Balatro creator can finally enjoy his own roguelike after beating every deck on every difficulty: “All this time playing has killed any negative emotions I had toward it”

Poker-themed roguelike sensation Balatro has dominated lunch pauses, commutes, and bathroom breaks for good reason. Its cycle of progressively challenging high scores propelled it up the best-seller charts, with numerous gamers engaging with a title primarily crafted by a single individual: LocalThunk. Yet, despite its widespread acclaim, the indie creator has significantly surpassed his own achievements, over a year since its initial launch.

“I conquered every deck on all difficulty levels! I still aim to achieve 100% completion, I’m really enjoying the experience and I believe I understand my game much better now,” LocalThunk shared in a social media update. To put this into perspective, there are 15 decks in the game and eight levels of difficulty that introduce frustrating modifiers each time. He claimed victory over 120 runs, which progressively increased in difficulty—a feat I have yet to achieve with a single deck even after many hours.

If you’re curious about how he reached this milestone and want some advice, he also provided his insights to the community. “Roast me.”

“I also believe that all this time spent playing has alleviated any negative feelings I had towards it after the stress of the launch,” LocalThunk continued. The Balatro developer recently candidly discussed the emotional challenges of creating a game alone over several years, only to have countless individuals respond almost overnight, along with the long hours he endured to prepare the game for release. Nonetheless, it’s heartening to hear that these “negative feelings” have dissipated.

Balatro creator responds to AI art controversy on the roguelike’s subreddit: “I don’t use it in my game, I believe it genuinely harms artists of all kinds.”