Balatro
Sign in to saveBalatro is a poker-themed roguelike deck-building game developed by solo developer LocalThunk, and published by Playstack, rated PEGI 3 as of 2026. It was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 20, 2024, with a port to macOS on March 1. Ports for Android and iOS were released on September 26, 2024. A dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 version was released on February 25, 2026. In the game, the player must score points by playing poker hands from a starting 52-card deck, with a limited number of hands and discards each round.
Game data
- Released
- 2024-02-20
- User rating
- 4.28 / 5
- Genres
- Casual, Strategy, Indie
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS
via RAWG
Game details · IGDB
Balatro is a deck-building roguelite in which players construct poker hands to earn chips and overcome enemy blinds. The game features mechanics for enhancing a deck of playing cards, purchasing Jokers that modify hand effects, and discovering synergies to progress through increasingly challenging encounters.
- Released
- 2024
- Genres
- Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Indie, Card & Board Game
- Platforms
- Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
- Game modes
- Single player
- Engine
- LÖVE
- Developer
- LocalThunk
- Publisher
- Playstack
Key facts
- Video game.title
- Balatro
- Video game.image
- Balatro cover.jpg
- Video game.alt
- Balatro's Steam cover image
- Video game.developer
- LocalThunk
- Video game.publisher
- Playstack
- Video game.engine
- Löve
- Video game.composer
- Luis Clemente (LouisF)
- Video game.released
- macOSAndroid, iOSNintendo Switch 2
- Video game.genre
- Roguelike deck-building
- Video game.modes
- Single-player
via Wikipedia infobox
Official website
Balatro: Deck-Building Roguelite
Balatro is a deck-building roguelite where you must play poker hands and earn chips to defeat enemy blinds., Balatro is a deck-building roguelite where you must play poker hands and earn chips to defeat enemy blinds.
playbalatro.com →Link to the official site · 2,275 chars · not written by Vinony
Described at
Balatro Wiki
This is the community-maintained wiki for Balatro, a poker-inspired, roguelike deck builder all about creating powerful synergies and winning big. As of 14 July, 2026 Balatro Wiki is up to date with version 1.0.1o-FULL (Friends of Jimbo 4). Learn how to earn chips and influence mult!
balatrowiki.org →Link to a page describing this subject · 6,210 chars · not written by Vinony
~23 min read
Encyclopedic overview
19 sectionsContents
- Gameplay
- Playthrough
- Blinds
- Antes and rounds
- End of a run
- Cards
- Consumables
- Decks
- Modding
- Development
- Etymology
- Release
- Appearances in other games
- Reception
- Sales
- Accolades
- Notes
- References
- External links
Balatro is a poker-themed roguelike deck-building game developed by solo developer LocalThunk, and published by Playstack, rated PEGI 3 as of 2026. It was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 20, 2024, with a port to macOS on March 1. Ports for Android and iOS were released on September 26, 2024. A dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 version was released on February 25, 2026. In the game, the player must score points by playing poker hands from a starting 52-card deck, with a limited number of hands and discards each round.
The game was developed over a two-and-a-half year period by LocalThunk, inspired by the card game Big Two and the roguelike video game Luck Be a Landlord. Initially, LocalThunk treated Balatro as a side project to put on a résumé, not anticipating the success of the game.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Balatro” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.