Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2023
Luck be a Landlord
Developer TrampolineTales
Luck Be a Landlord is a roguelike deck-building video game developed and published by TrampolineTales in which players attempt to pay their rent by using a customizable slot machine. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
256 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 5, 2026 · last updated Oct 7, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
86
LovedLoved
171 positive · 28 negative
95% range 80–90%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 171 | 28 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
57 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
10,773 of 11,556 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 256 · most liked firstIf you don't know Dan, he's the dev behind Luck Be a Landlord; the game that inspired me to make Balatro and influenced tons of other devs to expand on this genre he shaped His newest game Maze Mice just left early access! You should check it out! I'm going to be playing it all weekend
unlabelledView post →The developer behind Luck Be a Landlord will make a donation to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and has asked not to buy his game on Xbox and to cancel your game pass because Microsoft still does business with the Israeli military/government.
unlabelledView post →time to play LUCK BE A LANDLORD on @prozdplaysgames.bsky.social, i love this game, and it was gifted to us by @trampolinetales.com himself www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX-V...
unlabelledView post →Oh no. I discovered the game "Luck Be a Landlord" Oh NO.
unlabelledView post →Wow holy shit - this week’s Gerstmann show is a must-listen. Huge bombshells dropping on this one. …the Luck Be A Landlord guy made a new game???? Massive.
unlabelledView post →Some early shots of my current project, Nildigo - a roguelite puzzle game inspired by Voltorb Flip from Pokémon HGSS, Picross, Minesweeper, Luck Be a Landlord and Balatro. Clear boards, buy Perks, use Powers, accumulate Permanents, and make bank. 💃 #gamemaker #gamedev #indiedev #screenshotsaturday
unlabelledView post →BBC NEWS HOMEPAGE 🔥👍 Lovely to see where your support has taken our little game finding project. Flying the flag for indies (like Luck Be A Landlord) on the Beeb. Can still share and pledge to get in on the fun: www.kickstarter.com/projects/lud...
unlabelledView post →Day 2 is Luck Be a Landlord (iOS/android/steam): Do you want anti capitalist yearning in your roguelike slot machine games? Here you go! The beauty of this game is in the resonant gameplay tied to the iconography of each of the pieces. Such a satisfying way to spend time in the flow state.
unlabelledView post →Cupiclaw is teaming up with Luck Be a Landlord, the game that inspired it! 🙏 Get both games in a discounted bundle, or complete your collection if you already own one! store.steampowered.com/bundle/70690...
unlabelledView post →This week on Indie Game Garden, I had the pleasure of interviewing @trampolinetales.com, the indie dev savant behind Luck Be a Landlord, Maze Mice, and What’s the Password? Such a fun conversation. Thanks, Dan! audio: indiegamegarden.transistor.fm/34 yt: youtu.be/wJVQTWaVbJE?...
unlabelledView post →In principle this is a decent roguelike deckbuilder or card (slot) drafting game, and I appreciate that it served as an inspiration for Balatro, but ultimately I find it painful to play. The drafting part of the game is genuinely challenging and would offer an interesting skill-based challenge, if only the UI were better. But the menus are a mess (e.g. I only learned after playing that there were keyboard shortcuts), the drafting of cards (slot symbols) and items doesn't give you any useful…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dan, the dev of the incredibly inspiring game Luck Be A Landlord, just released his next game! Check it out, it’s very fun and the soundtrack is a bop
unlabelledView post →Incredibly honored to be in this bundle with the amazing Luck Be A Landlord. A game which has been inspirational to so many devs, myself certainly included!
unlabelledView post →Another @fangamer.com project I worked on released a couple months back- Luck Be a Landlord! Perfect little puzzle game and super fun to work on, check it out!
unlabelledView post →One has to play RELIGIOUSLY & with extreme dedication to unlock the achievements! That's Right this is how i'm starting my Review! I'm just a simple man, wanted to play some SLOT Machine game, thought lets give this game a try When i played this game i came to realization that this is much more than simple Casino Slot Machine game! The devs who made it added whole new aspect of Slot machine & went beyond it! Imagine Superhit games like "Balatro" & "Cloverpit" were made inspired from this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The entire time I played this, I never found myself enjoying it at all. I'm really not sure what's supposed to be enjoyable about this game, as I love roguelikes, RNG is cool, but this is just... really boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →really fun game! the graphics and the UI is the most barebones it can be, yet the fact that it can still remain so fun speaks to how good the core gameplay loop is!! let's go gambling! ah dangit
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →500+ hours to get all of the achievements and reflect on my horrible past-landlords (and hope that they will also be hexed by witches in the grand collapse of capitalism). All in all, a fun game to mindlessly play. Nice graphics and music, and most achievements are easy to get, just require luck and patience
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →hey Maze Mice is $5 until May 4th, its a fun roguelike pacman style game from the people who made Luck Be A Landlord store.steampowered.com/app/3385370/...
