- The Balatro-like genre is getting its latest addition with the upcoming Ultrapool
- Shoot pool, make up insane modifiers and prove yourself a real wizard on the green
- Upgrade your balls for even more ridiculous synergies and survive all ten rounds
At this point, I think the Balatro-like has definitely joined the Survivors-like in being a genre unto its own, with so many different developers and publishers offering their own spins and seeking them out to bring to players. And the latest to take a swing at it are Offbrand Games and their upcoming release, Ultrapool.
In case you hadn’t guessed from the name, Ultrapool is Balatro but for pool. You take your cue, shoot balls and look to sink as many as possible. Doing so grants you points that can be spent at the in-game bar in order to upgrade your balls, pulling off ridiculous trickshots and multipliers to help you survive all ten rounds of this roguelike.
Pool shark
Now, having played Balatro (and quite liked it) as well as its chess-like spiritual successor Gambonanza (which I liked slightly less), I think I’m well-placed to give my two cents on Ultrapool. It looks to be quite an appealing take on the format and, frustratingly, it also offers enough difference that I can’t bust out a witty joke about fouls or something of that manner.
With a demo out now on Android and iOS Testflight, Ultrapool proves that you can keep the core concepts and put enough of a spin on it to make your own take stand out. But whether all that theory holds up in practice is something you’ll just have to find out for yourself when Ultrapool hits iOS and Android! I reckon I’ll be keeping an eye on it when it does release too.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for more spiritual successors based on popular series, why not check out our list of the best mobile games like Vampire Survivors to find out what some of our favourite picks are that you should try on iOS and Android!
