I’ve read the first couple chapters of Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre which I picked up after looking through the bingo thread.

I haven’t read any of her work before, and am enjoying it so far. I’m finding the prose pretty crisp and readable.

Yes, but poker themed. ‘Combat’ is a round of poker themed solitaire with a point target. This is followed by an opportunity to spend money to upgrade your deck with fancy cards or modifiers. The point targets are constantly increasing, so you need to keep upgrading to complete a run.

If you like Slay the Spire, I would definitely give Balatro a shot.