Balatro, the 2024 breakout hit selling over 3.5 million copies and earning multiple Game Awards, maintains its popularity due to its innovative gameplay and high replayability. However, seasoned players might seek ways to refresh their experience. While mods offer one solution, accessing Balatro's built-in developer debug menu provides an alternative, allowing for cheat usage without impacting achievements.
To activate Balatro's debug menu and utilize its cheats, you'll need 7-Zip, a free, open-source archiving tool. Locate your Balatro installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Balatro). If you can't find it, access your Steam library, right-click Balatro, select "Manage," then "Browse Local Files."
Right-click Balatro.exe and choose to open the archive using 7-Zip (this might be under "Show More Options" depending on your OS and 7-Zip settings). Locate conf.lua and open it with a simple text editor (like Notepad).
Modify _RELEASE_MODE = true to _RELEASE_MODE = false, then save. If saving fails, extract conf.lua to your desktop, make the change, and replace the original file. The debug menu will now activate by holding the Tab key in-game.
To deactivate the debug menu, simply revert the _RELEASE_MODE parameter in conf.lua to true.
Balatro's cheat menu is user-friendly. Unlock collectibles by hovering over them and pressing '1'; spawn jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. Initially limited to five jokers, you can negate a joker by pressing 'Q' four times while hovering over it, effectively increasing your joker count.