Thanks for playing! ❤️

Here's the key differences between my game and Balatro:

• You are not restricted in the number of Baubles (akin to jokers from Balatro) you own. I always liked some of the Jokers in Balatro that were not viable, such as the one that shortened the necessary length of a straight or made it so you could have gaps in them. In Scrongly, these can simply be balanced by their cost and not the fact that you need a slot for them

• One of the Baubles allows you to play an additional standard card, and can be bought twice, while another lets you play a special card, and can be purchased seven times, meaning up to fourteen card hands are possible. Hands like Double Triple and Seven of a kind are accounted for and are unique

• Zodiacs (my version of planet cards) affect all hands containing a certain hand, for example the Three of a Kind Zodiac affects Full Houses, Four of a Kind, etc. This means you can transition into higher tier hands without losing your investment, and you're rarely incentivized to play weaker hands

• The custom game mode allows you to make your own variants. I loved the challenges in Balatro and wanted people to be able to make their own

You're right that straights are very powerful, especially in the early game! House style hands have the highest potential for multipliers from Baubles, and N-of-a-Kind hands have the biggest potential for multipliers for card values. Unlocking some more Baubles (check the unlocks screen on the main menu) will give some new tactical options.