Balatro's mobile release has managed the almost impossible task of knocking Minecraft from its long-maintained top spot on the charts

A smudged joker face
(Image credit: LocalThunk)

Much like the flu that has struck down half the PC Gamer team this week, Balatro fever continues to spread. It's been steadily rising in popularity since its Steam release earlier this year, it's managed to nab an impressive five nominations at The Game Awards and now, in yet another incredible feat, LocalThunk's poker roguelite has done the impossible: It's actually knocked Minecraft from its number one spot on the goddamn mobile charts. Kids of the 'craft are, presumably, in shambles.

That's the case for both the iOS App Store and the Google Play charts, with Balatro taking the top spot in the paid games category and knocking Minecraft down to the second spot. It's a huge deal, quite frankly. As far as I can tell, Mojang's mobile port has enjoyed a near-unrivalled reign over the last several years—a 2018 Sensor Tower report showed that Minecraft had the highest number of days as the number one paid game by a long shot. It’s even had more days as the highest paid app than yer celebrity's favourite app, Facetune.

That report was six years ago, mind, but I can hardly remember a time when it wasn't the top paid game—the only incident I can actually recall is when we rather morbidly skyrocketed Plague Inc. to the number one spot during the pandemic.

It's also worth noting that Balatro is one of the most expensive games on the charts right now, at least in the UK anyway—it's £9.99 compared to Minecraft's £6.99, though both games are $9.99 over in the US. Compare that to the cheep-er (sorry) Stardew Valley at £4.99 / $6.99 and, even lower still, Plague Inc.—which comes in at under a dollar. The only charting game that seems to be more expensive right now—at least according to my UK-based iOS chart—is Total War: Empire, which is sitting in third place with a £12.99 price tag.

LocalThunk acknowledged the chart-topping success with a simple Bluesky post that read "We are so back" along with a screenshot of the game at number one. And you know what? Yeah, we are so back. I have been taking a secret pleasure in seeing people downloading Balatro—almost seemingly out of a desire to dunk on it—only to become completely enthralled by what it has to offer. I've yet to meet a sane soul who hasn't fallen at least a little bit in love with Jimbo and the gang, and I'm looking forward to seeing if its sweep continues during The Game Awards next month.

Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.  

Read more
The jester from Balatro, portrayed in unsettling detail in real life, wears an uncanny smile and stares at the viewer.
After 3,500,000 units sold and its Game Awards wins, Balatro does a victory lap and absorbs 8 new crossovers in its unstoppable march to turn all games into cute little cards that get you points and stuff
A Fallout Boy card in Balatro.
Balatro's new cards really show that every dev in the games industry is hooked on Balatro
live action Jimbo the Jester from Balatro holding a playing card and addressing the camera
LocalThunk had made hobby games in the past, but realized Balatro was something special when a friend revealed he had played it for '20, 30, or 40' hours
A pack of real life Balatro cards.
The official Balatro Timeline documents the history of 2024's biggest game as its developer went from 'obsessed' with making it to 'shocked' at the reception
Game of the Year 2024: Balatro
Game of the Year 2024: Balatro
Balatro being played on an Apple Watch
Legendary joker ports Balatro to the 44-millimeter screen of an Apple Watch, calls it 'Wee Balatro'
Latest in Card Game
A pack of real life Balatro cards.
The official Balatro Timeline documents the history of 2024's biggest game as its developer went from 'obsessed' with making it to 'shocked' at the reception
Mage cards from Hearthstone's Into the Emerald Dream expansion.
Hearthstone card reveal: If it's wrong to love a magic blue owl, I don't want to be right
Characters in The Bazaar, a Hero-Builder game by Tempo, stand confidently with their weapons of choice raised.
Early backers of game decry 'bait and switch' after it backtracks on monetisation promises, dev chooses to stir the pot: 'Seeing Reddit lose it today lets me breathe a huge sigh of relief'
Yu-Gi-Oh! EARLY DAYS COLLECTION screenshot showing a character complaining about losing a battle
This Yu-Gi-Oh! retro collection transported me to a simpler time in TCGs, before Pot of Greed was banned and the Avengers were in Magic: The Gathering
A smudged joker face
Balatro finally escapes its silly 18+ age rating, PEGI promises 'a more granular set of classification criteria' for gambling-themed games in the future
The cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender prepare to be turned into Magic cards
Magic: The Gathering's last set for 2025 will be Avatar: The Last Airbender
Latest in News
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
Henry from KCD2 wearing nice outfits
'Diversify your fashion endgame' with this Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 mod that gives Henry fly new gambesons, pourpoints, and caftans
Masked Counter-Terrorist in helmet in forefront with sunglasses and beret-wearing CT in background touching headset
There's hope yet for Classic Offensive after its Steam rejection: The team behind the Counter-Strike 1.6 revival mod is in touch with Valve about its 'concerns'
Recently appointed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
Here comes Intel's new CEO: a semiconductor veteran that won the same prestigious award as Jensen Huang and Lisa Su
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 15: Protestors attend the SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike Picket on August 15, 2024 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Lila Seeley/Getty Images)
8 months into their strike, videogame voice actors say the industry's latest proposal is 'filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse'
Orithopter shooting down another in Dune
Dune: Awakening confirms air-to-air combat in ornithopters