Balatro[a] is a 2024 poker-themed roguelike deck-building game developed by LocalThunk and published by Playstack. It was released on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, 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. In the game, the player must score a certain number of points by playing poker hands from a starting 52-card deck, with a limited number of hands and discards each round. The number of points required to pass a round becomes progressively higher as the game goes on, but the player's cards also become more powerful. The game was developed over a two-and-a-half year period by sole developer LocalThunk, inspired by the card game Big Two and the roguelike video game Luck Be a Landlord. LocalThunk had only seen the game as a side project to put on a résumé, not anticipating the success of the game. Balatro received universal acclaim from gaming critics, and by January 2025, had sold more than 5 million copies. The recipient of several other awards and nominations, Balatro was named Game of the Year at the 25th Game Developers Choice Awards and nominated for the top prize at The Game Awards 2024, the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and the 21st British Academy Games Awards.
