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A poker dice roguelike for fans of Balatro
If you liked chasing a huge score in Balatro, this is a small game in the same family, played with dice. Here is what is alike, what is different and where the bigger game wins.
Published 2026-10-14. Pip House is not affiliated with Balatro, its developer LocalThunk or its publisher Playstack. Balatro is their trademark.
What is alike
Balatro made a pattern popular: turn poker hands into a number, set a target, and let the player buy upgrades that bend the scoring until the numbers get silly. Pip House follows the same pattern. It is a genre habit at this point, and it works:
- Each round has a target and a limited number of tries.
- Between rounds you spend money at a stand on upgrades. Here they are called charms.
- You hold a few at a time, so every choice costs you a slot.
- Boss rounds break a rule of the game.
- Runs are short, and you restart right away.
What is different
Dice, not cards
You roll five dice, tap the ones you want to keep, and reroll the rest, up to twice. Then you score. If you have played a dice poker game before, you already know the table. The hands are the familiar ones, from High Die to Five of a Kind. There are no suits and no deck to thin.
Pot times Odds
Hands are scored as Pot times Odds. Dice add their pips to the Pot, and charms add to or multiply the Odds. The hands page lists every base value.
You see the score before you commit
The table shows what the throw is worth right now, charms included, and updates every time you keep or release a die. That turns each reroll into a small puzzle. Charms read the dice themselves. Snake Eyes multiplies your Odds by 1.5 for every scored 1. With three ones the same throw goes from 99 to 337.
Its own economy
There is no interest on saved money. You are paid for the rerolls and throws you did not need, up to $5 a round, so scoring early is a real choice. Hands level up through Sharpen at the stand. The stand sells 3 charms and one Sharpen, and you can hold 5 charms.
Bosses you can see coming
Two boss rounds, at Round 5 and Round 9, each drawn from a pool of 6 bosses. Both rules are shown from the first round, so you can build for them. The bosses page lists all 12.
Same dice
At the end of a run you can replay it with the same dice and try a different plan, and there is a free daily run with the same dice for everyone. After a win, Endless and Stakes keep the game going.
Where Balatro is bigger
Balatro is the deeper game, with far more upgrades and more ways to build. Pip House launches with 40 charms and a run that takes about 10 to 15 minutes. If you have never played Balatro, play that first. It costs $9.99 on the US App Store as of 2026-10-14. Pip House costs $4.99, once, and the first run is free, so trying it costs nothing.
Other games in this lane
We looked at what is on the US App Store on 2026-10-14. These are the closest games to Pip House, with their price model as listed that day. Prices and listings change.
| Balatro | Poker hands from a deck of cards, with jokers that bend the scoring. Paid, $9.99. |
|---|---|
| Dice of Kalma | Poker-hand dice against Death, with upgrade skulls. Free, with ads and in-app purchases. |
| Dice A Million | A bag of dice with 120+ dice effects, climbing debts. Paid, $4.99. |
| Payroll Dice | Roll dice, rotate any die to a visible face, spend pips in a shop. Paid, $4.99. |
| Dicey Dungeons | Dice are turned into equipment in fights. Paid, $4.99. |
Who it is for
Pip House is for you if you like:
- score-chasing games where one good build makes the numbers explode
- short sessions on a phone, with one hand
- a premium price with no ads and no account
It is probably not for you if you want hundreds of upgrades and long campaigns. It is not out yet, so there is nothing to download today. The how to play page has the whole rulebook, and the FAQ answers the rest.