Ride the Bus is a slow but steady source of infinite Mult scaling. It gains +1 Mult added for every hand you play without a scoring face card, so you can still play face cards safely as long as they don't score. For example, playing A K Q J will not count as playing a face card (because it's an Ace high card), allowing you to remove unwanted face cards from your hand.
Acquiring it early and diligently stacking it will lead to an extremely powerful joker in the late game, especially if you can apply a modifier like Polychrome to it.
This Joker cannot receive the Perishable sticker.
Synergies[]
Decks[]
Abandoned Deck is perfect for this Joker, as it starts without face cards.- Zodiac Deck is better suited for gathering Tarot cards, which can be used to remove face cards.
- Erratic Deck might have more or less face cards than usual, making it harder or easier to play around Ride the Bus.
Poker Hands[]
Any hand will work with this Joker. However, the smaller the hand type, the better Ride the Bus is. This makes it ideal for High Card builds, while Straights and Flushes can be more difficult.
Jokers[]
- Reserved Parking gives you money for not playing face cards.
- Hack's effect only works on low numbered cards.
- Trading Card lets you destroy face cards, allowing you to keep the effect easier.
Anti-synergies:
- Pareidolia will ruin Ride the Bus's multiplier as soon as you play any hand.
- Splash can trigger a face card that otherwise would have done nothing.
- Midas Mask and Business Card can't be used without resetting Ride the Bus.
Trivia[]
- The name of the card may be a reference to the drinking game Ride the Bus.
- A bus usually keeps driving until it has to stop to pick up passengers. In Balatro, the face cards — Jacks, Queens, and Kings — represent people, and the "Route 210-A" could be read as allowing cards 2-10 and Ace to continue onward.
- During the first demo, Ride the Bus provided +2 Mult per consecutive hands played without scoring Face Cards, making it as strong as Spare Trousers without any hand requirement. Upon release, it was nerfed to only provide +1 Mult for balancing purpose.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese (Simplified) | 搭乘巴士 | |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 公車卡 | |
| Dutch | Met de bus mee | |
| French | Tour en bus | |
| German | Im Bus fahren | |
| Indonesian | Ride the Bus | |
| Italian | Giro sull'autobus | |
| Japanese | ライド・ザ・バス | |
| Korean | 버스 탑승 | |
| Polish | Przejażdżka autobusem | |
| Portuguese (Brazilian) | Passear de Ônibus | |
| Russian | Автобусный тур | |
| Spanish (Spain) | Al autobús | |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Al autobús |
