It's a common curiosity. But have you considered reaching ante 16 and venturing into the uncharted territories of endless mode? While less likely, you might have achieved this feat once or twice. However, only a select few have reached an integer so high that the game malfunctions and crashes due to a glitch involving white cards.
As demonstrated by streamer Nandre, it is indeed possible to reach ante 39, causing the game to malfunction and resulting in a win. This occurs because 1.8e308, the highest trackable number in the game's code, is insufficient to meet the score requirement for that ante. The required score also exceeds the maximum trackable number, leading to a "nan" (not a number) display.
Nandre achieved this milestone in celebration of the popular roguelike game winning at The Game Awards 2024.
This places Balatro among the distinguished ranks of arcade-style games with endless modes that lack a true "end" due to ever-increasing scores. Tetris, a prime example, also exhibits this characteristic, where achieving the highest possible score involves breaking the game. The Classic Tetris World Championship maintains an archive of winners for the NES version.
Could you push even further? Indeed, you could. Similar to Tetris ROM hacks, modifying the game to handle increasingly absurd integers could lead to even more absurd game-breaking consequences.
This inspires a desire for a Balatro championship with standardized rules and a fixed seed for each playthrough. Is such an event in existence? If not, should we consider organizing one? It seems like a worthwhile endeavor.
If you've read this far, you likely share my enthusiasm for Balatro. In that case, you should definitely check out the amusing outtakes from the live-action Balatro trailer.
