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How to Use Cheats in Balatro (Debug Menu Guide)

by Ellie Feb 11,2025

Balatro: Unleash the Power of Cheats and the Debug Menu

Balatro, the 2024 Game Awards sensation, captivated players worldwide with its innovative gameplay and endless replayability. Millions of copies sold and multiple awards won are a testament to its success. But even the most dedicated players may seek to refresh their experience. While mods offer one solution, accessing Balatro's built-in developer debug menu provides a compelling alternative, allowing for cheat usage without impacting achievements.

Quick Links

Enabling Cheats in Balatro
Utilizing the Debug Menu

Enabling Cheats in Balatro

To activate Balatro's hidden cheat menu, 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 with 7-Zip (this might be under "Show More Options" depending on your system). Inside, find conf.lua and open it with a simple text editor like Notepad.

Modify _RELEASE_MODE = true to _RELEASE_MODE = false, save the file, and you're ready to go! If saving fails, extract conf.lua to your desktop, make the change, and replace the original file. With this done, press and hold the Tab key in-game to access the debug menu. To disable cheats, simply revert the _RELEASE_MODE parameter back to true.

Utilizing the Debug Menu in Balatro

Balatro's cheat menu is intuitive. Unlock collectibles by hovering over them and pressing '1'; spawn them with '3'. Initially limited to five Jokers, pressing 'Q' four times on a Joker in your hand transforms it into a negative, effectively allowing unlimited Jokers.

Complete List of Balatro Cheats (Hold Tab)

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