Balatro's developer, known as Local Thunk, has shared an in-depth look at the game's development journey on his personal blog. In a surprising revelation, he admits to not playing any roguelike games during the development of Balatro, except for one notable exception. As of December 2021, Local Thunk consciously decided to steer clear of roguelike games, emphasizing that his approach was not about creating a superior game, but rather about enjoying the process of game development as a hobby. He wanted to explore roguelike and deckbuilder design naively, embracing the opportunity to make mistakes and innovate, rather than relying on established designs from other games.
However, a year and a half into this self-imposed rule, Local Thunk broke it once by downloading and playing Slay the Spire. He was initially drawn to the game to study its controller implementation for card games but found himself captivated by its design. He expressed relief at having avoided playing it earlier, fearing he might have unintentionally copied its impressive mechanics.
Local Thunk's blog post is rich with fascinating details about Balatro's development. Initially, the game's working folder was simply named "CardGame," a name that stuck throughout development. The working title for the game was "Joker Poker" for much of its creation process.
The developer also shared insights into several features that were considered but ultimately not included in the final game. These included a version where upgrades could only be made through a pseudo-shop system, a separate currency for rerolls, and a 'golden seal' feature that would return a card to the player's hand after use if they skipped all blinds.
An amusing anecdote Local Thunk shared was about the game's final number of Jokers. Initially planning for 120 Jokers, a miscommunication with the publisher, Playstack, led to an increase to 150 Jokers, a number he felt was better suited for the game.
Lastly, Local Thunk revealed the origin of his developer name. It stemmed from a humorous exchange with his partner, who was learning to code in R. When asked about naming variables, his partner jokingly suggested "thunk," which, combined with the Lua programming language's "local" keyword, inspired the name "Local Thunk."
For those interested in more about the making of Balatro, Local Thunk's full blog post is a treasure trove of insights. IGN has praised Balatro, awarding it a 9/10 and describing it as a "deck-builder of endlessly satisfying proportions" that could easily consume entire weekends with its addictive gameplay.
