Home News Debug Menu Unleashed: Cheating in Balatro Revealed

Debug Menu Unleashed: Cheating in Balatro Revealed

Author : Patrick Update : Jan 21,2025

Balatro: Unleash the Power of the Debug Menu and Cheats

Balatro, the 2024 Game Award-winning phenomenon, captivated players worldwide with its innovative gameplay and endless replayability. Millions of copies were sold, and its popularity endures. However, even the most 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 an alternative method to enhance gameplay without altering achievements. This guide details how to enable cheats and utilize the debug menu's powerful features.

Enabling Cheats in Balatro

To unlock Balatro's hidden cheat menu, you'll need 7-Zip, a freely available open-source archiving tool. Locate your Balatro installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Balatro). If you can't find it, navigate to your Steam library, right-click Balatro, select "Manage," and 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 system and 7-Zip settings). Locate conf.lua and open it with a simple text editor like Notepad.

Modify the line _RELEASE_MODE = true to _RELEASE_MODE = false, save the file, and you're done! If saving is problematic, 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 during gameplay. To disable cheats, simply revert the _RELEASE_MODE parameter back to true.

Using the Debug Menu in Balatro

Balatro's cheat menu is intuitive. Unlock items by hovering over them in your collection and pressing '1'. Spawn jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. Initially limited to five jokers, pressing 'Q' four times while hovering over a joker in your hand transforms it into a negative, effectively granting unlimited jokers per run.

Balatro Cheat Codes (Hold Tab to Access Menu)

Cheat / Key	Effect
1	Unlock a Collectible (hover over it)
2	Discover a Collectible (hover over it)
3	Spawn a Collectible (hover over it)
Q	Change Joker Edition (hover over it in hand)
H	Isolate Background
J	Play Splash Animation
8	Toggle Cursor
9	Toggle All Tooltips
$10	Adds $10 to Total
+1 Round	Increases the Round by 1
+1 Ante	Increases the Ante by 1
+1 Hand	Adds one additional Hand
+1 Discard	Adds one additional Discard
Boss Reroll	Rerolls the Boss
Background	Removes the Background
+10 Chips	Adds 10 Chips to Total
+10 Mult	Adds 10 Mult to Total
X2 Chips	Doubles Chip Total
X10 Mult	Increases the Mult by 10
Win this Run	Completes the Current Run
Lose this Run	Ends the Current Run
Reset	Resets the Current Run
Jimbo	Makes Jimbo Appear
Jimbo Talk	Makes a Text Box Appear by Jimbo

Enjoy experimenting with Balatro's debug menu and unlocking its full potential!