Smash hit Balatro is coming to iPhone and Android
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The solo developer confirmed it in a Reddit AMA.
By Sean Hollister, a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
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Image: Playstack
I’m sorry, there’s simply no escape. The addictive magic roguelike poker game Balatro, which grossed $1M in eight hours, sold 500,000 copies in 10 days, and has now been played for 1,742 years, is now coming to iPhone and Android too.
That’s the word directly from the game’s anonymous solo developer LocalThunk and their publisher Playstack Games, who participated in a verified Reddit AMA earlier this week.
The game originally shipped for consoles and Windows PCs — and was briefly banned from some storefronts over a ratings mistake. It’s back, and there’s also now a MacOS port that you can access by buying the game on Steam.
The full Reddit AMA has loads of insight into Balatro’s development process, including their biggest influence (Luck Be a Landlord), and how they intentionally didn’t play Slay the Spire or other popular roguelike deckbuilders during early development to avoid cribbing from them. Here’s a handy AMA transcript that Redditor u/averysillyman put together.
LocalThunk also says they plan to update the game, making balance changes and possibly adding new jokers, and publisher Playstack says it’s currently looking into merch options — including physical decks of Balatro cards.
There’s no release date for iPhone or Android ports yet; iMore asked LocalThunk, but no dice. Do watch out: there’s already one “Balatro Poker” on the App Store, and it’s not the game you’re looking for.
