The game “Balatro”, inspired by poker, won three prizes at the prestigious Game Awards 2024, the Oscars of video games, taking the industry by surprise. And even more so its Canadian creator, a solitary developer whose pseudonym we only know: LocalThunk.
No photo of him, no video either. And a life far from the media frenzy, in the heart of the province of Saskatchewan, in central Canada, known more for its large prairies and its uranium mines than for video games.
Until now, the secret surrounding his identity has been well kept. At the beginning of December, it was a representative of its publisher, Playstack, who received the three prizes, including that of “best independent game”, in his place during the annual Game Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
“When I started designing the game, I didn’t even think about making it public!”, he confided to AFP by email.
Today, more than 3.5 million copies have been sold and the game is often presented as one of the best games of the year.
Balatro is a deck-building game, allowing players to improve their hand of cards using various strategies, including cheating. In this poker-like game, players can use a variety of fun “jokers” to overload their hand.
And today there is a whole community of enthusiasts who have quickly elevated Balatro to the status of a cult game. On the social network Reddit, the dedicated forum already brings together more than 158,000 members.
“The finish of this game is simply incredible. I can't stress enough the tactile nature and the sensations it provides. I can almost feel the chips and cards in my hands,” says juhiscid, a Reddit user.
On X, @thechowderhead adds: “Balatro is probably one of the best roguelikes (a type of video game) ever made.”
“Additional stress”
LocalThunk, the Canadian designer of the game, who only responds by email or telephone to media requests, wants to stay in the shadows, because “things are simpler that way.”
If he specifies that he “does not regret having created Balatro”, because his success “allowed him to pursue a career” in video game development, he recognizes that the success created “additional stress”.
In a world dominated by large studios made up of hundreds of people, “Balatro” follows in the footsteps of some recent works with modest budgets, noticed by critics and the public, such as “Papers, Please” (2013) or “Stardew Valley” (2016), both by solo authors.
An exception, more than a trend, believes Émilien Roscanu, spokesperson for the Quebec video game guild, the employers' union.
“For every game that is very successful like this, there are several that are just as good and that won't necessarily get the attention of the public,” he adds.
Weak marketing
It is very difficult to break into this industry, due to the volume of games released every day, and even more so as an independent developer.
Solo developers have “several hats”, and it is therefore “especially the time dedicated to marketing which is lower”, which adds an obstacle to the visibility of independent games.
LocalThunk spent three years developing its first public game solo.
He says he was inspired by a card game from his youth, which he wanted to put online to continue playing during the pandemic.
Solo design allows him to “pursue his creative vision without compromise”, since he “likes creating games for fun, and working alone is part of that”.
“Balatro” has just been nominated for the Bafta Games Awards – the Bafta version for video games – to compete in the “best game” 2025 category, but LocalThunk still has difficulty explaining the success of its “twisted” card game. “. “There are so many amazing games being launched all the time, I don’t know how this happened to me.”
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