CloverPit review – Like Balatro, but with more horror

Unhinged is the best way to describe CloverPit, the moreish slot machine roguelike from Panik Arcade and Future Friends Games. It’s clear the developer has taken cues from Balatro here, replacing poker with a fruit machine; instead of a full house or royal flush, you’ll want to spin a line of matching fruit.

But of course, there’s much more to CloverPit than simply pulling the slot machine’s arm and hoping for the best. It seems you’re imprisoned in a strange room. Along with your slot machine, there’s an ATM and a number of upgrades you can purchase. Each round, you’ll need to pay a set amount of money into the ATM, won by playing the machine. If you fail to reach the target, it’s game over.

To help you reach your goal, you can buy charms which will hopefully increase not only your chances of winning, but the amount you’re able to win. You can increase multipliers on winning lines of matching fruit, make it more likely that certain fruit will appear, and more. Like Joker cards in Balatro, having the correct combination of good charms will make or break your time with CloverPit.

CloverPit’s purposefully grim and dismal art style really helps add to the oppressive atmosphere, making this much more than just a slot machine simulator. There’s a distinct horror vibe here, and it’s great at making you feel like something terrible is going to happen at any point. If you loved Inscryption, you’ll find a similar atmosphere here, and it works very well.

Related: Beyond Words review – Balatro meets Scrabble

I’m not sure that CloverPit is quite as moreish as its inspirations. Balatro’s selection of Jokers and the sheer amount of viable combinations means you can clock hundreds of hours in the game and still feel like there’s more for you to uncover. CloverPit, on the other hand, is more limited in what charms it has. While you will unlock more as you play, the best builds seem to be geared towards making specific symbols appear more often. Of course, there’s an element of luck as to what charms will be available for you to buy, and quite a lot of these feel quite useless or underwhelming. If you don’t get a good hand of charms, you’re going to be seeing the ‘game over’ screen rather quickly.

More than likely, though, you’ll be eager to jump back in to try again, hoping you’ll be luckier this time around. It’s the real danger of gambling, which CloverPit has perfectly exploited here, turning it into a moreish roguelike loop with a horrifying twist. Fail, and real death awaits your in-game character. Thankfully, you (and your bank balance) remain unscathed, free to keep trying again as many times as you wish.

Get a lucky run, and you’ll be playing CloverPit with a massive grin on your face, basking in the wonder of endless coins dropping out of the slot machine. It’s not quite as exciting when you’re not doing so well, but the desire to win will keep you playing – and that’s what CloverPit wants, ultimately.

This review of CloverPit is based on the PS5 version of the game, with a code provided by the publisher. It’s available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2 and PC.