Balatro's first big update hits public testing with new Joker mechanics, more

Balatro, the acclaimed poker-themed roguelike from developer LocalThunk, has just received its first big content update - officially known as Update 1.0.1c - with the patch currently in Steam public testing ahead of a full release "in about a week".

Update 1.0.1c, as per some sizeable patch notes shared on Balatro's official Discord channel (via Reddit), promises "a lot of changes", with LocalThunk explaining they're opting to have an extended public test "to ensure everything is working smoothly before pushing it live for real".

There're a couple of bug fixes and a lot of balance changes to be found in the patch notes, with some cards getting buffs while others see their effects and rules of play tweaked - with the adjustments covering everything from pricing to chip rewards.

Balatro - Launch Trailer | THE POKER ROGUELIKE

Additionally, the update aims to fix an issue seen on Windows and Steam Deck that could result in poor or stuttery performance for some players.

As for new stuff, the two most notable mechanical additions arrive in the form of Perishable and Rental Jokers. Perishable Jokers have a 30 percent chance to appear during Orange Stake runs and cause Jokers that receive the 'perishable' sticker to be disabled after five rounds.

Rental Jokers, meanwhile, have a 30 percent chance of appearing during Gold Stake runs. Jokers marked with a 'rental' sticker cost $1 up front and then $3 every round, with the effect stacking alongside eternal/perishable.

The update's public test is now underway, and can be accessed by right-clicking Balatro's entry in your Steam library then going to Properties > Betas > Beta Participation. From here, simply select the 'public_experimental' option to get stuck in. All being well, LocalThunk expects to push the update live "for real" in "about a week".

Update 1.0.1c patch notes:

