Black Jacket
Released On:
May 12, 2026
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
User score
Generally Favorable
7.9
My Score
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
86% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
May 12, 2026
90
Black Jacket is rather brutal when you're first dealt in, but once you understand its clever systems you'll never want it to end.
May 14, 2026
85
Mi’pu’mi managed to pleasantly surprise me with Black Jacket. The demo felt like a clever experiment, but the complete experience feels like a complete, layered game with a welcome narrative component. Playing the demo, you would be forgiven to think it was just “Blackjack with hats”. The ceiling, however, turned out to be much higher than it looked, thanks to the willingness of the team to experiment with the formula. The cards do things, the bosses feel like people, and the run actually goes somewhere. The juxtaposition with Balatro has been hovering over Black Jacket like a Sword of Damocles. To be honest, I think it’s an unfair comparison. Maybe it’s not a genre-defining game like Balatro is, but it’s a weirder and more deliberately narrative proposition. Black Jacket tries, and in my opinion succeeds, in carving their own place in the genre. I can’t wait to see how it will be expanded in the future.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.9
78% Positive
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
19% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
4% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Aug 24, 2026
10
Respects your time and gives you freedom to build without unnecessary punishmentIn a genre currently overcrowded with overly punitive roguelikes that punish every minor misstep and drag out single runs for over an hour, Black Jacket (alongside Balatro) comes as a breath of fresh air. It understands what makes a deckbuilder truly satisfying: quick loop times, accessible base difficulties, and meaningful strategy over sheer unfairness. Quick, Dynamic Runs: Ending a run in roughly 30 to 35 minutes feels just right. You can sit down, experiment with synergies, execute your build, and get that hit of dopamine without feeling like the game just swallowed your entire evening. Accessible Base Difficulty: The base level doesn't feel designed purely to make you suffer. It grants enough breathing room to learn mechanics, stack modifiers, and actually play the game. If you want a brutal challenge, higher stakes are available, but the foundation respects the player's entry point. Deep Synergy System: Transforming standard Blackjack into a high-stakes tactical deckbuilder works brilliantly. Combining card suits, artifact modifiers, and cheat mechanics to bend the rules opens up immense strategic freedom without relying on cheap RNG to kill your **** Verdict: If you are tired of roguelikes that mistake frustrating game design for difficulty, Black Jacket is an absolute must-play. Fast, incredibly addictive, and built with genuine respect for the player's time.
Sep 17, 2026
9
É um jogo difícil de se compreender porém quando você aprende o jogo fica perfeito.A narrativa é bem intrigante e envolvente me fez criar varías teorias.
Jul 15, 2026
80
Black Jacket could have benefited from a more accessible ruleset. However, it more than rewards persistent players with clever gameplay that completely overhauls the rules of blackjack, replacing, to a great extent, luck with strategy and smart deckbuilding. On top of that, its folklore-inspired, subtly horror aesthetic greatly elevates the overall presentation. Fans of roguelikes and deckbuilding games should not miss this one.
Jul 10, 2026
80
I don’t know that it’ll make anyone forget about Balatro or anything, but I’d still say that if you’re fond of that game and you want something similar (but not too similar), then Black Jacket is definitely worth investigating.
May 13, 2026
78
Black Jacket transforms blackjack into a surprisingly deep roguelite deckbuilder, where hitting 21 is merely the starting point. Modifiable cards, special effects, increasingly absurd combos, and tables with unique powers turn every match into a war of manipulation and infernal sabotage. The gameplay manages to evolve continuously, shifting from a simple card game into a true turn-based strategy title. The decadent horror atmosphere is also excellent. There are, however, a few limitations: the grinding required to build a truly competitive deck can feel repetitive, and—as in all games of chance—some matches ultimately depend more on luck than on pure skill.
May 16, 2026
75
Black Jacket is a roguelite that manages to find its own voice within a saturated landscape, thanks to a brilliant core concept and a surprisingly deep gameplay system. It may not quite reach the structural perfection of *Slay the Spire* or the narrative impact of *Hades*, but it nonetheless succeeds in carving out a niche for itself through a unique sense of tension—one built around risk and the manipulation of rules. Among card games, its basic rules might arguably make it seem less intriguing; however, its gameplay additions are both enjoyable and stimulating.
Jun 8, 2026
70
Black Jacket provides a fast-paced roguelike experience with an added twist to the usual blackjack formula. It takes some time to learn how your cards truly work and it can feel unfair at times. But once you start putting combinations together, the fun begins and it's hard to tear yourself away from the game.
Aug 4, 2026
9
A very good and unqiue game about gambling addiction and how it broke up a family. Its the kind of game where you're forced to lose for a while while you get upgrades and then surely but suddenly you're able to get to the end. Solid game with good mechanics and a neat story
May 25, 2026
9
A great game. It will be unfavorably compared to brethren such as Slay the Spire or Balatro, but it stands on its own two legs. I love blackjack and love the way this game works. The story is fun, progression is very nice, and I LOVE how face cards interact with each other, it's so much fun to discover effects. The game isn't very challenging or hard to master, but difficulty options will keep you busy if you want to keep going.
Definitely one of the best games I played this year
May 17, 2026
8
This game is 21 with twists, revealing a plot to escape from hell as you fail and repeat the journey.
This is addictive
May 16, 2026
8
"Inscryption meets Balatro, but with Blackjack" it has depth and some surprises. Im 10 hours in, not sure it lived up to its inspirations but Im really enjoying it so far. The ambience and sutble story telling is very nice. Recommend for anyone who likes rouge lite deck builders to checkout
May 23, 2026
7
Pros: Music and VA quality will surprise you. Creative and novel idea, which I do think is important. Cons: Deckbuilding vets will not find a ton of depth here. There’s plenty of variety and meta progression… but if you stick to using suits to telegraph info about your deck (stick to one suit with a 2nd suit of face cards), only ever “mark” your ace, and limit your deck size — there is no unlockable / progress-gated goody or boon that exposes a more effective strategy than the simplest & most minimalistic available. The wildcard decks don’t feel significantly more powerful than the suits you start with. To me it feels a lot like vampire crawlers — in that I had fun with it while it lasted. Not every game needs to be a huge timesink. But a roguelike could stand to be a little deeper than this IMO.
Platforms:
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X
Initial Release Date:May 12, 2026
Publisher:
