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Debug Menu Unveiled: Unlock Hidden Cheats in Balatro

by Mila Jan 11,2025

Balatro: Unleash the Power of Cheats and the Debug Menu

Balatro, the 2024 Game Award-winning phenomenon, captivated gamers with its innovative gameplay and endless replayability. While mastering its mechanics is rewarding, some players seek new challenges. This guide details how to access and utilize Balatro's built-in cheat menu, offering a fresh perspective without resorting to external mods and preserving achievement unlocks.

Accessing Balatro's Cheats

To unlock Balatro's hidden debug menu and its associated cheats, you'll need 7-Zip, a free, open-source archiving tool. Locate your Balatro installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Balatro). If unsure, find Balatro in your Steam library, right-click, select "Manage," 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 changes. If saving is impossible, extract conf.lua to your desktop, make the alteration, and replace the original file. With this done, press and hold the Tab key during gameplay to access the debug menu. To disable cheats, simply revert _RELEASE_MODE to true in conf.lua.

Mastering the Balatro Debug Menu

Balatro's cheat menu is user-friendly. Most functions are intuitive. Unlock items by hovering and pressing '1'; add Jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. Initially limited to five Jokers, transform a Joker into a negative by pressing 'Q' four times while hovering over it in your hand, effectively expanding your Joker count.

Balatro Cheat List (Hold Tab to Open Menu)

Cheat / Key	Effect
1	Unlock a Collectible (while hovering)
2	Discover a Collectible (while hovering)
3	Spawn a Collectible (while hovering)
Q	Change Joker Edition (while hovering 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