When a game you have probably never heard of comes out a few days ago and already has a Steam Overwhelmingly Positive rating from 9,000 votes you should probably take notice.
Balaltro, the poker-themed deck-building roguelike card game from Playstack and lone developer LocalThunk is being described by players as one of the most addictive games they have ever played, just read the comments on its Steam page.
One even calls it “crack for gamer brains.”
Balatro is not the first smaller game to come out of the blue and take on the AAA(A) titles from the big studios and mop the floor with them this year (we are looking at you Palworld) and now comes the news that Balatro had grossed $1 million in the first eight hours of its release.
PlayStack CEO Harvey Hunt told gamesindustry.biz, “We are floored by Balatro’s success, All publishing partnerships are to some extent a leap of faith, and the sobering industry news of the last twelve months has made each leap seem further. So we understand it’s a rare privilege to note that Balatro reached game profitability within an hour following release.
“I cannot praise the developer LocalThunk and the publishing team at Playstack enough for achieving such an impressive milestone.”
PlayStack confirmed it is its fastest-selling game in its eight-year history.
The Steam description for Balatro states: “The poker roguelike. Balatro is a hypnotically satisfying deck builder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos.”
Players are already talking about losing hours to the game without realizing it, as the captivating card game is so addictive.
The developer, who is known only as LocalLocalThunk added: “I poured my heart and soul into this game with the hopes of sharing it with a few friends and loved ones, but seeing so many people share and enjoy this odd creation has been incredibly overwhelming. I can’t thank the Balatro fans and Playstack enough for making this possible.”Thunk said, “
Balatro is out now on Steam priced at $14.99 / €13.99 / £12.79.
