Two roguelike games, each sold for one price with no ads. Buyers love Balatro for its price and punish it for lost saves. They love Peglin’s free first area and punish it for not saying it was a demo.
A sample customer review analysis: what buyers praise and complain about in their reviews. Every review here is a public Google Play review: 1,067 of the two games, collected on 6 October 2026, and 2,743 across six games, those two included, for the comparison.
The reviews are the store’s “most helpful” and “newest” from the US and India stores, so recent bugs weigh more than they would in a random month. Each count below is the number of reviews that raise a topic; a review counts once per topic.
Balatro’s top three are almost tied: its price, the run itself, and how well it fits a spare few minutes. Peglin’s praise leans on the run, then on a free first area with no ads.
Reviews praising each topic, of 555
Reviews praising each topic, of 512
No microtransactions or ads or daily challenge nonsense. It doesn’t demand your attention with notifications or battle passes.
Just one more round... this is the first mobile game that has sucked me in for a while.
every loss feels like I made a mistake as opposed to only bad luck
The fact that the dev gives you the first third of the game as a demo FOR FREE is fantastic.
Each game has one complaint that dwarfs the rest, and both sit at exactly 152 reviews. Neither is about the game being bad.
Reviews complaining about each topic, of 555
Inside the biggest bar: about 56 reviews say progress was lost or reset, about 23 name battery drain or heat, and about 22 lost a card to a sell tag that stays on screen. These are the main reason for its one- to three-star reviews.
Reviews complaining about each topic, of 512
Peglin has no ads. Its price complaints are almost all about the way it charges, a free first area and then an unlock: about 60 reviews say nobody told them it was a demo until they beat the first area, and about 10 say the unlock screen never shows the price. Roughly 20 object to the price itself.
…ALL my progress but the collection was erased, losing hours of info.
UI needs addressed, the number of times I have accidentally sold a joker and ruined a run because the tag for the sell button stays up is insane.
I thought it was VERY dishonest to act like this is a full game on the app store but once you beat stage 1 it reveals the rest of the game is locked behind a 10 dollar purchase.
The problem: The game doesn’t tell you how much it will cost.
THE CONTROLS for aiming would be way better if you could just slide your finger left or right to aim. Aiming is awkward and my finger impedes my vision.
And I wish the game provided effect descriptions when choosing orbs.
The same reading across six games and 2,743 reviews. On price and ads, the game sold up front is praised and the two free, ad-supported pool games draw the complaints.
Reviews praising and complaining, per game
Reviews in each game’s largest complaint topic
The two free multiplayer pool games hear most about cheating opponents. Balatro, Peglin and Flick Shot Rogues, which each charge once for the full game, hear most about lost saves, bugs and the unlock.
For anyone making a game in this line, the reviews point to the same three fixes, and none of them needs new content.
Bugs and lost saves cost Balatro more low ratings than anything in the game itself. Make progress survive a cloud sync, an update and a new phone, and say so on the store page.
Balatro: 152 complaints on bugs, saves and battery, about 56 of them lost or reset progress. Peglin: 69 on bugs, led by the unlock failing or vanishing after a reinstall or a new phone.
Peglin’s pricing splits its buyers: 93 reviews praise it and 152 complain, and only a handful do both. The anger is about surprise, not price. One line on the store listing and one on the title screen answer most of the largest complaint pile without touching the price.
Peglin: 152 complaints and 93 praises on price and ads. About 60 say they were not told it was a demo, about 10 never saw the price, roughly 20 object to the price itself.
Both games came to phones from bigger screens, and the touch layer shows it. Let players aim by swiping anywhere, make the fire button bigger, put a confirm step on selling, and offer portrait mode and larger text.
Peglin: 49 complaints and 20 requests on aim and controls, about 40 about touch aiming. Balatro: about 22 lost a card to the sell tag; portrait mode and bigger text are asked for in about 14 reviews each.
Send us your app and the two or three you compete with. We read their public reviews, and you get back a page like this one, written for the people who decide what to build next.
Sample analysis. Reviews are public Google Play reviews, read in October 2026. Balatro, Peglin and the other games named here belong to their makers; GravenReach Media has no connection with them. Store ratings are as listed on 6 October 2026. Counts marked “about” or “roughly” are close estimates; all others are exact.