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2024 has been the year of Balatro, and solo developer LocalThunk says the feature they're most proud of is the iconic and satisfying flame effect that appears when you get a hand that beats an ante's score requirement.
I remember the first time I got a decent hand and saw the flames, I was so confused. I didn't know if I'd screwed up and my score was going to burn away into nothing or what. But then I noticed my hand was worth more than the total ante score and the pieces started clicking into place. This was a good thing, a great thing.
Turns out, it only took LocalThunk one night to make the effect, and they dub it "the most productive night of my life." In the GIF, you can see the flames rise from small and centred on the score boxes to roaring, erupting all across the boxes and causing the numbers within them to shake.
To this day I think the most productive night of my life was the evening I created the flame effect in Balatro. By 4 AM I had this pic.twitter.com/zKPqnp1tn2December 27, 2024
It's all the little sound effects and jiggles that make Balatro such a sensorial delight to play. Every time you get a great hand, the game provides you with such wonderfully kinetic feedback to encourage you to reach for those high scores again. It's why I keep playing the game on endless mode even after I've beaten ante eight, I just want to feel more of those satisfying effects. No wonder our team has been (not) playing it during meetings and it won three times at The Game Awards.
There's still more to come in Balatro. There's a huge update planned for 2025, and industry darling Ben Starr has become the live-action version of Jimbo the joker, disturbingly munching on bananas to advertise new skins in the game.
While you're here, check out some of the other best indie games of 2024 you may have missed. If you're off work for the holidays, now is the perfect time to get stuck in.
