Balatro

Playthrough Balatro is a singleplayer roguelike deck-building game based on the rules of poker. The player chooses a deck, each with unique effects and cards, before each playthrough or "run". A run is divided into antes, each with three blinds of increasing difficulty. During a "round" against a blind, the player must use their limited number of hands and discards to play poker hands, and attempt to score the required number of chips (points). The hand's base value is calculated and turned into "Chips", which are then multiplied by "Mult", which increases depending on cards, hands, and jokers held by the player. End of a run The player wins a run by completing ante 8—defeating the first Showdown Blind—though the player can continue playing in endless mode. Decks The deck of playing cards that the player chooses at the beginning of a run also has its own effects; the player starts out with a "starter" series of decks, and completes runs to unlock new ones. New special cards and vouchers can be unlocked for future runs by meeting certain conditions. Another popular mod for Balatro is the Multiplayer mod, which allows players to face off against another player during a Nemesis Blind, in which whoever scores the highest is able to take a life from their opponent. Players lose when they have no more lives. == Development ==

Balatro was developed by LocalThunk, an anonymous solo developer based in Saskatchewan, Canada. In an interview, he said that he mostly plays online competitive games, and that he ponders roguelike games more than actually playing them. Despite the game's theme, LocalThunk said he does not play poker, nor does he want the game to be used for gambling by casinos and players. Development began in 2021, two-and-a-half years before release, initially intended to be one of several small games that were shared with friends. The initial idea was an online version of the Cantonese card game Big Two, which has players playing a number of cards to create poker-like hands. After seeing the number of roguelike deckbuilders on Steam, and watching a Twitch stream of Northernlion playing Luck Be a Landlord, a slot machine-themed roguelike, he was inspired to turn his Big Two clone into a singleplayer roguelike deckbuilder without online play. According to LocalThunk, he avoided playing deckbuilders to avoid taking ideas from these games, and had only played Slay the Spire near the end of development to understand how it implemented its control scheme. On using the standard 52 playing card deck as a base LocalThunk said, "it's this shared cultural game design tool that has evolved over hundreds of years", and on the game's success was quoted as being partly "because you're borrowing from this really tried-and-true tool." A very early version of the game was circulated among his friends, who gave positive reviews after months of playing. LocalThunk used player feedback from the betas for additional features in the final version of the game, including the addition of boss battles. LocalThunk's pseudonym derives from the keyword "local" used to define variables and "Thunk", a common variable name in his partner's projects. Etymology The game is named after the Latin word for "professional jester or buffoon", which is pronounced . Developer LocalThunk said that its pronunciation can be "whatever makes people happy," Many players and YouTubers pronounce the title with stress on the second syllable. == Release ==

