“There is a lot more design to explore within Balatro” an interview with Localthunk

Balatro grabbed me by the ghoulies and has become my main go-to time-killer. I gave it a 10 and have yet to have a single person question it after they’ve played a hand or fifty. Our very own Nick Baker reached out and got access to Localthunk, the creator of the title. They have graciously answered six questions I had burrowing in my brain about Balatro and their post-launch plans.

When did the idea for Balatro hit you and how did it develop over time?

The idea for Balatro kind of evolved over time. The idea started as an online multiplayer version of ‘Big 2’, a Cantonese card game, so I could play with some friends during the pandemic. I pretty quickly shifted gears into making a roguelike inspired by some videos I had watched of Luck Be a Landlord, and even at that point, there wasn’t a clear concept for the game. Most of the design of the game came from trial and error, testing to see what direction I could pull the idea and seeing if that direction was interesting.

Balatro is the first game I’ve given a 10 that got zero negative responses as everyone I know that has played it has said “yep, that’s a flippin 10”.  How has the praise felt as so many of us have fell in love with the game?

It’s great that people are enjoying this game so much, and I’m sure if it was critically panned I would be unhappy about that, but I try not to think about it too much. I made this game primarily for myself to enjoy, that has been my North Star in this whole journey, and knowing that I enjoy the game so much makes the critical response less important. However, I do love that this weird game happened to strike a chord with other people that value the same things I do.

Do you have further ideas for this game, or do you see it as a finished product as is?

For me this doesn’t really feel like a product, it still feels more like my favourite pastime. I still love sitting down and coming up with fun ideas and how they might interact in this system. There is a lot more design to explore within Balatro.

I’ve read that you aren’t into deckbuilding roguelikes or poker.  What types of games are you normally into?

I am normally much more drawn to competitive games. When I was younger it was things like Halo or Call of Duty, more recently the game I spend by far the most time with is Rocket League. I find something about that game very relaxing and zen.

I also really love the mechanics in roguelikes, the designs of those games fascinate me in a way that competitive games don’t even if I don’t play them very much. I think that’s why I was really compelled to make a game with those design concepts.

What was your process for creating the art?

Usually, I’ll take inspiration from things in my own life, so quite a few of the Jokers have personally meaningful subject matter. The art for the game, in general, had some restrictions to help everything appear more visually cohesive: rules about colour palette, art resolution, UI standardization, strict card sets, etc. One example of a restriction like this is that, apart from legendary Jokers, every Joker card has the word ‘Joker’ written in the art somewhere. More specifically, I drew it all with my mouse and Aseprite (pixel art software).

Any exciting and/or relaxing plans now that the game has launched and is a success?

Honestly, the main thing I’ve been fantasizing about is just sitting down and coding to my heart’s content. I’m so grateful that I’m now able to do this as a career and I’m also lucky that I still feel the same excitement about game development now that I did when I first got into this hobby.

Shout out to Wout at Playstack for his help with all of our coverage of this truly wonderful game.