Vertical Solitaire vs Balatro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Vertical Solitaire
Experience solitaire designed for single-handed play. This game offers a unique twist on the classic card game, making it accessible and convenient for on-the-go enjoyment.
- Single-hand gameplay
- Unique solitaire variation
- Accessible design
- Classic card game
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A clean, focused Klondike Solitaire game with no ads and no distractions. Just cards. An optional tip jar is available to support development — the game is 100% free with nothing locked behind a paywall. Classic Klondike Solitaire with traditional rules - build foundations from Ace to King by suit, arrange tableau columns in alternating colors. 6 Visual Themes Choose from Twilight, Classic, Midnight, Coral, Ocean, and Forest. Each theme features unique card face colors, card back patterns, and a matching app icon that changes automatically. Play Your Way Switch between Draw 1 and Draw 3 modes. Choose left-handed or right-handed layouts - the entire interface mirrors to keep controls under your thumb. Track Your Progress Built-in game timer starts on your first move. Track games played, games won, win rate, best time, average time, and win streaks. Smart Features Auto-complete detects when all cards are face-up and finishes the game for you Unlimited undo with animated card movement Game state saves automatically - close the app and pick up right where you left off Auto-flip reveals face-down cards when you move the card above them Haptics & Sound Feel subtle taps when you pick up and place cards. Hear synthesized card sounds - lift, drop, shuffle, and a celebration when you win. Both can be toggled independently. Designed for iPhone Portrait-optimized layout that fits naturally in one hand. No landscape mode, no tablet compromises - just a focused card game for your phone. No ads. No tracking. No internet required. Optional tip jar — nothing is locked. Just solitaire.
Balatro
This game blends poker and solitaire mechanics with unique rule-bending twists. Build powerful poker hands, discover game-changing Joker cards, and create exciting combos to defeat challenging Boss Blinds. Explore different decks and game modes for endless replayability.
- Poker and Solitaire hybrid gameplay
- Rule-bending mechanics
- Collect over 150 unique Joker cards
- Create powerful combos
- Campaign and challenge modes
- Pixel art visuals
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Welcome to the official Balatro mobile game! Hypnotic and endlessly satisfying, Balatro is a magical mix of card games like Solitaire and Poker, that lets you twist the rules in ways never seen before! Your goal is to beat the Boss Blinds by making strong poker hands. Find new Jokers that change the game and create awesome and exciting combos! Win enough chips to beat tricky bosses, and find hidden bonus hands and decks as you play. You’ll need all the help you can get to beat the big boss, win the final challenge, and win the game. Features: * Remastered controls for touch screen devices. * Each run is different: every pick-up, discard and joker can dramatically alter the course of your run. * Multiple game items: discover over 150 Jokers, each with special powers. Use them with different decks,upgrade cards and vouchers to boost your scores. * Different Game modes: Campaign mode and challenge mode for you to play. * Beautiful Pixel Art: Immerse yourself in the CRT fuzz and enjoy detailed, hand-crafted pixel art.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Vertical Solitaire at Free against Balatro's $9.99. Vertical Solitaire also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 81%). Balatro's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 months). On rating, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Vertical Solitaire is free to download; Balatro costs $9.99 up front. Vertical Solitaire sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Balatro asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Vertical Solitaire against 5.0 for Balatro. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Balatro has 105K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Vertical Solitaire's written reviews are positive against 81% of Balatro's.
Vertical Solitaire ships an update every 4 months, Balatro every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Vertical Solitaire | Balatro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.9 (9 ratings) | 5.0 (105K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 81.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 9 | 105K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #2 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 13.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 58 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Cameron Green | Playstack Ltd |
Customer experience
Vertical Solitaire
Balatro
Bugs and requests
Vertical Solitaire
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Balatro
Reported bugs
3 issues- Unlocks and achievements not registering properly
- Crashes and freezes on certain devices
- Joker and card interactions not working as expected
Requested features
3 requests- Cloud save sync across devices
- Portrait mode option
- Customizable UI and accessibility settings
In-app purchases
Vertical Solitaire
- Small Tip$0.99
- Nice Tip$2.99
- Generous Tip$4.99
Balatro
No in-app purchases









