by The creator of the popular poker-inspired roguelike deck builder Balatro, which goes by the online-only name localthunk, is celebrating his game being nominated for three different Golden Joystick Awards by… asking you to play and vote for another game.
In case you missed it, voting for the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards has officially begun and Balatro has been nominated for Best Audio Design, PC Game of the Year, and Best Indie Game. Localthunk shared the news of Balatro’s nominations on Twitter and immediately referred fans to the critically acclaimed indie RPG Arco. “Public voting is open, but I urge you to try/vote for the incredible Arco, which was also nominated today,” he said. “A truly deserving gem”.
Arco will compete against Balatro in the Best Indie Game category. It’s described by publisher Panic as a “Mesoamerican fantasy RPG where every battle is a handcrafted bullet-hell maelstrom that you must solve by making clever use of your skills, items and environment.”
Balatro has been nominated for 3 Golden Joystick awards!! – Best Audio Design – PC Game of the Year – Best Indie Game The public voting is open, but I implore you to try/vote for the incredible Arco which was also nominated today. A truly deserving gemhttps://t.co/lVYaz6GjnhOctober 4, 2024
I can’t vouch for it yet, but Arco has 643 Steam reviews and a whopping 97% of them are positive. GR+’s Austin Wood is also a big fan, calling it “one of my favorite finds of the summer” in his hands-on report.
The game combines real-time and turn-based combat in what sounds like a truly innovative system that is directly affected by the choices you make in the story, putting you in the shoes of four different characters, each with their own unique skill tree and playing style. The handcrafted world makes brilliant use of so few pixels, and I’m a big fan of the underutilized Mesoamerican setting. In short, I’m sold on Localthunk.
Arco is available on PC and Nintendo Switch, and Balatro is available on those platforms, as well as PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Android, and iOS.
Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth top the shortlist for the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards, leaving behind Helldivers 2 and Balatro for the most nominations.
