You would not believe how low the Balatro creator's expectations were for the roguelike: "My actual production project folder is called 'CardGame' and is still in my 'Learning' directory'"

Balatro Joker card.

Balatro is, by all definitions, a huge success, but its creator initially had astonishingly low expectations for the moreish poker roguelike. 

Balatro launched on February 20 and sold over 1 million copies by March 18, not even a month later. As with many indie success stories, solo developer LocalThunk didn't expect anything like the reception he's gotten.