This Ain't Even Poker, Ya Joker is a surprisingly un-Balatro-like idler card clicker

• This Ain't Even Poker, Ya Joker is a lengthily named new deck builder on mobile
• While there's more than a hint of Balatro about it, this new idle clicker stands out
• Build poker hands and seek to outsmart the jester and win your freedom from the cursed carnival

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the hit roguelike card battler and deckbuilder Balatro by Localthunk has inspired a whole pack of imitators and rip-offs. Fortunately, This Ain't Even Poker, Ya Joker is neither. Debuting on PC, it's easy to see the inspiration, but also just as clear where developer Mash's eclectic creation stands out.

In TAEPYJ (which is almost as confusing a name), you play as an anonymous captive in the cursed carnival of an evil Jester. The only way out? Play poker hands and earn money, gradually growing your hand and even buying new decks in order to flip more and more.

It's not hard to see where you might draw comparisons to Balatro. But the focus here is squarely on idle clicking fun. It's meant to be more of a laid-back and casual experience. There's not quite as much number-crunching in It Ain't Even Poker, Ya Joker, but you'll still have enough challenge to contend with.

Don't joke around with me

Of course, there are the usual elements you'll find in a deck-builder or card battler, such as a growing auxiliary deck of power-up cards, which you'll eventually be able to send out minions to collect. There's a risk/reward setup too, where you can restart your run in exchange for poker chips to buy upgrades, all gradually working towards escaping the carnival.

I think what stands out to me about It Ain't Even Poker, Ya Joker is that it seems to have a clear goal: for you to escape the carnival. That, and the distinctive low-poly graphics, make it familiar enough to Balatro, but standalone in gameplay, that it should be well worth looking into.

If you're more interested in, let's call it 'classical' card battlers, then you don't need to look any further. Instead, why not dig into our list of the best card battlers for iOS to see what our preferred picks are?