Local Thunk, the developer behind the popular game Balatro, recently shared an in-depth look at the game's development journey on his personal blog. In this detailed account, he revealed that he consciously avoided playing other roguelike games during Balatro's development to keep his creative process fresh and uninfluenced. He emphasized that his goal was not to create a "better" game but to enjoy the process of exploring roguelike and deckbuilder design as a hobbyist, even if it meant making mistakes and reinventing the wheel.
However, Local Thunk admitted to breaking his rule once by playing Slay the Spire about a year and a half into development. He was initially drawn to the game to study its controller implementation but ended up being captivated by its design. He expressed relief at having waited to play it, as he believed playing it earlier might have led him to unintentionally copy its successful elements.
The blog post also provided fascinating tidbits about the game's development. For instance, the working folder for Balatro was initially named "CardGame" and remained unchanged throughout the project. The game was internally known as "Joker Poker" for much of its development.
Local Thunk shared insights into several scrapped features, including a version where cards could be upgraded multiple times in a pseudo-shop, a separate currency for rerolls, and a 'golden seal' feature that would return a card to the player's hand after it was played.
An amusing anecdote explained how the game ended up with 150 Jokers instead of the originally planned 120. This was due to a miscommunication with the publisher, Playstack, which Local Thunk ultimately decided was a better number.
Lastly, Local Thunk revealed the origin of his developer name, which stemmed from a humorous conversation with his partner about variable naming in programming. The name "Local Thunk" is a playful nod to the Lua programming language's use of the 'local' keyword for variable declarations.
For those interested in the full story and more behind-the-scenes details, Local Thunk's blog is a treasure trove of information. IGN has praised Balatro, awarding it a 9/10 and describing it as a deck-builder that's "endlessly satisfying" and capable of consuming entire weekends with its engaging gameplay.
