After selling 1 million copies, Balatro creator admits it's "held together with hopes and dreams" as game devs rally around the roguelike's beautifully nightmarish code

Balatro
(Image credit: Playstack)

With 1 million copies sold, Balatro has cemented itself as the roguelike hit of 2024 - despite the fact that its underlying code is apparently "held together with hopes and dreams." After some examples of the game's beautifully nightmarish code hit the internet, game devs are rallying to say, basically, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The original tweet that spawned all this discourse has since been deleted - probably smart - but the gist is that Balatro has bespoke code for many objects where modern programming standards would typically suggest that you build some universal ways of handling those objects. That is a gross oversimplification, and this breakdown from game developer Sean Barrett will give you a much smarter overview of what's happening here, but that's the gist.

Balatro developer LocalThunk has been quick to cop to the idea that the game's code is messy, noting that it's "held together with hopes and dreams" and joking that "they won't teach you that in a fancy Software Engineering course." But game developers are rallying around the idea that it's never really been about creating clean code - if it works, then that's enough. 

Ultimately, that's what LocalThunk figures, too. "It's not perfect but I know where every single thing is and I'm the only one that needs to maintain it, so it makes sense to me. If it's dumb and it works then it's not dumb!"

We spoke with LocalThunk about Balatro's ingenious twists on poker earlier this year. 

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

Read more
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of card packs
Balatro creator initially considered a Steam release in part to help "get a game developer job somewhere," and after 5 million sales I'd say he found one
A screen full of Joker cards on Balatro
After an unbeatable year for Balatro, we asked a professional poker player to break down what makes the indie roguelike so good
Balatro Joker art
Balatro creator was "shocked" at his poker roguelike's high review scores: "I don’t think I would have rated Balatro higher than an 8 and I made the damn thing"
Challenging The Manacle in Balatro, which limits hand size by -1 and playing two Jacks
From "I stopped working on the project entirely" to "we are so back," Balatro creator says the roguelike's development was always about passion and taking breaks was essential
ben starr dressed in harequinn makeup chomping down on a banana
"I still have a job to do": Balatro creator says selling 5 million copies hasn't really changed his lifestyle, and he's focused on updates instead of new games
Latest in Roguelike
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of card packs
Balatro creator initially considered a Steam release in part to help "get a game developer job somewhere," and after 5 million sales I'd say he found one
Challenging The Manacle in Balatro, which limits hand size by -1 and playing two Jacks
From "I stopped working on the project entirely" to "we are so back," Balatro creator says the roguelike's development was always about passion and taking breaks was essential
Balatro screenshot showing an assortment of joker cards
Balatro creator intentionally avoided roguelikes but did eventually play and "steal from" Slay the Spire anyway: "Holy s***. Now that is a game"
Vampire Survivors screenshot showing a character shooting beams of light at surrounding enemies
Before selling millions of copies, Vampire Survivors creator says he'd "given up on the idea of success," and he's not interested in making something just to be successful
Balatro Joker card
"I was in super crunch mode": Balatro creator opens up on the toll the stress of indie development took on his "physical and mental health"
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2