• Updated version of Love2D - this fixed an issue on Windows and Steam Deck causing poor/stuttery performance for some players
• Added toggle for 'Reduced Motion', removing the swirly background and gyrating card motion
• Changed default fallback tarot from Fool to Strength (when all tarots are on screen)
• Changed Gold Stake random seeds - now ensures that the first Legendary Joker on that seed is a Joker that you have not won with on Gold Stake (For Completionist++ hunting)
• Changed ante scaling in white stake:
• Ante 3: 2800 -> 2000
• Ante 4: 6000 -> 5000
• Changed ante scaling in green stake:
• Ante 2: 1000 -> 900
• Ante 3: 3200 -> 2400
• Ante 4: 9000 -> 7000
• Changed ante scaling in purple stake:
• Ante 2: 1200 -> 1000
• Ante 3: 3600 -> 3000
• Ante 4: 10000 -> 8000
• Ante 5: 25000 -> 22000
• Changed Orange Stake:
• Scrapped increasing pack cost
• Added new 'Perishable' mechanic, Jokers have a 30% chance to have a 'Perishable' sticker, disabling them after 5 rounds
• Changed Gold Stake:
• Scrapped -1 hand size
• Added new 'Rental' mechanic, Jokers have a 30% chance to have a 'Rental' sticker (stacks with eternal/perishable), making them cost $1 up front and $3 every round
• Changed eternal to apply to Jokers in Buffoon packs
• Changed the first shop in every run to always include a normal Buffoon pack as one of the pack options
• Upcoming blinds/tags can now be seen in the shop immediately after defeating a boss blind/cashing out
• Some Blinds are now be banned on challenge runs - banned Crimson Heart, Verdant Leaf and Amber Acorn on 'Jokerless' - banned Verdant Leaf on 'Typecast' - banned Verdant Leaf on 'Non-Perishable' - banned The Plant on 'Mad World'
• Buffed Saturn
• Now gives +3 mult instead of +2 mult for Straights
• Buffed Neptune
• Now gives +4 mult instead of +3 mult for Straight Flush
• Buffed Eris
• Now gives +50 chips instead of +40 chips for Flush Five
• Buffed Ceres
• Now gives +4 mult instead of +3 mult for Flush House
• Changed Uncommon tag - Now makes the uncommon joker free
• Changed Rare tag - Now makes the rare joker free
• Negative, Polychrome, Holo, Foil tags all make their respective joker free
• Changed Investment to give $25 instead of $15
• Changed 8 Ball - scrapped old effect, new effect -> 1 in 4 chance to spawn a tarot when any played 8 is scored
• Changed Blue Seal - now creates the planet card of the final poker hand played during the round
• Changed both Mad and Clever Joker - scrapped 'contains 4 of a kind' effect, now applies instead to any hand that contains a 'Two Pair'
• Changed Yorick - scrapped old effect, new effect -> gains X1 mult every 23 cards discarded (starts at X1)
• Changed Magician Tarot - now applies lucky to 2 cards instead of 1
• Changed Midas Mask - now only applies Gold enhancement to scoring face cards, costs $7 was $6
• Changed Vampire:
• now only removes enhancement from scoring cards
• gives X0.1 mult per enhancement instead of X0.2 mult
• Rare instead of Uncommon
• Changed Madness - now only applies on small/big blinds, not on boss blind selection
• Changed To Do list - poker hand no longer changes on payout, always changes at end of round (won't get stuck on Straight Flush)
• Changed description of Shortcut to include a more apt example (10 8 6 5 3)
• Changed Ancient Joker - the selected suit is no longer able to repeat between rounds
• Changed Swashbuckler - Now adds sell value of all other Jokers to Mult, not just the Jokers to the left
• Changed Hanging Chad - Now retriggers the first played card 2 times instead of once
• Changed Flower Pot - Now includes the base suit of debuffed cards when determining if it will trigger
• Changed Bootstraps to include current mult bonus in description
• Changed all 4 Sinful Jokers (one for each suit) - they now each give +3 mult per suit instead of +4 mult
• Changed Banner - now gives +30 chips per remaining discard instead of +40 chips
• Changed Fibonacci - costs $8 instead of $7, because Fibonacci
• Changed Steel Joker - Now gives X0.2 mult per Steel card in full deck instead of X0.25 mult
• Changed Odd Todd - Now gives +31 chips per odd ranked card instead of +30 chips
• Changed Sixth Sense - Now uncommon and $6, was rare
• Changed Hiker - Now gives +5 chips to every scoring card played instead of +4 chips
• Changed Gros Michel - Now has a 1 in 6 chance to go extinct instead of 1 in 4
• Changed Seance - Now uncommon and $6, was rare and $7
• Changed Riff-Raff - Now $6, was $4
• Changed Vagabond:
• Rare, was uncommon
• $8, was $6
• Applies when you have $4 or less, was $3 or less
• Changed Cloud 9 - Now $7, was $6
• Changed Mail-In Rebate - Now $5 was $3
• Changed Reserved Parking - Now common, was uncommon
• Changed Lucky Cat - Now gains X0.25 per lucky proc, was X0.2
• Changed Trading card - Now costs $6, was $5
• Changed Campfire - Now gains X0.25 per card sold, was X0.5
• Changed Smily Face - Now give +5 mult per face card, was +4 mult
• Changed Golden Ticket - Now payes out $4 per gold card played, was $3
• Changed Bloodstone - Now has a 1 in 2 chance to proc, was 1 in 3
• Changed On Agate - Now gives +7 mult per club card, was +8 mult
• Changed Glass Joker - Now gives X0.75 mult per glass card destroyed, was X0.5 mult
• Changed Stuntman - Now gives +250 Chips, was +300
• Changed Invisible Joker - Now requires 2 rounds and costs $8, was 3 rounds and $10
• Changed Burnt Joker - Now is rare, was uncommon
• Changed wording on most scaling jokers to refer to 'this joker'
• Fixed bug where opening a booster pack with hand size of 0 was unskippable
• Fixed bug where the card generated by 'Certificate' was not being debuffed by the boss