How to Use Cheats in Balatro (Debug Menu Guide)

Balatro: Unleashing the Power of Cheats and the Debug Menu

Balatro, the 2024 Game Awards sensation, captivated players worldwide with its innovative gameplay and endless replayability. Selling over 3.5 million copies and earning three prestigious awards, its popularity endures. However, even seasoned players might seek new challenges to keep the experience fresh. While mods offer one solution, accessing Balatro's built-in developer debug menu provides another, cheat-enabled path to enhanced gameplay. This method maintains achievement unlocks, a significant advantage for players who prefer to avoid mods.

Quick Links

• Enabling Cheats in Balatro

• Using the Balatro Debug Menu

How to Enable Cheats in Balatro

To activate Balatro's debug menu and its built-in cheats, you'll need the free, open-source software, 7-Zip. 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 with 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 the changes. If saving is impossible, extract conf.lua to your desktop, make the change, and replace the original file. With this done, press and hold the Tab key in-game to access the debug menu.

To disable the debug menu, simply reverse the RELEASE_MODE parameter in conf.lua to true.

How to Use the Balatro Debug Menu

Balatro's cheat menu is user-friendly. Most functions are self-explanatory. Unlock collectibles by hovering over them and pressing '1'; spawn jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. While initially limited to five jokers, turning a joker negative (hover over it in your hand and press 'Q' four times) allows for virtually unlimited jokers per run.

All Balatro Cheats (Hold Tab to Open Menu)

Cheat / Key Effect 1Unlock a Collectible (while hovering) 2Discover a Collectible (while hovering) 3Spawn a Collectible (while hovering) QChange Joker Edition (while hovering in hand) HIsolate Background JPlay Splash Animation 8Toggle Cursor 9Toggle All Tooltips $10Adds $10 to Total +1 RoundIncreases Round by 1 +1 AnteIncreases Ante by 1 +1 HandAdds one Hand +1 DiscardAdds one Discard Boss RerollRerolls the Boss BackgroundRemoves Background +10 ChipsAdds 10 Chips +10 MultAdds 10 to Multiplier X2 ChipsDoubles Chips X10 MultIncreases Multiplier by 10 Win this RunCompletes Run Lose this RunEnds Run ResetResets Run JimboMakes Jimbo Appear Jimbo TalkJimbo Text Box