Extra hands in the full release?

[Zorp]

Noticed royal flush is missing and imo it should be worth a bit more than straight flush, also with adding cards its possible to have 5 of a kind - will this be implemented in release?

Amazing demo!

[Purnukka]

I got five of a kind and got points for that

[Zorp]

Originally posted by 1000 HU peek:

I got five of a kind and got points for that

afaik you just get the 4 of a kind multiplier/points alongside card chips, or am i mistaken? there doesnt seem to be a seperate multiplier for royal flushes either

[VinTJ]

Five of a kind is already its own hand type yeah, you just only see the planet card and the scoring if you already do it once in a run. It's basically a "secret hand" in that sense. You have to keep re-doing it in future runs if you want to see it again on the poker hands info board or to get the planet card for it.

I think Royal Flush hands being made distinct would dilute the Planet Cards pool even further though, so I don't know how to feel about that or if I'd want that. I'm fine just upgrading my straight flushes if I'm building towards royal flushes if it means that I'd get a particular planet card more consistently.

iirc in past demos, there are jokers that specifically buffs face cards, which are taken out this time around. maybe that could work if you're really good with royal flushing.

[malogoss]

I hope the royal flush thing never happens, and I'm confident it won't. It would be fun at the start of a game, where a royal flush is like winning the lottery anyway, but then what? Later on you're stuck with a royal flush that is worth less than all other straight flushes, or with straight flushes that are not too good, depending on what hand you level'd with planet cards. If you have to specialise in one of the two, then your build is less powerful.

Five of a kind does exist. You have to play it once to see its value and possibly later get planet cards that will boost it.

There are also 2 other "secret hands". Needless to say, they yield great scores.

[Zorp]

Originally posted by malogoss:

I hope the royal flush thing never happens, and I'm confident it won't. It would be fun at the start of a game, where a royal flush is like winning the lottery anyway, but then what? Later on you're stuck with a royal flush that is worth less than all other straight flushes, or with straight flushes that are not too good, depending on what hand you level'd with planet cards. If you have to specialise in one of the two, then your build is less powerful.

Five of a kind does exist. You have to play it once to see its value and possibly later get planet cards that will boost it.

There are also 2 other "secret hands". Needless to say, they yield great scores.

you are kind of contradicting yourself here. royal flush SHOULD feel like winning the lottery, right now its just a straight flush.

[VinTJ]

Originally posted by malogoss:

I hope the royal flush thing never happens, and I'm confident it won't. It would be fun at the start of a game, where a royal flush is like winning the lottery anyway, but then what? Later on you're stuck with a royal flush that is worth less than all other straight flushes, or with straight flushes that are not too good, depending on what hand you level'd with planet cards. If you have to specialise in one of the two, then your build is less powerful.

yep, you got what I'm saying. Making them entirely different hands would make it more luck-based as to which one you properly upgrade and get a use out of, and which hand you actually get to score after buying a bunch of planet packs. I prefer consistency, and that means simply combining the two.

I think as compromise if it's an entirely new hand type with slightly different chips or mult base count, I want the planet card that buffs "Straight Flushes" to now buff both that AND "Royal Flush". It's the only way I can accept justifying it. It won't change build strength by significant metrics.

[malogoss]

Originally posted by Shrek:

you are kind of contradicting yourself here. royal flush SHOULD feel like winning the lottery, right now its just a straight flush.

I am not.
What I said is, if you hit a royal flush in the early rounds, you just won the lottery, you one shot whatever you are facing and you move on. It doesn't feel like you won the lottery, you actually won it.

Later on, in a world where a royal flush is not considered the same hand as all other possible straight flushes, a royal flush could very well feel like punishment, as it would yield a lower score than any other straight flush you could have made. And that would be silly.

[Goblin]

Royal Flush is not missing. The game specifically says Royal Flush on the left when you get one. If just has the same level as any other straight flush instead of needing its own planet card. It already has an inherent bonus over other flushes by virtue of adding 50 chips to the calculation instead of for instance 20 for a 2-6 straight flush. So just like in normal poker, a royal flush is just slightly better than a normal straight flush, and both are really strong.

[Ronald Brain]

Originally posted by Goblin:

Royal Flush is not missing. The game specifically says Royal Flush on the left when you get one. If just has the same level as any other straight flush instead of needing its own planet card. It already has an inherent bonus over other flushes by virtue of adding 50 chips to the calculation instead of for instance 20 for a 2-6 straight flush. So just like in normal poker, a royal flush is just slightly better than a normal straight flush, and both are really strong.

I think what OP means is that Royal Flush is currently interchangeable with Straight Flush, both shares a 100x8 by default. Since Royal Flush is harder to make (by default), it's fair to think it should have its own multiplier (say a 100x10, same as Five of a Kind or something), but this also has the caveat of requiring its own Planet Card to level up. Maybe the devs wanted to have this as a separate hands but dropped after negative feedbacks or just didn't have the associated Planet Card coded into the game yet.

[Goblin]

Originally posted by Ronald Brain:

I think what OP means is that Royal Flush is currently interchangeable with Straight Flush, both shares a 100x8 by default.

That's before it's played. A royal flush is actually 150x8, while a 2-6 straight flush is 120x8.
Other people already pointed out why it having a separate planet card and score would be bad.

[Zorp]

Originally posted by Goblin:

Originally posted by Ronald Brain:

I think what OP means is that Royal Flush is currently interchangeable with Straight Flush, both shares a 100x8 by default.

That's before it's played. A royal flush is actually 150x8, while a 2-6 straight flush is 120x8.
Other people already pointed out why it having a separate planet card and score would be bad.

I do agree that having it seperate with planets would be bad but my point is that royal flush as it is is extremely underwhelming with how difficult it is to get. 30 chips dont make that much of a difference compared to how much harder it is to get

[Liderian]

I just played a game where my straight was level eight and my straight flush way below that, so it made sense to alter my choices in a way not to get the (usually) better hand. It was a fun realization, but – as others have pointed out – having more possible hands would mean an additional increase in difficulty.

[Melodia]

Originally posted by Ronald Brain:

Since Royal Flush is harder to make (by default)

A Royal Flush IS a Straight Flush, they aren't different hands, just that a Royal is the highest possible type. Sure in, say, video poker you will win more money for getting one, but if you're playing a standard game of poker there's nothing special about it beyong it being the absolute best hand. Mechanically they are the same.

[Zorp]

Originally posted by Melodia:

Originally posted by Ronald Brain:

Since Royal Flush is harder to make (by default)

A Royal Flush IS a Straight Flush, they aren't different hands, just that a Royal is the highest possible type. Sure in, say, video poker you will win more money for getting one, but if you're playing a standard game of poker there's nothing special about it beyong it being the absolute best hand. Mechanically they are the same.

the odds of getting a royal flush are much, much slimmer than a straight flush though. in every card game it wins/pays the most

[Liderian]

I feel the odds of hands that are very rare in regular poker/card games can be much, much higher in Balatro. You can usually consistently get a full house or flush in a hand or two with the greater hand size in the game and with all the options in tweaking your deck and thus your chances.