Balatro mod Jimbo’s Big Naturals is a lot funnier and safer for work than it sounds

Gentle reader, I have previously written exactly two boob-related articles in my life. One was a cheesy round-up of the best manboobs in video games for Green Man Gaming’s long-vanished blog. It was published sometime in 2010, and IIRC, pre-reboot Kratos came out on top. I think/hope it still exists somewhere in the apparatus of Green Man Gaming, hidden beneath the retailer’s veneer of respectability like a barrel of radioactive waste. The other boob article was a piece for OXM about Ken Levine saying that he wished people would stop fixating on Elizabeth’s cleavage in Bioshock Infinite – a complaint we might consider slightly hypocritical, given the character’s visual design.

Now it’s time for boob article number 3: some modder has given 122 of the 150 Jokers in cardgame Balatro big chests. This extends from visibly human Jokers to Joker concepts that shouldn’t, strictly speaking, have the capacity for boobage. The banana card has boobs, for example. The credit card card has boobs. Behold.

I know about the Jimbo’s Big Naturals mod because Graham, ever the mercurial wayfinder, posted it in our Slack yesterday. It’s the work of artist, fanfic writer and “shitpost artisan” prettypinkpansy, who came up with the idea while “trapped in bed with a migraine”. Presumably delirious and raving, they rose from the sweat-soaked sheets, fired up Aseprite, and went to work. There were some mighty hurdles to overcome. “i cannot give titties to to-do list”, reads one despairing Bluesky update. Some hours later: “let it not be said i am unwilling to admit when i am wrong”. The results can now be downloaded from Github. Here’s some blurb from the creator:

“Jimbo’s Big Naturals is a simple edit of Balatro’s existing assets to give the jokers boobs. It is not intended to be a “gender swap” mod, though you may view it as making the jokers ladies if that pleases you. It is just the existing jokers, but now they have boobs. I made it myself using Aseprite. It covers 122 of the 150 Jokers in Balatro. Other places where Joker imagery appears (such as wax seals, booster packs, and the Wraith spectral card) are also affected.”

To be absolutely clear, this ain’t some pendulous waifu mod for the gamerz: it’s, dare I say, tasteful, whatever that means, and very much safe for work, assuming you have the kind of workplace where people don’t frown upon the spectacle of a busty walkie talkie.

“No nipples are onscreen,” prettypinkpansy explains. “The closest thing to anything scandalous is that Half Joker has a bare chest, but it’s torn too badly so that it obscures anything of note.” If you don’t want to install, you can always view the whole modded sprite sheet here. Given that prettypinkpansy doesn’t specify exactly which cards have undergone Big Naturalisation, there’s some innocent amusement to be had scrutinising seemingly boobless cards for subtle modifications.

I like Jimbo’s Big Naturals. It’s that magic kind of mod that is both very silly and surprisingly crafty. It’s also a testament to the variety and imagination of Balatro’s pixelart card designs: applying the same bodily adjustments to all of them has required a certain amount of imagination in turn. Yes, that’s why I’m writing this up. Not because I’m almost 40 and still giggle at the idea of a banana with boobs. Some closing trivia: this is the developer’s favourite Big Naturals card, and this is the one that was hardest to create.

Little update: Prettypinkpansy has taken the time to comment on this piece, asking that I add the following, disconcertingly professional message to the article:

“I am truly humbled by the response to my little mod. I hope anyone who tries it enjoys Jimbo’s Big Naturals. I’d like to also point out that this was partly a group effort – while it’s my art, a lot of great suggestions were given to me from various places. Thank you so much to everyone who helped out!

“Additionally, while making this mod, I discovered the Balatro modding community is full of amazing folks and amazing mods. I am but a drop in the bucket of their creativity. Please be sure to check out what the community has made on the official Balatro Discord.”