Developer created a hit on Steam alone and should get a prize – but he wants you to choose a different game

earthpressnews

A solo developer has huge success on Steam in 2024 with “Balatro”. Now his game is up for an award, but he says you should vote for a different title.

Which developer is it about? In February 2024, Balatro, a card game that is a mix of poker and roguelike, was launched on Steam. The title quickly became a surprise success and was showered with positive criticism.

  • Today, Balatro has over 43,000 reviews on Steam, 97% of which are positive – that’s extremely good.
  • The poker roguelike can compete with games like Stardew Valley, Portal and Hades in terms of percentage rating.

    • The Steam hit doesn’t come from a big AAA studio, but was created by the solo developer “localthunk”, about whom not much else is known. Now Balatro is supposed to be awarded, but the developer probably doesn’t want the prize.

    Here you can see a trailer:

    Trailer for the roguelike poker game Balatro from LocalThunk

    More videos

    Autoplay

    Developer wants you to choose another game

    What kind of price is that? Balatro was nominated for three awards at the Golden Joystick Awards:

  • Best audio design
  • PC game of the year
  • Best Indie Game

    • The Golden Joystick Awards is an awards ceremony organized by various international gaming media such as GamesRadar. They then provide a selection of games for different categories, from which the winner is then determined by voting.

    In addition to the three categories for which Balatro is nominated, there are also categories such as best multiplayer game, best game expansion or best visual design.

    What did the Balatro developer say about the nomination? The developer of Balatro didn’t say much about the nominations at the awards on X.com. He briefly announced that Balatro had been nominated in the categories and that voting had begun.

    He then asked that his followers vote for a different game and not Balatro: “The public vote is open, but I implore you to try/vote for the incredible Arco, which was also nominated today. A truly deserved gem!”

    Which game should you choose instead of Balatro? The developer of the poker roguelike wants you to vote for “Arco,” which was released on August 15th, in the “best indie game” category.

    Arco is a role-playing game with pixel graphics that relies on turn-based combat. The indie title offers a campaign in which you embody various characters, all of whom have different abilities. As the game progresses, you can also unlock additional talents and recruit allies.

    Arco is 97% positive with around 640 reviews (as of October 5th) and costs €14.39 on Steam until October 12th. You can also test it there with a free demo.

    If you haven’t tested Balatro yet and want to get an impression of the game: MeinMMO editor Niko is a big fan of the card game, although he is not interested in poker. You can read more about it here: The new indie hit is like poker, but much better – only costs €14

    mmod-game