This year has had many unexpected successes. Many games that appear out of nowhere or that we didn’t have high hopes for and end up stealing the show. But if one game has managed to capture players’ attention in a special way, it’s definitely Balatro. It has just announced that, in addition, it will further plummet global productivity after selling more than two million copies, as it will soon be available on mobile devices.
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Balatro has been the most successful indie game of 2024, but additionally, promises to expand throughout 2025 thanks to the tremendous success it is.
Balatro is being the big indie of 2024. No other game dares to achieve the numbers that this one does. There is also no other game that, in such a short time, has inspired such an intense wave of other games imitating it in one way or another. People wanted something like Balatro, both among players and developers, and it doesn’t seem like we’re going to see a formula exhaustion soon. Or a loss of interest from players.
Its developer, LocalThunk, has confirmed that Balatro has managed to sell an astonishing 2 million copies so far. Absolutely staggering numbers for an indie development, by a single person, that started as a game he made for himself and his friends. A unexpected success that, furthermore, he plans to continue developing. Because this is not the end for Balatro.
According to a comment on Twitter, a major gameplay update will be coming to Balatro in 2025. Adding new ideas and strategies, we don’t have details on what exactly this update will add, but we do have a very important detail: it will be completely free. A demonstration of appreciation from its developer to the entire community.
Along with the fact that he has confirmed that he has changed his will to ensure that his games can never be used in casinos or other gambling platforms and that there will be a physical edition on September 17th, LocalThunk keeps giving us joy with Balatro. And it seems that the same will continue even during 2025.
It’s been a crazy year. I’m very grateful to be doing what I love as a career now.
It has been the big surprise of 2024 so far: ‘Balatro’ seemed to come out of nowhere but this poker-based roguelike has already sold one million copies, allowing its sole developer, Localthunk, to dream of a future in the industry. It’s not easy to break through, hundreds of games are released every day, and only a few achieve what this title has accomplished. And the creator didn’t even think it would achieve anything at all.
In his Twitter account, Localthunk has commented on his real expectations when launching ‘Balatro’: “A year ago, I was getting ready to release my little weird game on Steam and look for an IT job again. I put up the game’s page in May and was hoping to sell maybe ten copies. It’s been a crazy year. I’m very grateful to be able to do what I love as a career now”.
Currently, ‘Balatro’ has over 30,000 extremely positive reviews on Steam, and word of mouth continues to spread, far surpassing its initial market niche. In fact, what is surprising is that it continues to regularly be among the top ten most played on Steam, alongside titles like ‘Dragon’s Dogma 2’, ‘Like a dragon: Infinite wealth’, or ‘Persona 3 Reload’, with the difference being that it has spent a tiny fraction of what those games cost.
For the future, Localthunk is already thinking about possible DLC as well as mobile versions for which, it believes, only a few things of the user experience should be touched to make it perfect. A new developer has been born. Now we just need to know if it has many more games inside it.
Balatro has been one of the biggest indie hits of the season, now announcing its expansion to more devices and million-dollar sales.
Some games become popular because they are good. They don’t rely on gimmicks, trends or big advertising campaigns. They are simply great games and that’s why, upon release or some time later, they manage to reach their audience. In some cases, they even manage to break through and reach the mainstream. This is what has happened with the latest indie sensation: Balatro.
The premise of Balatro is very simple. We have a French deck of cards and we have to make the minimum possible amount of points each turn, using a maximum number of hands and discards. In each new phase, we have to achieve a greater amount of points to overcome it, while the points are obtained by creating poker hands. That simple. That limited. Or it would be if there wasn’t something else behind it.
Balatro is a game full of details that add depth to the game. We can obtain jokers that allow us to increase our scores. Bonuses that improve some of our cards. Or buy or destroy cards, if what we want is to have a deck tailored to a particular run.
Because Balatro is a roguelike. One that, like any good roguelike, gives us the tools to play in a linear and strict way, if that’s what we want, but also to break the game in all unimaginable ways. As many players have already discovered, it is possible to make hands worth millions of points with the right combinations, if not billions of points if we dedicate a special effort to break the game. This is not limited to a single strategy, partly due to the randomness factor, partly due to the simplicity and flexibility of its foundation, which makes the possible winning strategies virtually infinite.
That’s why it has become one of the most popular games of the moment. It’s easy to understand, difficult to master, and incredibly fun to break. That’s why it’s no surprise that its popularity keeps growing. Leading even to its developer, LocalThunk, deciding to take it further.
According to statements made by the developer to iMore, Balatro will be coming soon to Apple mobile devices. Without giving a specific date or the qualities of this port, they have only confirmed that the game will be available for anyone who has an iPhone or an Apple tablet.
This will contribute to further increasing its sales, which are already extraordinary. According to Harvey Elliot, CEO of Playstack, the game’s publisher, Balatro has already sold over a million copies. With its release dating back to February 20th for PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, this means that the game has sold this amount in less than a month, with the first 500,000 copies being sold during the first ten days. An absolutely staggering amount for an indie game, even after being forced to disappear from all online console stores for a few days.
