Home News How to Use Cheats in Balatro (Debug Menu Guide)

How to Use Cheats in Balatro (Debug Menu Guide)

Author : Isabella Update : Feb 10,2025

Balatro, the 2024 breakout hit selling over 3.5 million copies and a triple Game Awards winner, maintains incredible popularity. However, mastering its mechanics might leave players craving fresh challenges. While mods offer a solution, utilizing Balatro's built-in developer debug menu provides an alternative, preserving achievements. This guide details how to activate and utilize this cheat menu.

How to Enable Cheats in Balatro

To access Balatro's debug menu and its cheats, you'll need 7-Zip (free, open-source software). 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 with 7-Zip (may be under "Show More Options"). Locate conf.lua and open it with a text editor (e.g., Notepad).

Modify _RELEASE_MODE = true to _RELEASE_MODE = false, then save. If saving fails, 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 in-game.

To disable the debug menu, revert _RELEASE_MODE to true in conf.lua.

How to Use the Debug Menu in Balatro

Balatro's cheat menu is user-friendly. Unlock collectibles by hovering and pressing '1'; spawn jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. Initially limited to five jokers, pressing 'Q' four times on a joker in your hand converts it to a negative, effectively allowing unlimited jokers.

All Balatro Cheats (Hold Tab to Open Menu)

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