best deckbuilding games with a poker-hand gameplay foundation. It introduces unique Joker cards that enhance and multiply your Chips per hand played. These Jokers bring diverse abilities that boost your scores and provide avenues for earning additional money or consumables, adding a strategic layer to the classic card game.

Jokers are acquired from Balatro's in-game Shop, as well as Buffoon Booster Packs and specific Spectral or Tarot cards. Initially, you will have five slots for Jokers, which can change under certain conditions. Jokers remain in these slots until you decide to sell or destroy them; therefore, you must think carefully when managing these powerful assets.

The Shop in Balatro is accessible between rounds within runs. In-game prices vary between $3 - $10, contingent upon the card's rarity.

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How To Get All Joker Cards In Balatro

Balatro features 150 Joker cards, with the initial 105 accessible from the start, ready to utilize in your early runs. However, these Jokers won't appear in the Collection menu until acquired in an unseeded run. The remaining 45 cards are locked until specific objectives are met, unlocking them for future games.

You can view the requirements to unlock almost all Joker cards through the Jokers section in the Collection menu. The list below reveals the unlocking process for each Joker that isn't given to you by default, alongside their effects, organized by the four distinct card rarities.

The Collection menu does not specify the unlock requirements for Legendary Jokers cards.

Common Joker Types

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

Cavendish

x3 Mult, but 1 in 1000 chance this card is destroyed at the end of the round

Only appears if Gros Michel was destroyed in this run

Golden Ticket

Played Gold cards earn $3 when scored

Play a five-card hand that contains only Gold cards

Swashbuckler

Adds the sell value of all Jokers left of this card to Mult

Sell 20 Joker cards

Hanging Card

Retrigger the first played card used in scoring

Beat a Boss Blind with a High Card hand

Shoot the Moon

+13 Mult for each Queen held in hand

Play every Heart card in your deck in one round

Uncommon Joker Types

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

Mr. Bones

Prevents Death if Chips scored are at least 25% of the value required to beat the Blind. Self Destructs after triggering

Lose five runs

Acrobat

x3 Mult on the final hand of the round

Play 200 hands

Sock and Buskin

Retriggers all face cards an additional time

Play 300 face cards

Troubadour

=+2 hand size. -1 hands per round

Win 5 consecutive rounds by playing only a single hand in each

Certificate

When a round begins, add a random playing card with a random Seal to your hand

Have a Gold card that also has a Gold Seal

Smeared Joker

Hearts and Diamonds count as the same suit. Spades and Clubs count as the same suit

Have 3 or more Wild cards in your deck

Throwback

x0.25 Mult for each Blind skipped this run

Continue a saved run from the main menu

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

Rough Gem

Played cards with Diamond suit earn $1 when scored

Have at least 30 Diamond cards in your deck

Bloodstone

1 in 3 chance for played cards with Heart suit to give x2 mult when scored

Have at least 30 Heart cards in your deck

Arrowhead

Played cards with Spade suit give +50 Chips when scored

Have at least 30 Spade cards in your deck

Onyx Agate

Played cards with Club suit give +8 Mult when scored

Have at least 30 Club cards in your deck

Glass Joker

Gain x0.5 Mult for each Glass Card that is destroyed

Have 5 or more Glass cards in your deck

Showman

Joker, Tarot, Planet, and Spectral cards may appear multiple times

Reach Ante 4

Flower Pot

x3 Mult, if the played hand has a scoring Diamond, Club, Heart, and Spade

Reach Ante 8

Merry Andy

=+3 discards. -1 hand size

Win a run in 12 or fewer rounds

Oops! All 6s

Doubles all probabilities

Earn at least 10,000 Chips in a single hand

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

The Idol

x2 Mult when the specified card is scored. The card changes each round

Earn at least 1 million Chips in a single hand

Seeing Double

x2 Mult, if played the hand has a scoring Club card and a scoring card of any other suit

Play a hand that contains four 7 of Clubs

Matador

Earn $8 if the played hand triggers the Boss Blind's ability

Defeat a Boss Blind in one hand, without using discards

Stuntman

=+300 Chips. -2 hand size

Earn at least 100 million Chips in a single hand

Satellite

Gain $1 at the end of the round for every unique Planet card used this run

Have at least $400

Cartomancer

Create a Tarot whenever Blind is selected if there is room

Discover every Tarot card

Astronomer

All Planet cards and Celestial packs in the shop are free

Discover every Planet card

Burnt Joker

Upgrade the level of the first discarded poker hand each round

Sell 50 cards

Bootstraps

=+2 Mult for every $5 you have

Have at least 2 Polychrome Jokers

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Rare Joker Types

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

Blueprint

Copy the ability of the Joker to the right

Win a run

Wee Joker

Gains +2 Chips when each played 2 is scored

Win a run in 18 or fewer rounds

Hit the Road

Gains x0.5 Mult for every Jack discarded this round

Discard 5 Jacks at the same time

The Duo

x2 Mult if the played hand contains a Pair

Win a run without playing a Pair

The Trio

x3 Mult, if the played hand contains a Three-of-a-kind

Win a run without playing a Three-of-a-kind

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

The Family

x4 Mult if the played hand contains a Four-of-a-kind

Win a run without playing a Four-of-a-kind

The Order

x3 Mult if the played hand contains a Straight

Win a run without playing a Straight

The Tribe

x2 Mult if the played hand contains a Flush

Win a run without playing a Flush

Invisible Joker

After three rounds, sell this Joker to duplicate a random Joker

Win a run without having more than 4 Jokers at any one time

Brainstorm

Copies the ability of the leftmost Joker

Discard a Royal Flush

Driver's License

x3 Mult if you have at least 16 enhanced cards

Enhance 16 or more cards in your deck

Legendary Joker Types

Card

Effect

Unlock Requirements

Canio

Gains x1 Mult when a face card is destroyed

Chance to obtain when a Soul Spectral card is used during a run

Triboulet

Played Kings and Queens each gives x2 Mult when scored

Chance to obtain when a Soul Spectral card is used during a run

Yorick

x5 Mult only after using 23 discards

Chance to obtain when a Soul Spectral card is used during a run

Chicot

Disables effect of every Boss Blind

Chance to obtain when a Soul Spectral card is used during a run

Perkeo

Create a Negative copy of 1 random Consumable card in your possession at the end of every shop

Chance to obtain when a Soul Spectral card is used during a run

In Balatro, optimizing your Jokers with unique effects and holding a strong combination of cards is essential for overcoming Blinds at higher Antes. These cards can be augmented with four modifiers known as editions, which enhance them with extra capabilities while increasing their shop cost. Editions are crucial for boosting your overall score and effectively navigating the game's challenges, adding a strategic element to one of the best roguelite games today.

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Balatro
Strategy
Digital Card Game
Roguelike
Released
February 20, 2024
ESRB
E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Gambling Themes
Developer(s)
LocalThunk
10/10

Publisher(s)
Playstack
Platform(s)
Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S