Challenge Decks

Challenge Deck
Effect
Limitation varies per deck.
Unlock Requirement
Challenge Mode is unlocked by winning a regular run with five different decks.

Challenge Decks are unique decks that contain some condition making them unique from, and often more challenging than, the normal decks. This could manifest in having an altered starting deck, possessing certain eternal jokers, restrictions on hands or discards, restrictions on allowed cards, and more.

When playing Challenge Decks, achievements and unlocks cannot be obtained, as some would be trivialized by the conditions given by the deck. Statistics such as number of times a consumable has been used and high scores like Best Hand/Highest Ante do still get updated. It's not possible to start a seeded run on Challenge Decks, but seed generated by each challenge run can still be used on normal decks.

Decks

There are twenty different Challenge Decks currently in Balatro, with the first five unlocking after winning on five different decks. Each subsequent deck is unlocked after winning a run with a new Challenge Deck. To unlock all the Challenge Decks, the player needs to win with fifteen of them.

Nr	Name	Custom Rules/Game Modifiers	Initial Jokers & Consumables	Deck	Restrictions
1	The Omelette	All Blinds give no reward money Extra Hands no longer earn money Earn no Interest at end of round	5x Egg	Standard 52 cards	Banned Vouchers: Seed Money Money Tree Banned Jokers: To the Moon Rocket Golden Joker Satellite
2	15 Minute City	None	Eternal Ride the Bus Eternal Shortcut	Two copies of every face card; no Aces, 2s, or 3s	None
3	Rich get Richer	Chips cannot exceed the current $ Start with $100	Seed Money Money Tree	Standard 52 cards	None
4	On a Knife's Edge	None	Eternal, Pinned Ceremonial Dagger The Pinned Joker is always in the leftmost position	Standard 52 cards	None
5	X-ray Vision	1 in 4 cards are drawn face down	None	Standard 52 cards	None
6	Mad World	Extra Hands no longer earn money Earn no Interest at end of round	Eternal, Negative Pareidolia Eternal Business Card	Ranks 2 through 9 only, 32 cards total	Banned Blinds: The Plant
7	Luxury Tax	Hold -1 cards in hand for every $5 you have 10 hand size	None	Standard 52 cards	None
8	Non-Perishable	All Jokers are Eternal	None	Standard 52 cards	Banned Jokers: Gros Michel, Cavendish Ice Cream; Turtle Bean, Ramen, Diet Cola; Seltzer; Popcorn, Mr. Bones, Invisible Joker and Luchador Banned Blinds: Verdant Leaf
9	Medusa	None	Eternal Marble Joker	52 cards, with all face cards replaced by Stone cards	None
10	Double or Nothing	All Played cards become debuffed after scoring	None	Standard 52-card deck, all with red seal	None
11	Typecast	When ante 4 boss is defeated: - all Jokers become eternal - set Joker slots to 0	None	Standard 52 cards	Banned Blinds: Verdant Leaf
12	Inflation	Permanently raise prices by $1 on every purchase	Credit Card	Standard 52 cards	Banned Vouchers: Clearance Sale, Liquidation
13	Bram Poker	Jokers no longer appear in the shop	Eternal Vampire The Emperor, The Empress Magic Trick, Illusion	Standard 52 cards	None
14	Fragile	None	2x Eternal, Negative Oops! All 6s	Standard 52-card deck, all glass	All methods of adding non-glass cards or removing glass enhancements are banned: Jokers: Marble Joker, Vampire , Midas Mask and Certificate Tarot Cards: Magician, Empress, Hierophant, Chariot, Devil, Tower, and Lovers Spectral Cards: Incantation, Grim, and Familiar Vouchers: Magic Trick and Illusion Booster Packs: Standard Pack Tags: Standard
15	Monolith	None	Eternal Obelisk Eternal Negative Marble Joker	Standard 52 cards	None
16	Blast Off	2 hands per round 2 discards per round 4 Joker Slots	Eternal Constellation Eternal Rocket Planet Merchant Planet Tycoon	Standard 52 cards	Banned Vouchers: Grabber, Nacho Tong Banned Jokers: Burglar
17	Five-Card Draw	6 discards per round 5 hand size 7 Joker slots	Card Sharp Joker	Standard 52 cards	Banned Jokers: Juggler, Troubadour, Turtle Bean
18	Golden Needle	Discards each cost $1 1 hands per round 6 discards per round Start with $10	Credit Card	Standard 52 cards	Banned Jokers: Burglar Banned Vouchers: Grabber, Nacho Tong
19	Cruelty	Small Blinds give no reward money Big Blinds give no reward money 3 Joker Slots	None	Standard 52 cards	None
20	Jokerless	Jokers no longer appear in the shop 0 Joker Slots	None	Standard 52 cards	All methods of acquiring Jokers: Tarot Cards: Judgement Spectral Cards: Wraith and Soul Tags: Uncommon, Rare, Negative, Foil, Holographic, Polychrome, Bufoon, Top-up Blinds: Crimson Heart, Verdant Leaf, Amber Acorn Booster Packs: all 4 Buffoon Packs

Trivia

• The card back of the Challenge Deck is a maze. You can use the top or the bottom opening, go through the maze, and reach the other end.
• Localthunk, the developer of Balatro, has stated that some manner of challenge creator is on his list of things to add, with no timetable.
• See individual challenge pages for individual challenge trivia.

In other languages

Challenge Deck

Language	Name	Notes
Chinese (Simplified)	挑战牌组
Chinese (Traditional)	挑戰牌組
Dutch	Uitdagingskaartspel
French	Jeu du défi
German	Herausforderungsdeck
Indonesian	Challenge Deck
Italian	Mazzo sfida
Japanese	チャレンジデッキ
Korean	챌린지 덱
Polish	Talia wyzwania
Portuguese (Brazilian)	Baralho Desafiante
Russian	Колода испытаний
Spanish (Spain)	Baraja desafío
Spanish (Latin America)	Baraja desafío