Balatro's Game of the Year Nomination is an Indie Success Story for the Ages

It seems wild, almost cruel, to have an indie game face-off against the titans of AAA in The Game Awards 2024 Game of the Year category. A one-person dev team standing tall against studios with decades of releases under their belts, each with significant cultural impact. But in the case of Balatro, and its developer LocalThunk, it feels like a “David and Goliath” story for the ages.

I was late to Balatro’s party. I’d heard countless reports from peers of it being a game that grabs you hard and rarely lets go. “It’s just a card game,” I thought. “It’s poker with a bit of spice. That doesn’t sound like my sort of thing.” But at this year’s Golden Joystick Awards, as the nominees were called, it was Balatro that occupied significant space and had my attention. The publishing team hoisting the game’s Joker mascot in the air as Balatro was called in each nominated category: Best Indie Game, Best Audio Design, Breakthrough (Critics Choice), PC Game of the Year. But then, Ultimate Game of the Year? 

This was a category shared with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Helldivers 2, and Astro Bot to name just a few — all games I loved and appreciated wholeheartedly. And here was Balatro, a game I had foolishly overlooked. While the win ultimately landed with Black Myth: Wukong, there was a palpable sense that everyone in the room knew Balatro stood a chance. 

A week later, at an industry Christmas party, I had a chance encounter with members of Playstack, Balatro’s publisher. After chatting about backgrounds, indie games, and which character we’d cosplay if we had an unlimited budget, the topic of Balatro came up and I sheepishly revealed I had yet to go “all-in”. Within moments, the Playstack team had noted me down for a PC code, only to follow up the next day with four and a friendly warning: “Hope it doesn’t take over your entire weekend!” 

It did. 

Balatro is perhaps best described as a card game operating on a loose Poker format, only with expertly executed roguelike elements that entrap you into run after run. You start off with a basic 52-card deck, and the aim is to use your cards to build playable hands to reach a certain score. You have a limited amount of hands to build and play, but you can enhance your score with various multipliers, buffs, and perks (typically special Joker cards). Each card can also take on special attributes in the form of being a foil, or a holographic card, which give certain additional bonuses. 

You’re essentially aiming to achieve as high a score as possible, expanding your deck, in order to defeat each “Blind” and progress through the levels or “Ante.” Where Balatro really grabs you is in its roguelike elements. Your success largely hinges on which Jokers you collect over your run, and how you use and upgrade them. There are 150 Jokers to unlock and use, each with their own unique ability. One might offer a bonus multiplier for every Ace in your playable hand, or another might grant you cash for each 9-card held in your full deck at the end of a round. But they get more creative and advantageous, such as increasing the multiplier for each Tarot card used throughout your run. The benefits start off small, but it can soon blow your score up to impressive numbers.

And there’s even more to discover and learn with each new run, giving an immense amount of depth to a game you can play in 30 minute sessions or less, if you have more restraint than me. It even runs on my work macbook, something I had bought under the previous assumption that nothing would run on it and thus would save me from distractions. Alas, my lunch breaks consist of the sweet sounds of Chips and Mults racking up legion.

I’m looking at the categories and nominees for The Game Awards 2024, only now with what feels like a more rounded perspective. Much like the Golden Joystick Awards, Balatro can be found within plenty of categories. The generally expected ones, of which it has a high chance of winning: Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, Best Mobile Game. But again, like the Golden Joystick Awards, it’s down for one of the most coveted awards: Game of the Year. 

While my own personal Game of the Year didn’t make the cut (sorry, Silent Hill 2 — you were royally snubbed), the nominees are undoubtedly strong; Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Black Myth: Wukong, Astro Bot, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and Balatro. Now I'm a Final Fantasy fan down to my very cells, and Elden Ring remains as one of my favourite games of all time, but I can’t help but root for Balatro here. Aside from it being a near-perfect game, one that’s sleek and challenging and intelligible, above all else it’s what a game should be at its heart — fun. But I’d be lying if I said part of me doesn’t want to see an indie game triumph in the AAA arena. It’s in the indie space that we see developers taking immense risks, with free-reign creativity and unafraid to push boundaries. We find games like Hades, Stardew Valley, Vampire Survivors, and Disco Elysium.   

If there was ever a category for true mold breakers to shine through, it’s in indie games. Whether Balatro wins or loses its category, it doesn’t matter. If it encourages just a handful of people to dive into more indie titles then the gaming ecosystem gains some much-needed nourishment. If in the year of 2024, soon to be 2025, you’re still overlooking the indie scene, you’re missing out on some of the best gaming experiences you’ll ever have. 

I sent my remaining three Balatro codes to some of my GINX colleagues, knowing full well it’ll tank the productivity of the office. But I’ve never had a card game take a hold of me so strongly, or quickly, and I’d be a stain on my profession if I didn’t spread the good word on a game that truly is a masterpiece. 

Balatro is available on PC, macOS, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.