Stardew Valley vs Balatro
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
It's close: Stardew Valley edges it 9.3 to 9.2, so the right pick depends on what you need. Stardew Valley wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Balatro on 2.
Players who want a relaxing farm game they can sink a whole year into
Card game fans who love building combos and chasing high scores
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Stardew Valley | Balatro |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Strategy & Simulation Games | Card & Board Games |
| Category rank | #1 of 8 | #1 of 8 |
| Developer | ConcernedApe | LocalThunk / Playstack |
| Pricing | Paid | Paid |
| Usable for free | No | No |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
Common questions
Is Stardew Valley better than Balatro?
It's close: Stardew Valley edges it 9.3 to 9.2, so the right pick depends on what you need. Stardew Valley wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Balatro on 2.
Which is cheaper, Stardew Valley or Balatro?
Stardew Valley: $4.99 in the App Store, with no in-app purchases or ads. Balatro: $9.99 once on iOS and Android, no in-app purchases; Balatro+ is on Apple Arcade. On value for money, Stardew Valley scores higher.
Do Stardew Valley and Balatro work on the same devices?
Only Stardew Valley runs on Linux.
Which is more private, Stardew Valley or Balatro?
Stardew Valley scores higher on privacy (9.6/10). App Store label: only crash, performance and other diagnostic data is collected, used for app functionality and not linked to you. No tracking.
Strengths and weaknesses
Stardew Valley
- One purchase, no ads or in-app purchases
- Seasons and years of farming, mining and town life
- Collects almost no data
- Touch controls can feel fiddly in busy menus
- Multiplayer on mobile is hidden and experimental
Stardew Valley is the farm sim every other cozy game gets measured against, and the phone version is the full game, 1.6 update included. You clear an overgrown plot, plant by the season, fish, mine and slowly win over a town with 12 marriage candidates. It's one cheap purchase with no ads or extras to buy. Touch controls take some getting used to, and multiplayer is only a hidden experimental mode on mobile.
Full Stardew Valley review
Balatro
- Every run plays out differently
- Pay once: no ads and no in-app purchases
- Controls feel built for touch, not ported
- The big 1.1 content update still has no release date
- Bad luck can sink a promising run
Balatro takes the poker hands you already know and turns them into a roguelike you'll keep coming back to. You build hands to beat each blind, then bend the rules with more than 150 Jokers, so every run becomes a different combo puzzle. The controls are remastered for touch, and it's a single price with no ads or upsells. Your only real risk is losing whole evenings to one more run.
Full Balatro review