In 2023, prior to release, the game became available as a demo. It was removed by LocalThunk on January 1, 2024, and was brought back on January 25, with the new version containing 40 new Jokers, new bosses, and booster packs. The new version was uploaded alongside a new trailer and a release date for the full version of the game, February 20, 2024. Shortly after the game's release, Balatros PEGI rating was changed from 3+ to 18+ for "prominent gambling imagery" due to PEGI's strict rules on portraying gambling, causing the game to be temporarily removed from sale in certain territories. Publisher Playstack stated that they had discussed the game's content with PEGI prior to release (causing its initial 18+ rating to be lowered to 3+) and that, while being based on poker, the game does not portray any form of gambling, and intended to appeal the re-rating. LocalThunk criticised the rating change saying, "Maybe I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower that rating to 3+ like EA Sports FC". The rating reprisal was successfully appealed in February 2025, and along with Luck be a Landlord, Balatro was reclassified with a 12+ rating, recognizing that the fantasy elements of the game distinguished it from gambling. PEGI has stated they will introduce more granular classification rules for future games involving gambling-like elements. After YouTube changed its policies in March 2025, many Balatro videos were marked as 18+ for "depictions or promotions of online casino sites or apps," blocking these videos from child YouTube accounts. LocalThunk and Playstack confirmed plans for ports to Android and iOS mobile devices in March 2024. The ports released on September 26, 2024, including a Balatro+ version for Apple Arcade. The ports grossed $1 million in the first week and $4.4 million in 2 months. Various pieces of official merchandise have also been released; A physical deck of playing cards using Balatro pixel art graphics and a 2026 calendar (featuring photographs of Ben Starr cosplaying various jokers) were released by Fangamer, various t-shirts with mascot Jimbo and various other cards are sold by Playstack., numerous plushes, pins, and keychains were released by Makeship, and three figurines were released by Youtooz. Four free "Friends of Jimbo" updates, adding interchangeable cosmetic packs (changing the appearance of the face cards) featuring crossovers with other video games, were released on August 27, October 24, December 12, 2024, and February 24, 2025, respectively. The first update features crossovers with The Witcher 3, Vampire Survivors, Dave the Diver and Among Us, the second update features crossovers with Cyberpunk 2077, The Binding of Isaac, Slay the Spire and Stardew Valley, the third update features crossovers with Divinity: Original Sin II, Shovel Knight, Potion Craft, Enter the Gungeon, Cult of the Lamb, ''Don't Starve, 1000xResist and Warframe, and the fourth update features crossovers with Critical Role, Bugsnax, Sid Meier's Civilization VII, Rust, Assassin's Creed, Slay the Princess, Dead by Daylight and Fallout''. LocalThunk had planned to release a major update to Balatro during 2025, but by September 2025, opted to push that to 2026, stating his desire to continue to keep the game's development as his hobby and avoid crunch. Appearances in other games Balatro-themed content has been added to numerous other games through official collaborations, including: • Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers · Features Jimbo the Joker as a card. • Dave the Diver · A free update released on October 24, 2024, added a quest where several characters could challenge the player with a condensed version of Balatro, dubbed “Jimbo's Game”. • Cyberpunk 2077 · A major update released on December 10, 2024, adding a quest where a character named Jim B. tasks the player with removing graffiti around the city featuring designs of numerous jokers. Upon completion the player is rewarded a white T-shirt with a joker design not seen in Balatro. • Little Kitty, Big City · A free update released on February 25, 2025, adding Jimbo's jester cap as a wearable hat. • Monster Train 2 · Upon the game’s release on May 21, 2025, players can randomly encounter Jimbo and gain access to six different joker power-ups. • Assassins Creed Shadows · A patch released on May 27, 2025, includes an unlockable Balatro joker-themed “Winning Hand” trinket and amulet. • Dying Light 2 · A free update on June 26, 2025, added quests to unlock several Balatro-themed items for free, including a Jimbo costume, ceremonial dagger knife, and a charm that would grant various abilities based on several jokers. • ''Rusty's Retirement · A Balatro-themed update released on August 7, 2025, added several Balatro-''themed structures and several jokers that can inhabit your farm. • Vampire Survivors · Includes a Balatro themed level along with characters and weapons based on the game in a free Ante Chamber DLC pack released on October 28, 2025. • Dead by Daylight · A head cosmetic for the killer The Unknown based on the Madness joker was available for free between February 20 and March 20, 2026. == Reception ==

Balatro has received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator website Metacritic. In addition, the game's roguelike elements have received positive reviews. Abbie Stone from PC Gamer described gameplay as "strategizing your way to success," Charlie Brooker, the creator of Black Mirror, called it "possibly the most addictive thing ever created" and that once it was released for mobile devices, "humankind's activity is going to drop about 25%"; Balatro was subsequently briefly shown in the "Hotel Reverie" episode of Black Mirror seventh season, released in April 2025. Film director James Gunn called Balatro a "great game", and spent much of the downtime during production of Superman playing the game. With the success of Balatro, LocalThunk kept to a low profile, not wanting much attention on his real-world identity and avoiding the stress that would come with it. including naming Animal Well, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers, Arco, Nova Drift, Ballionaire, and Mouthwashing for his "Golden Thunk Awards". While LocalThunk and his partner had been present at the Game Awards, he told no one else who they were, and opted to allow representatives from PlayStack to accept the awards Balatro won on his behalf. A similar arrangement was made for the Game Developers Choice Awards, with PlayStack representatives accepting the awards for Balatro while LocalThunk remained anonymous at the event. For the 21st British Academy Games Awards, LocalThunk was able to send actor Ben Starr, previously having played Jimbo the joker for live-action videos for the game, to accept his award. Following its popularity, the game has inspired significant activity from the player community, including memes, the integration of other games within it, and an unofficial port to the Apple Watch developed in January 2025, called Wee Balatro, which is awaiting the author's approval. Sales Within eight hours of release, the game had made over in gross revenue according to publisher Playstack. Over one million copies were sold within the first month. By January 2025, the game had surpassed 5 million copies, with around half of those coming after the mobile releases in September 2024, and does not account for those who downloaded the game via their Apple Arcade subscriptions. At The Game Awards 2024, it won "Best Independent Game", "Best Debut Indie Game", and "Best Mobile Game"; it was also nominated for "Game of the Year", the first time a solo game project was nominated for the top honor. It also received awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for "Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game", "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year", and "Mobile Game of the Year" at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. == Notes ==