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The developers of Luck Be a Landlord revealed on Thursday their game is no longer permitted on Google Play, the result of a gambling element the game maker insists does not exist.
Dan DiIorio developed Luck Be a Landlord after being inspired by Slay the Spire and freeware for Windows 98.
“Happy New Year everyone! Just three hours into 2025, I received an email from Google Play Support with the following subject line: Action Required: Your app is not compliant with Google Play Policies (Luck be a Landlord),” announced developer TrampolineTales on January 1. “Nothing has changed with Luck be a Landlord in the past few months, but for whatever reason, my game ‘contains gambling’ now!”
The concerns appear to be age-related.
With Luck Be a Landlord, players attempt to pay their landlord using a slot machine. The mechanics are similar to roguelike deck-building games. Players must accumulate increasing amounts of money to pay their rent within a limited number of spins. After each spin, players can add another symbol.
Symbols can interact with each other for extra money, such as cats drinking milk and bees pollinating flowers. Some symbols can also destroy unwanted ones. Players win by successfully paying 12 rounds of rent, thereby defeating their landlord.
The creator wrote that this has been an issue before in various other countries.
“I genuinely think Luck be a Landlord deserves the equivalent of an E10+ rating across all regions, but at this point I’ve just given up and will deal with whatever inaccurate rating is slapped on the game,” wrote TrampolineTales.
Balatro, which is heavily inspired by Luck Be a Landlord and replaces the slot machine mechanics with poker-based gameplay, faced similar issues last year. Balatro was initially banned from the Nintendo Switch eShop due to claims it featured elements of gambling. The game was later required to feature an 18+ age rating from PEGI in Europe.
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