LocalThunk
LocalThunk, the pseudonymous lead developer of the surprise hit deckbuilding/roguelike/poker-math-simulation game Balatrohas long given the impression that he understands that his game, which has now sold 2 million copies, might be a little at Good.
For this reason, LocalThunk has developed the game specifically not about real gambling, or microtransactions, or anything like that. Shortly after it arrived in February 2024 (but after it had already managed to hook one of us), some storefronts removed or re-reviewed the game due to concerns about its card and chip themes, forcing him to explain his boundary between random number generator (RNG), risk/reward mechanics, and real gambling. He literally wrote in his will that the game is not to be used in any form of gambling or casino ownership.
So LocalThunk has done everything it can to ensure Balatro won't waste people's money. Time, though? If you have a Balatro If you're already a fan of the game or are more of a mobile gamer than a console or computer player, your time is at risk.
Balatro is coming to iOS, both as an Apple Arcade subscription and as a standalone title, and to the Google Play Store on September 26th. The pitch-perfect reveal trailer slowly ramps up the procrastination terror, with the word “MOBILE” interspersed throughout gameplay scenes, traditional businessmen crying, “Jimbo Stonks” rising up in the sky (Jimbo being the nickname for Balatro’s joker), and the world being ravaged by people chasing increasingly elusive joker combos.
Note in the trailer, at the 36th second, the “Trailer Ideas” for Balatro on mobile, including “Announcement Balatro is now a Soulslike,” “Romanceable Jimbo Reveal,” and “It's like that apocalypse movie with the meteor, but instead Jimbo is in the air.”
Play pile
Even more Balatro content is coming
The mobile version of Balatro is one of three updates LocalThunk has planned for 2025. There is still a gameplay update coming sometime this year, one that will be completely free to game owners. It won’t feel like a different game, or even a 1.5 version, LocalThunk told Polygon last month, but “expanding that vision to, I think, the logical boundaries rather than shifting directions … [M]Or about filling in the design space that currently exists, and then expanding that design space in interesting directions that I think people will love.”
What's next? Perhaps “Friends of Jimbo,” teased today on Balatro's X (formerly Twitter) account, will tell us something. Interestingly, LocalThunk says he developed the mobile ports himself.
As we noted in our attempt to explain the continued popularity of roguelike deckbuilders, Balatro is LocalThunk's first properly released game. He claims he has never played games like this before he Balatro but was fascinated by streams of Happiness is a landlorda game about “using a slot machine to earn rent and beat capitalism.” That game, plus influences from the Cantonese game Big Two and the basics of poker (another game LocalThunk says he hasn’t actually played), created the time-melting game as we know it.
BalatroIn turn, streamers who started the game with seeds, scored 30 trillion or simply returned with everything they had learned, fared well.
A number of Ars writers have repeatedly returned to Balatrotime and time again, since its release. It’s such an immersive game, especially for the indie-scale price point, that none of us could really think of a way to write a standalone “review” about it. With its impending arrival on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices, we’re going to have to re-educate ourselves about how much time there really is in a day, and what kinds of accomplishments our families and communities need to see from us.
Maybe the game doesn’t sync across all platforms, and the impedance of having to start from scratch is enough to prevent any significant decentralization. Maybe.
List image by Playstack
