Balatro, the 2024 breakout hit selling over 3.5 million copies and garnering three Game Awards, maintains immense popularity. However, mastering its mechanics might leave players seeking fresh challenges. While mods offer one solution, accessing Balatro's built-in developer debug menu provides an alternative, preserving achievements. This guide details how to enable and utilize this cheat menu.
Quick Links
Enabling Cheats in Balatro
To activate Balatro's debug menu and cheats, you'll need 7-Zip (free, open-source software). Locate your Balatro installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Balatro
). If not found, locate Balatro in your Steam library, right-click, select "Manage," then "Browse Local Files."
Right-click Balatro.exe
and choose to open the archive with 7-Zip (may be under "Show More Options"). Locate conf.lua
and open it with a text editor (like Notepad).
Change _RELEASE_MODE = true
to _RELEASE_MODE = false
, save the file. If saving fails, extract conf.lua
to your desktop, make the change, and replace the original. The debug menu (accessed by holding Tab in-game) will now be active. Re-enable normal gameplay by changing _RELEASE_MODE
back to true
.
Using the Debug Menu in Balatro
Balatro's cheat menu is user-friendly. Unlock collectibles by hovering and pressing '1'; spawn jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. Initially limited to five jokers, pressing 'Q' four times on a joker in hand transforms it into a negative, effectively increasing your joker count.
All Balatro Cheats (Hold Tab to Open Menu)
Cheat / Key | Effect |
---|---|
1 | Unlock Collectible (hover over in collection) |
2 | Discover Collectible (hover over in collection) |
3 | Spawn Collectible (hover over in collection) |
Q | Change Joker Edition (hover over in hand) |
H | Isolate Background |
J | Play Splash Animation |
8 | Toggle Cursor |
9 | Toggle All Tooltips |
$10 | Adds $10 to Total |
+1 Round | Increases Round by 1 |
+1 Ante | Increases Ante by 1 |
+1 Hand | Adds one additional Hand |
+1 Discard | Adds one additional Discard |
Boss Reroll | Rerolls the Boss |
Background | Removes Background |
+10 Chips | Adds 10 Chips to Total |
+10 Mult | Adds 10 Mult to Total |
X2 Chips | Doubles Chip Total |
X10 Mult | Increases Mult by 10 |
Win this Run | Completes Current Run |
Lose this Run | Ends Current Run |
Reset | Resets Current Run |
Jimbo | Makes Jimbo Appear |
Jimbo Talk | Makes Jimbo Text Box Appear |