Since its launch on PC and consoles in February, Balatro has become one of the surprise hits of 2024. Jimbo The Joker’s influence will soon be moving on to another platform, as publisher PlayStack has confirmed the game will be ported to mobile devices on September 26.
The game will be available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for $10, while a free Balatro+ version will be available to those who have an Apple Arcade subscription. The announcement did not confirm whether a free version will also be offered on Android devices via Google Play.
Balatro is a card-based puzzle game which sees players use traditional playing cards to battle against “Blinds,” as playing cards from their hand earns them points–think poker, but with rules you can mess with. Multiple types of special cards–Jokers, Tarot cards, cards with special treatments, and more–add points or multipliers to each hand, and once a certain score is reached, the Blind is defeated.
The indie hit first launched on PC back on February to massive critical acclaim, which included an average score of 90 on GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic. GameSpot’s 9/10 review said that Balatro “injects new life into the fundamental rules of poker without requiring any previous knowledge of the game, feeling deftly balanced for both newcomers and experts of the card game alike.”
Balatro+ will join over 200 games on the Apple Arcade subscription service, which recently added another indie darling in Vampire Survivors last month. Other games coming to the service soon include NFL Retro Bowl+ 25, a modern spin on the classic Tecmo Bowl style of football game that launches today, as well as NBA 2K25 Arcade Edition in early October.
Balatro will launch on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on September 26, with pre-registrations on both platforms beginning today. The free Balatro+ version for Apple Arcade will be available to subscribers on the same day.
