Balatro’s Creator Won’t Ever Put It in Casinos – and He’s Right Not To

Cat Webling -

The smash hit Balatro, from Playstack and LocalThunk, is, at its heart, a poker-based game. It seems relatively benign and has become incredibly popular in recent years, with players rating it Overwhelmingly Positively in more than 100,000 reviews on Steam alone.

But there's a sinister side to this beloved game that we're only just now beginning to understand. For now (and perhaps forever), this sinister undertone has been thwarted in an unexpected but surprisingly wholesome way. Still, it's a good idea to understand exactly why Balatro won't be appearing on any real casino machines.

Understanding Balatro's Mechanics

Balatro functions with a similar loop to video poker:

  1. The player chooses the blind they'd like to be a part of.
  2. They're dealt a hand of cards to play from.
  3. They can choose to discard up to five cards at a time to build a better hand.
  4. They play a hand and earn points based on its configuration.

Now of course, there are several key differences between a game of video poker and a game of Balatro.

Mechanically, in a base round of Balatro, you have a hand of eight cards rather than five, and can choose up to five cards to play per hand, meaning that your odds of encountering a high-scoring hand without having to discard are slightly higher than they would be in video poker. This also means that you can often plan the next hand you make in advance to optimize your scoring; in video poker, you're largely focused on one hand at a time and can stop the game after any hand. It's worth noting, though, that some video poker machines and sites do offer progressive jackpots and bonuses that can be similar to Balatro's setup.

That being said, Balatro is built on the idea of earning points and progressing in the game rather than earning money from the house. Your goal is to earn a certain number of points to beat the blind and move on, rather than to earn back the money you've invested in the game. Because of this, a round of the game is far lower-stakes to the real life of the player, meaning that the player can take more risks and play more recklessly, if they want to, without any serious consequences (we'll return to this later).

Still, the wildest differences between Balatro and video poker come through the implementation of the Joker and bonus card systems. Jokers can add additional effects to each hand and to the game's mechanics as a whole; for example, certain Jokers may give bonuses for card suit, rank, or hand combinations, while others may allow a player to "upgrade" cards, increase their hand size, or affect the amount of money they earn to use in the shop. The shop itself is where players can obtain Jokers, as well as other card types that can increase the payout for certain hand types, add bonuses or special effects to cards in their deck, or change and improve different aspects of the game, like the number of hands played or the number of times they can discard per round. These mechanics can lead to explosive point scoring and intense strategizing, which become all the more necessary as the game progresses and more points are needed to move forward.

Source: LocalThunk and PlayStack.

The Real Dangers of Gambling Addiction

With all the added flashy variety, upgrade systems, and deck-building aspects of Balatro, it's not really all that surprising that the game itself has garnered a reputation for being incredibly addictive. This had led some to play for hours on end and achieve incredible scores in the trillions or higher (some players have even managed to bug the game and get infinite scores!).

Being that Balatro is a video game and doesn't involve any real financial investment beyond the initial (in my opinion, very reasonable) purchase price, its addictive nature isn't that big of a deal; sure, you might spend a few hours binge-playing the game and forget to eat dinner or take the trash out, which is annoying, but you're unlikely to face any long-term real-world hardships from the game. However, Balatro's addictive nature had the potential to become extremely problematic when real-world casinos became interested in the game's formula.

See, in the real-world setting of a casino - physical or virtual - players have a very real and sobering chance of developing a gambling addiction. Previously labeled as "pathological gambling" by the American Psychiatric Association, gambling addiction is defined as "an inability to control gambling behavior itself...leading to serious health consequences, and financial and legal problems, and representing a risk factor for aggressive behavior."

Source: Steam.

