Balatro Dev Reveals Personal Favorite Game of 2024

LocalThunk, the solo developer behind the incredibly successful indie game Balatro (3.5 million copies sold!), has declared Animal Well his Game of the Year for 2024. This accolade, humorously dubbed the "Golden Thunk" award, highlights the immersive gameplay, stylish design, and hidden secrets within Animal Well, calling it developer Billy Basso's "true masterpiece." Basso, in turn, praised LocalThunk as a "nice and humble dev." This mutual admiration underscores the positive camaraderie within the indie game development community.

The success of Balatro, a pixel art deck-building game, wasn't the only highlight of 2024 for LocalThunk. He also singled out several other indie titles as personal favorites, including Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers (another solo-developed pixel art deck-builder), Arco, Nova Drift, Ballionaire, and Mouthwashing. He detailed his appreciation for each game in a follow-up tweet.

Despite Balatro's phenomenal success, LocalThunk continues to support the game with free updates. Three "Friends of Jimbo" updates have already introduced crossover content from popular titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Among Us, and Dave the Diver, with more collaborations potentially on the horizon. This dedication to post-launch support further solidifies LocalThunk's reputation within the gaming community.