging, often philosophical, and highly thrilling. They have taken the aspects of games like poker, blackjack, and roulette—the thrill of high-stakes decisions, risk, and reward—and reimagined them into roguelike adventures where skill expression can give you control over your luck. This article will cover 5 such games that you need to try out today!
Balatro
Image credit: LocalThunk/Playstack
Balatro is a poker roguelike deck builder created by sole developer LocalThunk and published by Playstack. The runs in Balatro start with 52 playing cards, which can be altered during the gameplay if the player chooses to do so. The main scoring in the game comes from forming poker hands such as a pair, two pair, flush, straight, full house, and more.
The game’s main objective is to beat boss blinds until Ante 8, where each ante is made up of three blinds in succession: a small blind, a big blind, and a random boss blind. Throughout your run, you are offered Joker cards, Tarot cards, and other tools to fix your deck and to scale your scoring.
Balatro has a discard mechanic that allows players to discard cards and draw from the deck to improve their hand. A similar mechanic is used in video poker games where a player draws five cards at a time and can discard all of them if they want. In Balatro, the hand size varies, but you can still discard up to 5 cards at a time.
Solitairica
Image credit: Righteous Hammer Games
Permanent death and procedurally generated content are the main characteristics of any roguelike game, and Solitairica is no different. Like Balatro, it uses gambling mechanics where players have to strategically match cards on the battlefield and can improve their run by purchasing items from the in-game shop.
The game features RPG elements as well; you encounter various enemies that you fight with your deck of cards. You don’t just play vanilla Solitaire; you have various energies at your disposal, and each card corresponds to a different spell or ability (there are 5 different resource types – attack, defense, agility, willpower, and gold). You use cards to cast various spells, and you unlock more content as you progress through the game.
Slay The Spire
Image credit: Mega Crit
“Slay the Spire” is a roguelike deck builder that came out in 2019. The game is a peak craft in its genre, and its influential presence is still felt in the indie gaming space to this day. The game’s turn-based combat system is handled with playing cards in your deck—you attack enemies by drawing powerful cards.
Like typical turn-based games, it has buffs, debuffs, and defensive and offensive abilities that both you and your enemies use. The game rewards strategic thinking and the player’s ability to manage resources and is a perfect choice if you want to play something unpredictable.
Dicey Dungeons
Image credit: Terry Cavanagh
Dicey Dungeons’ core gameplay mechanic revolves around rolling dice, which is also your primary resource for attacking, defending, and activating abilities. Dicey Dungeons is a roguelike deck-building dungeon crawler presented as a game show.
In each episode of the game show hosted by Lady Luck, you play as one of the six dice and head into a six-level dungeon to fight enemies, pick up items, and improve your deck of cards to defeat the final boss of the dungeon.
Honorable Mentions: Luck Be A Landlord & Bingle Bingle
Image credit: TrampolineTales
Developer LocalThunk named “Luck Be A Landlord” as one of his biggest influences for creating the indie hit Balatro. It is a very fun roguelike deck-building game where the gameplay involves spinning reels – much like you’d get if you decided to check out a modern slot machine, although today’s slots probably have a lot more in terms of variety and excitement to offer.
Another honorable mention is Bingle Bingle, a roguelike casino/gambling game that features a roulette wheel as its main game mechanic.