Patterns Balatro exemplifies

Pattern	How Balatro uses it
loadout-as-budget	5-slot Joker loadout over a pool of 150+ candidates. Combinatorial space far exceeds slot count; slot order matters because Jokers fire left-to-right (a pipeline / functional-composition design).
subtractive-deckbuilding	Tarot Cards (Hanged Man) and Spectral Cards (Familiar / Grim / Incantation) thin and re-shape the deck across the run. The strongest expression of this pattern in the knowledge base — more aggressive than Slay the Spire's once-per-event removal.
bonus-with-drawback	Multiple structural cases: Spectral Cards (Ankh, Hex, Ectoplasm) carry catastrophic costs for one strong upgrade. Glass Cards (×2 mult / 25% break). Stone Cards (huge chips, no rank/suit so they break poker hands). Madness Joker (×1.5 mult, destroys a random Joker per Blind). The Hieroglyph voucher (skip Ante / lose hand).
bounded-roguelite	The base run ends at Ante 8 (Boss Blind 8). Endless mode is opt-in; the canonical experience is bounded ~2-hour runs.
meta-as-variety-not-power	The 15 starting Decks are rule mods, not power bumps. Plasma Deck balances chips and mult — fundamentally different scoring math. Erratic Deck randomizes ranks and suits. Each deck plays differently; no deck is objectively best. The 8 Stakes stack difficulty modifiers cumulatively.
chip-and-mult-stacking	Twin scoring axes (additive base × multiplier output). Every modifier targets one axis or the other (or rarely both). The two-axis structure produces emergent build identity (chip-stacking vs mult-stacking vs hybrid). Uncurated; Balatro is the canonical case.
cumulative-modifier-staircase	Two staircases: Ante chips required (300 → 800 → 2k → 5k → 11k → 20k → 35k → 50k); Stake modifier stack (each Stake adds one rule on top of all previous). Hades's Pact of Punishment is the closest analogue.
greed-vs-spend-economy	Interest rule: +$1 per $5 banked, capped at $5/round. The $25 floor produces a continuous save-vs-spend dialectic. Adjacent to Slay the Spire's gold management, but more explicit (interest visible per round).
pre-revealed-debuff	The Boss Blind for the upcoming Ante is shown one Ante in advance. Players plan around it (hoard Spectrals before The Water; thin face cards before The Plant). The reveal turns the Boss into a planning constraint rather than a surprise.
equipment-as-input-layer	Playing cards aren't input — they're equipment. Tarots / Spectrals / Enhancements / Editions / Seals stack three orthogonal modifier dimensions per card. The same hand draws differently across runs because the deck is different.
flavor-as-meta-narrative (loose)	The cumulative texture of 150 Joker names — Sins, court-jester references, banana lore, theatre-and-mortality nods — produces vibe without narrative. Pure aesthetic coherence.