Music

Balatro's music was created by Spanish musician Luis Clemente, known online as LouisF, after developer LocalThunk hired them on Fiverr in 2023.[1] The soundtrack consists of 5 themes written in a 7/4 time signature.[2] All themes follow the same basic composition but use some different soundfonts and variations on the melody.

Each track plays in a different area of the game, as indicated by the track names:
  • Main Theme (plays anywhere the other themes don't play at, such as the main menu and when playing small or big blinds)
  • Shop Theme
  • Arcana Theme
  • Celestial Theme
  • Boss Theme

The tracks often switch between each other in gameplay, so they are made in such a way that they transition smoothly into each other. In consequence, all the tracks are the same length, 2 minutes and 53 seconds long, but slowed down 70% in the game, which makes them 4 minutes and 7 seconds long.

The music's volume may be adjusted by the player in the game's settings.

Other versions

  • A section of Balatro's theme was played by The Game Awards orchestra at its 2024 event (YouTube video at 1:02).
  • An old, unused version of the main theme was posted on Fiverr by LocalThunk (YouTube video). According to LouisF, it was the would-be last delivery he gave LocalThunk, but he then asked Louis to make a slower version.[3]
  • When the player loses the game and is either in the game over screen or the deck selection screen (specifically immediately after clicking "New Run"), the theme that is currently being played (which is either the main theme if the player lost to a Small Blind or a Big Blind, or the boss theme if the player lost to a boss blind), the theme will be slowed and in a lower pitch, with the drums being relatively louder than the rest of the theme.
    • If the player either returns to the game's main menu or selects a deck, the regular version of the main theme will be played again.
  • Klei Entertainment, creators of the video game Don't Starve, created a Don't Starve version of Balatro's main theme as part of the Friends of Jimbo crossover (YouTube video).
  • In late October 2025, Poncle, the developers of Vampire Survivors, released a DLC in collaboration with Balatro, titled Ante Chamber. This DLC includes a single track, titled "Ante Chamber - Balatro Main Theme", which is a more upbeat, sped-up remix of the Balatro theme.

Trivia

  • According to LouisF, he was instructed by LocalThunk to use two main references for creating Balatro's music: Risk of Rain 2 and an old unpublished theme by LouisF himself.[3]

Videos

References

  1. ↑ I will compose original music for your video game. Note in particular LocalThunk's praiseful comment in 2023.
  2. ↑ How is it determined that the Balatro soundtrack is in 7/4? (22 January 2025).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 LouisF (Balatro music composer) - AMA (27 December 2024). “So that's the actual last delivery that I gave Local Thunk; among the clear guidelines that he had for the track, was that he wanted to slow down what I composed. This is, if recall correctly, because he did slow down a theme that I had uploaded to youtube (I no longer have it there or in any other platform, I think, but I'm planning to reupload it again) and liked it, so he asked me for something similar that he could slow down to achieve something alike.”
This article is issued from Balatro Wiki. The text is available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.