No. It is because Balatro actually had playing cards and pretended it was poker. Its similar to how so many older games could have your character popping meth near constantly but it is fine because it isn’t tobacco.

That said: I really do wish we would have a proper reckoning. I love Balatro. It very much takes the skinner box and slot machine mechanics to an all new level. So does Vampire Survivors. And if you ask most millennial gamers, we’ll have stories about how we almost flunked out of college because of Diablo or WoW and the like.

The gacha games and ultimate team and all that very much exploit the same concepts but with a goal of milking every single penny out of their consumerbase. But time is often just as important (and most of said milking comes from people realizing they have no time to spare) and it is important people realize that.