unlabelledView post →Steve's Warehouse by @probablynamedsteve.bsky.social TIL the term #suika game! Items fall into a container. If 3 of the same items touch, they combine into a bigger item. Don't let them overflow! Earn points to meet a growing goal, similar to Luck Be A Landlord. #roguelike #indiegame #gamedev
unlabelledView post →Gatchji Moji by @arnoldrauers.com A cute little drafting and gambling game in the vein of Balatro, Luck Be a Landlord etc. Collect emojis that combo to big payouts. tinytouchtales.itch.io/gatchji-moji #indiegames
unlabelledView post →"At $14.99, this game is accessible and amusing.The soundtrack matches its frenetic energy, the jokes elicit chuckles..." REVIEW: 'Luck Be a Landlord’ from @trampolinetales.com – There Really is a Roguelike for Everything Including Slot Machines and Rent via @chimericnotion.bsky.social
unlabelledView post →Spinilization axolstudio.itch.io/spinilization Is my entry for the 2023 Super∴Try Grab Bag Jam Inspired by Civilzation and Luck Be a Landlord, this is the prototype of what could be a bigger game...
unlabelledView post →Game #2 of 2026 ~ Luck Be a Landlord A clever roguelike about paying your rent and praying to RNGesus. 😂 🎰 When a build clicks, it’s great, but some runs feel too dependent on luck rather than adaptation. I enjoyed it a bit more than CloverPit because it’s simpler/easier to jump into a run. 7.5
unlabelledView post →I mean we already had Luck Be A Landlord but that required thinking. Somewhere close, somewhere adjacent, is the ultimate yapper game that provides jingling keys for dopamine and makes the redditors feel smart while requiring zero thought.
unlabelledView post →🔴 Going Live on Twitch! Come hang out and chat about #indiegames with us.^^ Featured Game 🎰 Luck Be A Landlord (by dev @trampolinetales.bsky.social ) www.twitch.tv/callmekixie
unlabelledView post →I watched a few videos of Luck Be a Landlord (amazing game) but I very intentionally tried to avoid playing any deckbuilders during dev to keep the ideas fresh. Balatro is the first deckbuilder I played. But the games that influenced: Big 2 (the card game), TBoI, Luck Be a Landlord, SNKRX mainly
unlabelledView post →Unique spin on a roguelike deckbuilder, interesting to know that this is the game that inspired Balatro. There are a lot of fun little achievement challenges to do after you beat the game. The 777 wins one does make 100% a chore but it does give the game a ton of long term replay value so I can't complain too much. Overall very worth playing!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If it weren't for roguelikes based on gambling games, I'd have a horrible gambling problem. Small technical issues aside, this game is so much fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fascinating to me that platforms are constantly trying to ban games Luck Be A Landlord and Balatro for "promoting gambling", but My Winter Car, a game which basically requires you to drink and drive, does not seem to be a problem
unlabelledView post →Not for me. If this were a fraction of the price then I'd consider recommending it for all that it is, but from my experience, there are a lot of free games you can play in your browser - similar to this - that are done far better, free of charge.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is clear to see how this was the inspiration for Balatro. It isn't as fleshed out as Balatro and is based more around chance as you build your engine but it is enjoyable, quick and makes you want to come back for more. The retro graphics are charming and there are multiple paths to victory once you grasp how the many options play off of each other.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →However annoying "the game that inspired Balatro" might be for the developer, it's a good description. There's no metagame unlocks. There's just spinning the wheel, picking up new symbols and relics as you go. This means you have limited ability to steer your "build" and should be more concerned with engines and local synergies. It's still fun, and worth the few euros the dev charges for it. It also runs well on Steam Deck and Linux.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🔴 Going Live on Twitch! Come hang out and chat about #indiegames with us and play some slots. ^^ 🎰 Featured Game 🎰 Luck Be A Landlord (dev @TrampolineTales) twitch.tv/callmekixie
unlabelledView post →This walked so balatro and cloverpit could run. Sunk so many hours into this on my phone.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thanks for Coming ✨️🪐 This game is fucking AMAZING! The storyline just... perfection! So many raids 💕 @novaeos.bsky.social @lordgeneric.bsky.social @osmogoogievt.bsky.social and @ellarosebunny.bsky.social for the raids! We raided into @gyeonwoolim.bsky.social, who is playing Luck Be a Landlord!