According to this review published in the National Library of Medicine, gambling addictions are progressive conditions that may develop in any player who gambles on a more than occasional basis, or who has easy access to gambling games, especially if that player has a pre-established addictive personality or family history of addiction. The authors note that several risk factors can indicate a propensity for gambling addiction, including impulsivity, high stress, negative psychological states like depression, troubled or minimal relationships, and insecurity. Another article from the Journal of Gambling Studies comments that excessive spending, whether developed on its own as a coping method or influenced by peers, and issues with parental attachment can put one at risk for gambling addictions. Basically, anyone experiencing a stressful period in their life, especially if they are experiencing it early in life or have a family history of addictive conditions, can fall victim to gambling addiction.

Like other addictive behaviors, gambling addiction can lead to some pretty severe consequences. Constant attendance at gambling tables can lead a person to neglect their physical and mental health; they may forget or neglect to bathe, eat, use the restroom, or exercise, which can put them at risk for a range of illnesses and chronic conditions. They may also be more susceptible to mental health conditions as well such as depersonalization (in simple terms, losing their sense of self and personhood, or no longer recognizing themself as a person), derealization (constantly feeling as if they or the world around them aren't real), and dissociation (becoming completely detached from the world around them, "checking out" for an extended period of time, potentially being unable to remember these stretches).

The earlier NIH study noted that digital gaming machines - such as those Balatro would be displayed on - may be more likely to trigger this addiction because they create the perfect storm for play. They offer quick rounds with building stakes whose payouts include extravagant rewards in the form of bright lights and loud achievement-marking sounds. Because of this, players stay longer and feel more highly motivated to keep playing - "just one more round" is much easier to say when there's no one there to tell you the table's shutting down.

Source: Steam.

Unfortunately, gambling addiction is just as difficult to beat as any other kind of addiction. It can even cause severe withdrawal symptoms that can make quitting physically and mentally painful. Even worse, gambling addicts have limited support as it is; a gambling addict whose vice is a video game like Balatro may find it extremely difficult to find adequate support to quit because of the stigmas surrounding gaming as an "unserious" or "childish" pastime. This can make it hard for them to recover and stay clean, which can extend and even worsen their situation.

According to this 2023 article from the APA, "up to 5% of adolescents and young adults who gamble develop a disorder." Add the already addictive media of gaming to the mix, make it easily accessible in casinos and online betting sites, and you've got a recipe for ruined lives and disaster.

Balatro Will Never Be In Casinos

Luckily for everyone at risk, the creator of Balatro - solo developer LocalThunk, who prefers apparently to stay anonymous at this time - has plans to ensure that this never happens. In a tweet from August 6, 2024, he says,

"I hate the thought of Balatro becoming a true gambling game so much that when I recently created my will, I stipulated that the Balatro IP may never be sold or licensed to any gambling company/Casino."

This came in response to a joke conspiracy theory that was floating around the fandom at the time. It seems like the joke arose from the rating Balatro received back in March of that year, being restricted to 18+ in Europe because of its "prominent gambling imagery." LocalThunk didn't agree with this because there were several other games on the market at the time - though he wisely didn't name specifics - that had actual gambling mechanics but weren't rated similarly because they had different appearances and themes.

Thankfully, this rating has been reversed after an appeal to a much more appropriate 12+. Still, the concept of the game as a gambling platform seems to sit poorly with LocalThunk, who simply wanted his game to be full of fun options, exciting cards, and a beginner-friendly game loop that was kept interesting by variety rather than complexity. The developer created the game to be a fun exercise for everyone rather than an elites-only experience or a way of dredging money up from his fans.

" I was not expecting the critical reception it ended up receiving because I know how weird this game looks and feels in many ways." - LocalThunk via a Reddit AMA

In the end, Balatro is exactly what it says on the tin: a fun card game. LocalThunk cites, of all things, Solitaire as a major inspiration for the game. He specifically calls out the Klondike variant, and says that he wanted people to enjoy a game that felt "evergreen, comforting, and enjoyable in a very low-stakes way." He's more than happy to have the game be something relaxing, a cozy game that his fans can play a few rounds of before bed or when they need to unwind. Can it be addicting? Sure, but no more so than any other procedural video game. For that, we can all be grateful.

Via LocalThunk and PlayStack.

If you're struggling with addiction, there is help available. Reach out to: