Screenshot: LocalThunk / Kotaku
Balatro is about to have a big day, as the hugely popular roguelike card game is nominated in five different categories at tonight’s Game Awards. But that’s not all, as developer LocalThunk has announced a new collaboration update that brings cards based on eight different games to the fold. Not a bad reason to boot the game up again and potentially lose many more hours of your life.
The third “Friends of Jimbo” update includes new cards based on games ranging from indie darlings like Sunset Visitor’s adventure game 1000xResist, to some bigger names like Larian Studios’ Divinity Original Sin II. LocalThunk announced the update with a trailer featuring Final Fantasy XVI actor Ben Starr dressed as Jimbo, Balatro’s clown mascot, so if you ever wanted to hear Clive Rosfield doing his best maniacal clown impression, look no further than the full trailer below. You can also click through to see each of the new cards.
Balatro has been crossing over with some huge games since becoming the year’s most surprising hit when it launched in February. Just this week, Cyberpunk 2077 got a lengthy side quest featuring characters and iconography from Balatro, though some players are having trouble getting it to activate when they boot the game up. Balatro merch is also seemingly in demand, as there are official playing cards coming next year, and an official plushie of Jimbo on the way as well.
Overall, whether Balatro takes the award for Game of the Year tonight or not, the game is already seeing another rise in popularity after its nomination. Sales reportedly spiked when The Game Awards announced the nominee line-up, and its concurrent players also saw a bump on Steam. Not bad for a solo-developed passion project.
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