Balatro has announced the new Friends of Jimbo [[link]] card pack, available now, which in its breadth and range show that the poker roguelike is basically becoming the indie Fortnite. The new cards include designs from Civilization, Assassin's Creed, Fallout, Critical Role, Dead by Daylight, Slay the Princess, Bugsnax and Rust. As one wag puts it under the YouTube announcement video, developer "LocalThunk is just out here saying yes to everyone's emails lmao."
That is literally the case. The Friends of Jimbo update was also shared by Slay the Princess dev Black Tabby Games, alongside "probably [[link]] the most unhinged professional email I've ever sent." To which, you can see Localthunk simply says "YES".
Bugsnax developer Young Horses also shared some of the sketches done for the collaboration, and has slashed its own price by 60% till March 3 to celebrate.
This latest Friends of Jimbo update is the fourth so far, and it's pretty obvious from the games involved that a lot of developers are playing and loving Balatro, and are actively seeking-out a crossover with the game. No surprise really, [[link]] because Balatro was hands-down the best game of 2024, to the extent that this unassuming looking card game beat-out the likes of Stalker 2, Black Myth Wukong and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree to be crowned PCG's Game of the Year.
Balatro recently escaped its rather silly 18+ age rating, with PEGI promising "a more granular set of classification criteria" in future for gambling-themed games that don't involve any actual gambling. There's also a more substantial update on the way later this year and, though LocalThunk says he's keeping his cards close to his chest in case "something new doesn't work", players can expect to see a bunch of new jokers alongside an update to the rather confusing Matador card.