My latest for The Logic, an interview with Balatro developer LocalThunk. thelogic.co/news/balatro... - ThreadSky

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brendansinclair.bsky.social • 19 days ago

My latest for The Logic, an interview with Balatro developer LocalThunk.
https://thelogic.co/news/balatro-developer-interview/

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brendansinclair.bsky.social•19 days ago

I want to post a couple bits of our discussion that didn't really fit in an article for The Logic's audience of not-necessarily gamers.

brendansinclair.bsky.social•19 days ago

First I asked LocalThunk why he paid so much attention to the tiny visual and feedback details--the polish for lack of a better word--even back when it was supposed to be a hobby project instead of a viable commercial game. He said that the hobby nature of it was why he could do that at all.

brendansinclair.bsky.social•19 days ago

I also asked him about the game being given an 18+ rating by PEGI while loot box-driven sports games like EA Sports FC get 3+ and asked him to spell out what he sees as the difference.

brendansinclair.bsky.social•19 days ago

He thinks people generally get it once they consider the issue more deeply than going off of screenshots:

"I think it's an optics issue because the game looks worse than it is. And how could I be concerned about that? I'm ethically OK with what my game is doing, so ai know it's in the clear."

devtesla.bsky.social•19 days ago

Very interesting! Balatro is a great game all around but I don't think it would become a phenomenon if it didn't look, sound, and feel spectacular. At the same time, he's totally right that it was a commercial risk to spend all that time on it. Game are hard to make!

goombashoes.com•19 days ago

They’re from Saskatchewan?!?!???!??

fatapollo.bsky.social•18 days ago

That was great!!! Thank you

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