Poker Roguelike Developer is Not Happy About His Game Getting an 18+ Rating

LocalThunk, an Indie Game Developer behind a popular poker-inspired roguelike deck builder Balatro has recently conducted an AMA session over on Reddit, providing some insights on the game itself and sharing his thoughts on Balatro recently getting an 18+ age rating.

In case you missed the news, earlier this month, the game's age rating was changed overnight without any prior warning, from 3+ to 18+. Announced by the game's publisher Playstack, the change directly affected the game's distribution, leading to its removal from several digital stores. According to the announcement, the most plausible reason why that happened was a mistaken perception that the game included gambling imagery and instructional content on gambling.

When asked about this situation, LocalThunk revealed that he's not that happy about the rating change, believing it to be unjustified. Despite that, the developer has seemingly accepted the situation and PEGI's ambiguous stance on card-related games, saying that "at this point, it is what it is".

What grinds LocalThunk's gears more than Balatro's undeserved 18+ rating, however, is the fact that games that really do have gambling mechanics often avoid the same treatment solely based on their outward presentation. "I think the one thing I am most disappointed by is the fact that other games with actual gambling mechanics aren't rated the same way because of their appearance/theme," said the creator.

Besides that, LocalThunk also spoke about the game's art direction and theming, discussed the creation of the 'skip blind' mechanic, explained why the process of designing Jokers was sometimes tedious for him, shared Balatro's sources of inspiration, and much more. Playstack, the publisher, also joined in on the fun, confirming that they are currently working on the mobile version of the game. You can go through the entire AMA by clicking this link.

Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.