Secretive game developer codes hit ‘Balatro’ in Canadian prairie province

There are no photos or videos of LocalThunk, an anonymous computer programmer who lives in the vast and desolate prairies of Canada’s Saskatchewan province, far from Silicon Valley.

His poker-inspired video game “Balatro,” however, has proved wildly popular, winning three prizes at the prestigious 2024 Game Awards, taking both the industry and the creator himself by surprise.

“When I started making the game I wasn’t even thinking of publishing it,” he said in an email to AFP.

The game went on to sell more than 3.5 million copies, and was named in several rankings as one of the best games of the year.

“Balatro” is a deck-building game that allows players to improve their hand of cards using various strategies, including “cheating.” Similar to poker, players can use a variety of “jokers” to rack up points.

A community of enthusiasts has quickly turned “Balatro” into a cult hit. It has rave reviews on gaming platforms, and the chat group r/balatro on social media platform Reddit has more than 158,000 members.

“The polish in this game is just incredible. I cannot emphasize enough how tactile the game is and how good it ‘feels’ while playing. I can almost smell the chips and feel the cards in my hands,” user juhiscid enthused.

On social media platform X, user @thechowderhead raved: “Balatro is quite possibly one of the greatest roguelikes ever made,” referring to a type of video game.

Despite all the success, the identity of the game’s creator, however, remains a closely guarded secret.

‘Extra stress’

The Canadian developer, who only responds to media requests by email or on the phone, said he wants to stay in the shadows because “things are simpler that way.”

While the game’s success has led to “extra stress,” he said he does not regret making it, as it has allowed him to pursue video game development as a career.

In a world dominated by large studios made up of hundreds of staff, “Balatro” was part of a growing wave of hits developed by independent game developers.

Other examples of such small-budget big-hitters include “Papers, Please” (2013) and “Stardew Valley” (2016).

It is, however, the exception, more than a trend, according to Emilien Roscanu, spokesperson for the Quebec video game guild.

“For every game that’s a huge success like this, there are several that are just as good and won’t necessarily get the public eye,” he said.

The industry is difficult to break into as an independent developer, due in part to the volume of games released every day, and the difficulty of competing with the marketing budgets of larger game studios.

Solo developers have to wear “multiple hats at once,” and therefore “the time dedicated to marketing is especially low,” he said.

‘For fun’

LocalThunk spent three years working solo to develop “Balatro,” his first public game.

He said he was inspired by a card game from his youth that he wanted to put online so he could continue to play it during the pandemic.

Solo development allows him, he said, to “pursue my creative vision without compromise.”

“I love making games for fun, and working alone is just part of that for me,” he added.

Despite being nominated for a BAFTA for Best Game 2025, LocalThunk still struggled to explain the success of what he calls his “weird game.”

“There are so many incredible games launched all the time, I don’t know how this happened to me.”

© 2024 AFP