Clover Pit Hooked Me and Now I Can’t Stop (Review)

I never thought slot machines could be fun

I am someone who has had to work very hard to put Balatro down. And I feel like that’s explanation enough for why we’re here today. Because Clover Pit has now taken over. I see cherries, diamonds and 7’s in my sleep. Treasure chests haunt my waking hours, and “deadline” has now become my Winter Soldier activation word.

It’s Nasty in Here

The game humorously opens with a tutorial that very accurately tells you that you won’t even remember everything in it. And the devs are right. But here’s what I do remember, CLEAR THE DEBT. Because that’s the goal. Pull the arm of the slot machine, hope for the best possible combos to rack up money and clear this mysterious and constantly increasing debt that seems to be plaguing you.

And the room you find yourself in is absolutely dank. There’s a toilet (and an achievement for handling your business), and just generally a very “I need to check to make sure my kidneys weren’t taken out” vibe. It’s not done in a way that feels overtly horror, but the sound design in addition to the low poly look do give it a very creepy feel.

You get a number of pulls based on the coins you have. And you get three rounds to make it work. If you’ve worked a slot machine before, you know what comes next. Line those symbols up and get some cash based on how they line up. There’s even a very helpful chart showing what the multipliers are.

The key is to deposit the debt amount before your deadline, or else you’re dropping to your death. You can get an extra amount in interest based on a percentage of the deposited amount and you’re going to need it. Because there are going to be some pulls where you come up emptier than a Las Vegas Raiders possession.

But this is where Clover Pit succeeds. Because no matter what, I had to keep going. You’re also given tickets in between each round that allow you to purchase charms that have some pretty crazy effects on the slot machine. Often you see games touting how they can be “broken” and encouraging that in the gameplay. And sometimes, that doesn’t always translate well. That isn’t the case here. These charms and their effects can stack in some insane ways.

And that’s before you get to that weird red phone on the wall that only rings when it’s time to offer you a choice of three options to enhance or potentially kill your run. Sometimes you’ll get a couple picks that add +1 bells or diamonds or treasure chests to your pulls permanently. Other times, you’ll be offered a choice of three opportunities to halve your chances of getting something in that run. It mixes or matches. But the good thing is, you can elect to skip the choice altogether and just move on. Now if you choose to pick that phone back up later, you’ll have the same choices, but at least you aren’t locked into selecting them.

Clover Pit does a great job of giving you just enough information to want to jump in while holding back just enough to make you want to keep going. Why is there a toilet in this room? What’s behind that door? You just gotta keep going to find out. I thought I was safe from getting so hyperfocused on a game that it becomes difficult to pull away. I am not. I have given my life to the Pit.

Score: 9/10

Clover Pit is out now on Steam. A code was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.

-Anthony