According to the statement released by PlayStack’s CEO, the success of Balatro is “a testament to the quality and creativity that the indie sector can deliver.” Similarly, LocalThunk has also emphasized, in another statement, that “I still can’t comprehend the response to this game.” Demonstrating how impactful its success has been, even when it is well-deserved.
In addition, those who already have Balatro will have few reasons to stop playing. According to LocalThunk, their idea is to continue providing post-launch support to the game, including new secrets to the game. Something that, considering its success and how easily modifiable it is, would not be surprising to end up meaning the inclusion of new content in the game. Especially when in a tweet to announce that million copies milestone, they hinted that “we still have fun things planned for the future”.
For all these reasons, it is easy to assume that Balatro still has a long way to go. Not only because as a roguelike it is potentially infinite, as previous similar games have shown us with a lifespan of years, like Slay The Spire, but also because of the amazing reception it has had among the public. Something that seems to confirm that the popularity of roguelikes and card games has not been a one-day thing – the genre is here to stay.
So much so, that overnight it has disappeared from the Switch e-shop in quite a handful of countries. And, although it may not seem like it, there is a very logical reason for this.
‘Balatro’ has come out of nowhere, but it has become the new big obsession in the online gaming world. Move aside, ‘Palworld’, your replacement has arrived. The poker game is extremely fun, yes, but also addictive. So much so, that overnight it has disappeared from the Switch e-shop in a good number of countries. And, although it may not seem like it, there is a more than logical reason for this.
This poker-themed roguelike deck builder (my father, by this point, would have stopped reading without understanding a single word) has been removed from the eShop because the recommended age has been increased from 3 years and older to 18 years and older. The reason? Well, the one you’re imagining: they believe it encourages gambling, and the gambling issue has already destroyed many lives.
There is only one problem: there is no betting or encouragement to do so. But Nintendo has wanted to cover its back and the game disappeared from most of Europe, in Japan and in Australia, although it is still available in the United States. On PSN and Xbox, for now, it continues… but the PEGI rating has increased. And one thing is for your child to play a roguelike game designed for everyone and another thing is for them to play an adult game. It’s not a good idea.
In a tweet, the developers of ‘Balatro’, Playstack, who must be having a fabulous time right now, have promised to do everything possible to get the game back up as soon as possible. For now, and apparently, Nintendo has taken action and is helping it reappear soon on the eShop, turning this drama into an anecdote and giving the game some free publicity as a gift.
In fact, they have clarified not only that there is no encouragement to gamble in the game, but they are strongly against gambling and that the PEGI code has been awarded completely unfounded. They do not rule out (ha) that the game may regain its previous age rating. Only time will tell. And now, a game?
Balatro is his name and although you’re not aware yet, it’s the next game that will obsess you and convince you that roguelikes are awesome.
Roguelikes are in fashion. It’s not just that God of War and The Last of Us have given in to pressure and included roguelike modes, but that more and more games of the genre are appearing, more regularly, gaining public exposure. And it’s normal. Roguelikes – games where after each defeat we have to start from scratch, having to make the most of all our acquired knowledge – are pure video games. A genre impossible in any other medium. Although they can draw from outside it.
That’s what happened with the latest unexpected hit in the gaming world, Balatro. Taking the foundations of poker, it creates a progression system similar to other card-based roguelikes, such as Slay The Spire. We use a classic poker deck, except for the jokers, and we have two counters: one for points, where each card gives as many points as its value to add to our hand’s value, and one for multiplier, where the rarer the hand, the more potentially multiplied points the cards we play will have, in order to achieve an objective. The blinds start at 350 and go up to 100,000. It’s that simple.
The simplicity of this base is what makes everything around it accessible to anyone. Because throughout the game we can obtain different types of cards, which will change the way we play. Jokers change the amount of points or multipliers we receive on certain cards or hands. Planet cards enhance a type of hand that we can play. And tarot cards enhance our specific cards with various effects. Including changing their value or the color of the card.
If we add to that the fact that in the game we can buy common cards, it’s easy to see where the complexity of Balatro lies. Its essence. Depending on the cards, jokers, and bonuses we find, a possible strategy will be shaped among all the ones we have available. Making sure that no two games are the same.
There are more mechanics, more bonuses, more surprises. We have a dozen decks to choose from, and each one changes certain basic aspectsof the game. One may allow us to make more plays, another more discards, or do something that breaks the game a little, like giving us 2 dollars for each hand not played, 1 dollar for each discard we have left, and not receiving interest in return. Something that radically changes the way of playing.
But that’s the magic of Balatro. Being the perfect gateway to more complex and obscure games like Slay The Spire. A fantasy that takes advantage of its simplicity and immediacy, by rooting itself in something well known by most people like poker, and especially its deck, to create a game that appeals not only to those who are already dedicated roguelike players. Because if a game can definitely make roguelike mainstream, that’s Balatro.
If you’re curious to try it out, since it has exceeded 250,000 copies sold in just 72 hours, Balatro is available on Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch for a price of €13.99.
