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Last week,League of Legends shadow-dropped The Demon’s Hand, an in-universe twist on poker-roguelike phenomenon Balatro.
If you’ve played Balatro, The Demon’s Hand will be instantly familiar.
Given that it’s an in-client, limited-time spin-off, I’m willing to wave away that criticism.
But ironically, it’s those same factors that give me cause for concern.
High Card
The Demon’s Hand represents a substantial amount of work.
Operating in-client, getting it working within Riot’s aging infrastructure has clearly been a significant undertaking.
Unique assets and animations have clearly taken plenty of time and effort to create.
The ability to unpick and reinvent Balatro as effectively as this is impressive work in itself.
Riot’s got form with this kind of thing.
Over the years, myriad mini-games have appeared and then disappeared from League of Legends.
Some of those were more direct twists on the game itself, such as battles against comically-difficult AI.
Riot’s recent extremely public monetization controversyproved just how important those skins really are.
The Demon’s Hand and Swarm are only two symptoms of a broader problem.
