Comparison

Loop Hero vs Balatro

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Loop Hero

Embark on a roguelike RPG adventure where you strategically place cards to create enemy encounters, buildings, and terrain. Equip your hero with powerful loot, expand your camp, and unlock new classes and cards to break an endless cycle of despair and save a forgotten world.

Highlights
  • Randomly generated expedition loops
  • Strategic card placement for trials
  • Loot collection for hero progression
  • Camp expansion and reconstruction
  • Unlockable classes and cards
  • Retro pixel art dark fantasy story
Features
Read full description

*Try Loop Hero for free and unlock the full game for the whole adventure!* The Lich has thrown the world into a timeless loop and plunged its inhabitants into never ending chaos. In this roguelike RPG, wield an expanding deck of mystical cards to place enemies, buildings, and terrain along each unique expedition loop for the brave hero. Recover and equip powerful loot for each class of hero for their battles and expand the survivors' camp to reinforce each adventure through the loop. Unlock new classes, new cards, and devious guardians on your quest to shatter the endless cycle of despair. FEATURES - Explore an endless number of paths: bring your hero on randomly generated loops and never experience the same run twice. - Shape your expeditions into darkness: build your deck and place your cards to script your hero’s trials and tribulations. - Loot as you loop to rebuild the world: recover your memories as you collect equipment and resources to become stronger, reconstruct your camp and get your reality back. - Plunge into a gloomy universe: discover a melancholic dark fantasy story told through a retro pixel art direction and recollect the memories of this world. - Break the cycle: triumph over mighty bosses to free the world from the Lich’s neverending time loop. CAREFULLY REDESIGNED FOR MOBILE - Revamped interface – exclusive mobile UI with complete touch control - Game Center achievements - Cloud Save – Share your progress between iOS devices - Compatible with MFi controllers - iPhone 15 Optimization (including Pro Max)

About

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.

Highlights
  • Poker and Solitaire hybrid gameplay
  • Rule-bending mechanics
  • Collect over 150 unique Joker cards
  • Create powerful combos
  • Campaign and challenge modes
  • Pixel art visuals
Features
Read full description

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

Loop Hero4 screens
Balatro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Loop Hero at Free against Balatro's $9.99. Balatro's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (105K vs 3.9K). On rating, review sentiment, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Loop Hero is free to download; Balatro costs $9.99 up front. Loop Hero sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Balatro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Loop Hero against 5.0 for Balatro. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Balatro has 105K ratings behind it against 3.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Loop Hero's written reviews are positive against 81% of Balatro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Loop Hero ships an update every 10 days, Balatro every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Loop Hero versus Balatro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLoop HeroBalatro
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.9 (3.9K ratings)5.0 (105K ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.1% of reviews81.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.9K105K — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#2 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size213 MB93 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperPlaydigiousPlaystack Ltd

Customer experience

Loop Hero

All ratings3,814 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews285 reviews
Positive75.1%
Neutral6.7%
Negative18.2%

Balatro

All ratings105,357 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.3%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews1,832 reviews
Positive81.1%
Neutral5.2%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Loop Hero

From 3.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent mechanics
  • 👍 Great replayability
  • 👍 Charming graphics
  • 👍 Unique and enjoyable experience
  • 👍 Smooth gameplay

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sound doesn't work
  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Unresponsive after certain actions
  • 🐛 Difficulty reading small text
  • 🐛 Accidental card placement

Balatro

From 105K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Addictive gameplay
  • 💎 Unique and compelling mechanics
  • 👍 Easy to learn, hard to master
  • 🎨 Charming pixel art and music
  • 💰 Great value for money

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and save issues
  • 🔍 Small text and UI elements
  • 🔋 Battery draining
  • 🔇 No background music support

Bugs and requests

Loop Hero

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game crashes after defeating first boss
  • Unplayable after initial progress
  • Inability to progress past trial version

Requested features

4 requests
  • Portrait mode
  • More classes/build diversity
  • Improved UI/overlay customization
  • Chinese language support

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

1 purchases

Loop Hero

One-time1
  • Unlock Full Game$6.99
None

Balatro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Loop Hero free?
Loop Hero is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Balatro free?
Balatro costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Loop Hero or Balatro?
Balatro is rated higher. Loop Hero averages 4.9 out of 5 from 3.9K ratings, while Balatro averages 5.0 from 105K ratings.
Do Loop Hero or Balatro have ads?
Neither Loop Hero nor Balatro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Loop Hero or Balatro?
Loop Hero ships an update every 10 days, and Balatro every 5 days. Most recently, Loop Hero was updated on September 22, 2026 and Balatro on September 24, 2026.

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