unlabelledView post →A great deckbuilder game, comparable to Crop Rotation which I also greatly enjoyed. Luck be a Landlord (LbaL) has a lot more RNG to it, which is appropriate considering the slot machine mechanism for determining placements of symbols. 5 columns with 4 rows totals 20 symbols displayed, and certain symbols have adjacency bonuses to other symbols to raise more money to pay your ever rising rent costs. External items can improve symbols gold production too, helping steer the player into more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has a launch discount of 15% (for seven days,) and you can get a 10% discount on top of that with the Luck Be a Landlord bundle! store.steampowered.com/bundle/66753...
unlabelledView post →The game itself is a fun little roguelike, but if you care about achievements this game will upset you. There are several like "win 777 games" that are insanely grindy for no reason. Winning a game takes over 30 mins and you aren't going to win every game you play. Gameplay is like 8/10 but because of these near impossible and pointless requirements to do everything in the game, I can't recommend it. I don't mind difficult achievements, but difficulty is not the same as "spend 500 hours doing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun 10-20 hour game. Have more control than you would think at first with slot machines, compared to cloverpit. This one you have more control because you actually pick what symbols go in the spins. Like adding cards to a deck. Having more control outside the spins makes it feel less like gambling and pure rng. Similar to balatro.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a fun little game if you can get it for cheap. I seem to remember that I got this when it first came out for something like 2 dollars. That's what my recommendation is based on. This game is fun at first, gives the satisfaction of getting new stuff (symbols and to a lesser extent items) and watching number go up. There's not a lot of replayability though. There's very few symbols that have the sort of scaling you need to make it through the late game, and symbol removal is so limited…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sweet and simple, yet devastatingly addicting - just like the slot machines themselves 9/10 - give us more content pls. still grinding for 777 wins, so i'll be here if you do
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was Luck Be A Landlord the first casino-game roguelike? store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/... It certainly remains my favorite! Just wondering how much credit to give @trampolinetales.com
unlabelledView post →L: Luck Be A Landlord. There are some bad roulette games out there. There are a lot of absolute garbage roulette games out there. Luck be a landlord is a good roulette game, and a roguelike at that. It's simple fun, well designed, with interesting combos. 😊
unlabelledView post →You can get Luck Be A Landlord on PC and Mobile!! store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/...
unlabelledView post →I know the old ladies are gonna be mad at me for saying this but I don't care!!! This is the only type of slot machine I actually want to play
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a fun game that can soak up a lot of hours. It feels well balanced and has some combinations that just go stupid good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like, there's validity to it, and I am not smart enough to make a proper refutation but I would argue the explosion of gambling adjacent video games has a lot more to do with Balatro, which the dev cited Luck Be A Landlord as an inspiration for, which is a very barebones game presentation-wise
unlabelledView post →Appleseed's Indie Game Of The Day! Day 303) Luck Be A Landlord by TrampolineTales A simple slot machine based roguelike that has you choose symbols and earn rent money to pay rent and defeat capitalism. It's a very simple premise but fun to just spin the slots and gather coins.
unlabelledView post →Nothing about this game grabbed me. It's kinda neat that it's sort of a proto-Balatro, but also... just play Balatro.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heads-up: landlord-tenant relationships are featured very little, almost as a joke.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yeah. I'd recommend it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →more like Suck Be a Landlord.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game shows you what a perfect society would look like; replacing rent with gambling.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun gamba game, I still enjoy popping in for a quick run here and there.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The OG Gambling game still rules
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →played for 6 hours straight. reached a billion coins. my gambling itch has been satisfied for the next decade.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you like Luck Be A Landlord and Balatro? Do you want to make omelets for adorable Richard Scarry-style animal schoolchildren? This game is so much fun and you should check it out!
unlabelledView post →I respect the heck out of this indie game dev who has principles enough to bite the hand that's fed him in the name of supporting kids in Palestine. I guess I need to buy a copy of Luck Be a Landlord to support him. (But not on Xbox!) (It's $5 on Steam - store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/...)
unlabelledView post →I tried Clover Pit for like five minutes but the "We have Luck Be A Landlord at home" of it all was just too depressing. Luck Be A Landlord is so good! store.steampowered.com/app/1404850/...
unlabelledView post →
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