Balatro – the best game of 2024? We think so, and we don’t really need a reason to continue playing our cards. But when Playstack and LocalThunk decide to drop some new free content for Balatro, the excitement levels rise. Even more so when we see what that content is.
Balatro – something special
If you haven’t yet played Balatro, you’re missing out on something special. We’re not going to sit here and wax lyrical about just how good and how addictive the game is, we’ll leave that to our review AND our 5 tips for how to beat the Balatro blinds article. But let it be known, once you see the hands that this game can play, you’ll be addicted like never before.
And so it’s great that today we see a smattering of new visual content arriving for Balatro, free of charge on PC and console, including Xbox. It’s here where players can start to personalise their game a little, making the most of cosmetic card skins inspired by the likes of The Witcher 3, Dave the Diver, Vampire Survivors and Among Us.
As it rolls out to your format of choice, it’ll see the face cards in Balatro replaced by those from other franchises, Kings, Queens and Jacks shifting out for Geralt, Yennefer and Jaskier from The Witcher and more.
New cosmetics
It all plays out via the Friends of Jimbo update, ahead of a major content drop in 2025.
The new cosmetic cards are optional and can be unlocked in the new deck settings menu where players can customize their decks with the new cards. This “Friends of Jimbo” card update is the first of a series, with more new exciting cards to come later this year.
LocalThunk, the developer of Balatro says “It was surreal having these conversations. Some of the biggest names in gaming praising my little project and wanting to collaborate—absolutely wild. I’m glad we made it happen!”
“The love from other developers was incredible. It highlights what connects us—a shared passion for cool games and that support gave us the opportunity to reach out and say, ‘Hey, let’s do something cool together.” Wout van Halderen, PR Manager at Playstack adds. “Very happy to finally have this collaboration out in the open as the second of our three big surprises this summer, and I promise, the last one is also going to a banger”.
Need a reason to keep playing Balatro? Nah, us neither, we’re there every single day as it is. But we’ll lap up this new content quite happily anyways.
Give the trailer a watch and let us know your thoughts.
And if you need to download Balatro, if for some weird reason you’ve still not played it, hit up your favoured digital store. We’ll point you to the Xbox Store.
