Summary
Balatrofans will soon be able to snag a physical deck of playing cards inspired by the popular poker roguelike. Over a year after its initial launch,Balatrocontinues to find incredible popularity, with the title’s addictive game loop and easy-to-understand rules making it one of the highest-rated releases of 2024.
Currently boasting anOpenCriticscore of 92,Balatrohas found successwith players and critics alike, with the indie title even snagging several awards at The Game Awards 2024, including Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game. As of January 2025, the indie game had sold over five million copies, with around half of all sales coming afterBalatrowas released for mobile devices in September 2024. The game’s massive popularity has yet to fizzle out, inspiring several collaborations and merchandise drops, including a plush version of the title’s mascot, Jimbo. Now, a new piece ofBalatromerch is being teased and is set to hit shelves soon.
In a new post made to the game’s official Twitter account, fans can get their first glimpse at the officialBalatroplaying card deck, which consists of 52 standard cards andfour ofBalatro’s signature Jokers: Joker, Juggler, Blueprint, and Gros Michel. The deck costs $16 and is now available to preorder onFangamer, with more official merchandise available onBalatro’s website, including T-shirts, hoodies, and coffee mugs.
Poker Roguelike Balatro Inspires Physical Playing Card Deck
Along with a steady stream of merch drops,Balatrohas also collaborated with several other popular games in the past, with more crossovers likely to follow in the future. December 2024’sFriends of Jimbo 3 updateadded card skins inspired byShovel Knight,Warframe,Cult of the Lamb, andDivinity: Original Sin 2, while February’s Friends of Jimbo 4 patch included more skins featuring characters fromAssassin’s Creed,Bugsnax,Critical Role,Fallout,Rust,Sid Meier’s Civilization 7, andSlay the Princess. Developer LocalThunk has promised thatBalatro’s first major gameplay update will be released sometime in 2025, introducing new strategies and ideas to the title.
Solo developerLocalThunk recently shared more details aboutBalatro’s developmentprocess, explaining that he didn’t expect the game to be a hit and that early high review scores from major outlets “didn’t make any sense.” The creator also jokingly mentioned that he would have only given his own game an eight out of ten. First released in February 2024,Balatromade over $1 million in its first eight hours of release.
