You would not believe how low the Balatro creator's expectations were for the roguelike: "My actual production project folder is called 'CardGame' and is still in my 'Learning' directory'"
Oct. 27, 2024The indie roguelike is a hit, but developer LocalThunk didn’t believe it would be
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Balatro is, by all definitions, a huge success, but its creator initially had astonishingly low expectations for the moreish poker roguelike.
Balatrolaunched on February 20 andsold over 1 million copiesby March 18, not even a month later. As with many indie success stories, solo developer LocalThunk didn’t expect anything like the reception he’s gotten.
“I was expecting like four of my friends and my parents to buy the game, and that would have been awesome, so no, the entire past year has been a series of crazy events,” hewrote on Twitterin response to someone asking if he anticipated the love it’s gotten.
If you haven’t played the game yet, I can’t recommend it in good conscience because it may very well take over your life. It’snow on mobile, too, so you can play it on the go - devastating news for my productivity.
While the game has now sold over two million copies and alsotopped mobile game charts, beating out the likes ofMinecraftandStardew Valley, it had very humble beginnings. “My actual production project folder is called ‘CardGame’ and is still in my ‘Learning’ directory, if that tells you anything about the expectations I had for the game,“LocalThunk writes.
LocalThunkonce called the game Fool’s Gambitbut admitted it was “obviously not a great name.” If you’re wondering where the current name comes from, a balatro is a word for an Ancient Roman jester. So the name we all know and love it by is very fitting given the game revolves around collecting and using joker cards with various effects.
If you’re curious about Balatro and want to know more, you shouldread our interviewwith the developer. If you’ve already given it a go and not played in a while, now is the perfect time to jump back in because the latest free update includescrossovers with games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Slay the Spire.
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Meanwhile, here are some of the otherbest roguelike gamesyou can play right now.
I’m Issy, a freelancer who you’ll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I’ve always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you’ll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I’m currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.
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