Balatro joins Shovel Knight, Warframe and more in the new update

Balatro is in for a big day, as the hugely popular roguelike card game is nominated in five different categories at the Game Awards tonight. But that’s not all, as developer LocalThunk has announced a new collaborative update that adds maps based on eight different games. Not a bad reason to start the game again and potentially lose many more hours of your life.

The third Friends of Jimbo update includes new maps based on games, from indie favorites like Sunset Visitor’s adventure game 1000xResist to some bigger names like Larian Studios’ Divinity Original Sin II. LocalThunk announced the update with a trailer featuring Final Fantasy XVI actor Ben Starr as Jimbo, Balatro’s clown mascot. So if you’ve ever wanted to hear Clive Rosfield do his best maniacal clown attitude, check out the full trailer below. You can also click through to see each new map.

Since its release in February, Balatro has become the most surprising hit of the year. Just this week, Cyberpunk 2077 received a lengthy side quest featuring characters and symbols from Balatro, although some players are having trouble activating it when starting the game. Balatro merch also seems to be in demand, with official playing cards coming next year and an official Jimbo plush toy also on the way.

Regardless of whether Balatro wins the Game of the Year award tonight or not, the game is already seeing another surge in popularity following its nomination. Sales reportedly skyrocketed when the Game Awards announced the nominees, and concurrent players also saw a spike on Steam. Not bad for a passion project developed alone.