Home News Balatro Cheat Codes: Debug Menu Guide

Balatro Cheat Codes: Debug Menu Guide

Author : Grace Mar 12,2025

Balatro took the world by storm upon its 2024 release, selling over 3.5 million copies and earning three awards at the 2024 Game Awards. Its creative gameplay and near-infinite replayability maintain its immense popularity. However, mastering its mechanics might leave some players seeking fresh challenges. While mods offer one solution, accessing Balatro's built-in developer debug menu provides another, enabling cheats without impacting achievements.

This method uses the game's internal cheat functionality, allowing players to craft ideal Joker combinations without tedious seed searching. This is particularly beneficial for achievement hunters who prefer not to use mods.

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How to Enable Cheats in Balatro

Step 1: Locate Balatro Installation DirectoryTo activate Balatro's debug menu and cheats, you'll need the free, open-source software 7-Zip. Navigate to your Balatro installation directory (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Balatro). If you can't find it, locate Balatro in your Steam library, right-click, select "Manage," then "Browse Local Files." Step 2: Open Balatro.exe with 7-ZipRight-click Balatro.exe and open the archive using 7-Zip (you may find this under "Show More Options"). Locate the file named `conf.lua` and open it with a text editor like Notepad. Step 3: Modify conf.luaChange `_RELEASE_MODE = true` to `_RELEASE_MODE = false`, then save the file. If saving fails, extract `conf.lua` to your desktop, make the change, and replace the original file. Successfully doing this activates the debug menu (accessed by holding the Tab key in-game).

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

How to Use the Debug Menu in Balatro

Balatro Debug MenuBalatro's cheat menu is user-friendly. Unlock collectibles by hovering and pressing '1'; add Jokers by hovering and pressing '3'. Initially limited to five Jokers, pressing 'Q' four times on a Joker in hand transforms it into a negative, effectively increasing your Joker count.

All Balatro Cheats (Hold Tab to Open Menu)

Cheat / KeyEffect
1Unlock a Collectible (while hovering over it in the collection)
2Discover a Collectible (while hovering over it in the collection)
3Spawn a Collectible (while hovering over it in the collection)
QChange Joker Edition (while hovering over it in hand)
HIsolate Background
JPlay Splash Animation
8Toggle Cursor
9Toggle All Tooltips
$10Adds $10 to Total
+1 RoundIncreases the Round by 1
+1 AnteIncreases the Ante by 1
+1 HandAdds one additional Hand
+1 DiscardAdds one additional Discard
Boss RerollRerolls the Boss
BackgroundRemoves the Background
+10 ChipsAdds 10 Chips to Total
+10 MultAdds 10 Mult to Total
X2 ChipsDoubles Chip Total
X10 MultIncreases the Mult by 10
Win this RunCompletes the Current Run
Lose this RunEnds the Current Run
ResetResets the Current Run
JimboMakes Jimbo Appear
Jimbo TalkMakes a Text Box Appear by Jimbo
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