| Balatro | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
| Release Date | |
|---|---|
| February 20, 2024 More Details |
|
| Genre | |
| Card, Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike | |
| Platforms | Price (MSRP) |
    |
$14.99 |
| Developer | Publisher |
| LocalThunk | Playstack |
| Number of Players | Age Rating |
| 1 | Everyone 10+ |
| Time to Finish | Cross Platform Play |
| 180 Hours | No |
| Official Website | Official Website for Balatro |
Balatro Latest News
⚫︎ Balatro dev Localthunk has just playfully teased a Vampire Survivors x Balatro collab, posting the new Ante Chamber & Update 1.14 launch trailer. The hit auto-battler from Poncle now lets players dive into a Balatro-flavored mode packed with Jokers and chaotic card energy.
⚫︎ Developer Localthunk has confirmed that Balatro’s free 1.1 update will no longer release in 2025 as planned. Instead, the update will arrive when it’s ready, with the studio emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy development pace.
⚫︎ Balatro developer Localthunk has announced that he has fully completed his own game, achieving the challenging Completionist++
milestone. Localthunk noted that reaching 100% completion has better prepared him to design the upcoming 1.1 update, stating he’s pumped to do it over again with the new content
once it's released.
⚫︎ As shared on the official Balatro X page, Balatro has won the Delightful & Fun Games award during WWDC 2025 event.
⚫︎ Only 0.1% of players have reportedly earned the coveted Platinum trophy in indie card roguelike Balatro—and PlayStation hardware architect Mark Cerny is now one of them.
⚫︎ Speaking during GDC, van Halderen, a member of Baltro's publisher, revealed he not only beat gold stakes at every level, but also managed to clear the notoriously punishing Jokerless challenge, which involves completing a full run without using a single joker.
Balatro Overview
Balatro is a poker-themed roguelike deck-builder developed by indie studio LocalThunk and published by Playstack. Released on February 20, 2024, the game is available across a wide range of platforms, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam), and mobile (Apple Arcade, Google Play, Apple App Store).
As LocalThunk’s debut title and sole indie release, Balatro merges the classic mechanics of poker with the dynamic replayability of a roguelike to create a deck-building game where the objective is to score higher and higher blinds with wilder and wilder decks.
| Steam |
PlayStation |
Xbox |
Nintendo |
| Price | $14.99 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 App Store |
 Google Play |
||
| Price | $9.99 | ||
Balatro Gameplay
Balatro combines the classic mechanics of poker with roguelike elements, creating a gameplay experience built around strategy, chance, and customization.
Balatro’s core gameplay revolves around a set of escalating score thresholds known as “Blinds”, which the player has to surpass by crafting viable poker hands from a drawn hand of ten cards. Each hand contributes to the player's score based on card values, inherent multipliers, and additional effects from Jokers or other modifications. Victory in an encounter is achieved by meeting or exceeding the Blind's score requirement.
As the game progresses, the score thresholds increase and tougher encounters called Boss Blinds introduce more complex rules like preventing any hand with less than 5 cards. To adapt, players can enhance their deck through various upgrades, such as modifying card values, adding or removing specific cards, altering card functionality (e.g., the Golden Card), or incorporating Jokers—powerful, unplayable cards that boost the value of hands.
The game offers pre-constructed starting decks with unique rules, such as decks containing only red cards or excluding face cards entirely. Players can also make strategic choices between encounters, like skipping certain Blinds for benefits such as doubling rewards or adding extra cards
Balatro Reviews
As Addicting as Poker Itself
Balatro has quickly gained recognition as a standout indie title, praised for its engaging gameplay loop and captivating style. Widely regarded as a contender for indie hit of the year, it has earned acclaim from both critics and players for its addictive simplicity and innovative design.
Simon Cardy of IGN commended the game’s ability to transform failure into fun, a hallmark of great roguelikes, and noted its potential to occupy entire weekends. They concluded their review by jokingly describing the game as no Joker, but an Ace.
On Metacritic, the game achieved a 90 Metascore, signifying universal acclaim, with user reviews averaging a strong 8.3, reflecting general agreement on its quality.
Jordan Middler of VGC highlighted Balatro’s deceptively simple yet gripping nature, describing it as an experience that feels repetitive at first but becomes irresistibly engaging. They noted the game’s brisk 20-minute runs, which feel much longer due to their intensity, and described Balatro as the biggest time sink since Vampire Survivors.
Across platforms like Steam and Reddit, user feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Players have embraced the game as a new favorite pastime, sharing strategies, creating tier lists, and developing high-scoring builds. Many likened its addictive appeal to real poker, with some even dubbing it “Poker 2.”
Balatro Announcement Trailer
Vampire Survivors - Official Ante Chamber & 1.14 Update Launch Trailer | ID@Xbox Fall 2025 Showcase
Balatro Short Trailer
Balatro Trivia
⚫︎ The game’s name, Balatro, is inspired by Ancient Rome, where professional jesters, known collectively as Balatrones, proudly carried this title as their occupational moniker.
⚫︎ Each of Balatro's legendary Jokers is inspired by famous jesters and jokers from history and literature. Canio, meaning “Harlequin” in Italian, references the character from the opera Pagliacci. Triboulet is drawn from Terry Blay, the real-life jester of King François I of France, who also inspired Victor Hugo’s play The King’s Pleasure.
Yorick pays homage to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where he is remembered in the iconic graveyard scene. Chicot comes from Alexandre Dumas’s novel Chicot the Jester, while Perkeo is based on Paciou, a historical figure from Heidelberg, Germany, renowned as a winemaker, cellar-keeper, and festive personality.
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