The game Balatro, developed by a solo creator under the pseudonym LocalThunk, became a true indie hit of 2024, selling over 5 million copies. The project literally shook the gaming industry, gaining popularity and winning several awards at The Game Awards 2024. Neither the players nor even the creator himself expected such success.

The developer admitted that, given the unconventional concept of the game, he initially anticipated modest reviews in the range of 6-7 points. However, when PC Gamer gave Balatro a score of 91, and other critics followed suit, the game quickly soared to 90 points on Metacritic and OpenCritic. For LocalThunk himself, this was a complete surprise — he confessed that he would have rated his own project no higher than 8 points.

The publisher Playstack also played a significant role in the success, actively engaging with the press before the release. However, the real driving force behind the sales was word of mouth, which helped the game exceed forecasts by 10-20 times. Within the first 24 hours of its release on Steam, 119,000 copies were sold, which the developer described as the most surreal moment of his life.

The success of the game was so overwhelming that the creator admitted: he has no universal recipe for other indie developers.

Main image: wall.alphacoders.com

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