Balatro includes a very basic formatting syntax for styling and formatting displayed text in-game. Where supported, text can be styled with the use of style modifier codes included within the text string. For example, the text string:

{C:blue}+1{} hand	produces

Most SMODS objects that display description text will parse and style text strings automatically when loading from localization files or loc_txt. This includes the text strings of descriptions for Achievements, Consumables, Decks, Jokers, Vouchers, and more.

Style modifiers are not additive - text will only be styled by the modifiers contained within the previous set of curly braces. Using empty braces {} will reset text styling for text after it.

Additionally, multiple modifiers can be combined in a single set of curly braces. For example, the text string:

{X:mult,C:white}X0.5{}	produces

Valid style modifiers are as follows:

Defined text colour	{C:colour-key}
Defined background colour	{X:colour-key}
Variable/custom text colour	{V:colour-index}
Variable/custom background colour	{B:colour-index}
Text motion	{E:motion-index}
Text hover tooltip	{T:tooltip-key}
Text scale	{s:scale}
No modifiers (use default styling)	{}

---

{C:colour-key} changes the color of the text, where colour-key is the key of a colour defined in G.ARGS.LOC_COLOURS.

Text string	loc_vars	Result
{C:mult}+4{} Mult
{C:attention}1{} free {C:green}Reroll{}
{C:green}#1# іn #2#{} chance	vars = { G.GAME.probabilities.normal, -- 1 card.ability.extra.odds -- 6 }

{X:colour-key} sets the background color of the text, where colour-key is the key of a colour defined in G.ARGS.LOC_COLOURS.

This modifier is usually combined with the text colour modifier to make labels.

This modifier uniquely strips all whitespace from the styled text, so text like {X:gold} W I D E {} is rendered as . This can be helpful for improving the readability of otherwise dense strings.

Text string	loc_vars	Result
{X:mult,C:white}X3{} Mult{}
{X:chips,C:white} X 1 . 5 {} Chips{}
{X:mult,C:white} X#1# {}	vars = { card.ability.extra.xmult -- 0.5 }

{V:index} changes the colour of the text to a custom colour provided as an entry in the loc_vars vars.colours table. See Localization for more details.

index is the array index of the colour entry in the vars.colours table.

Text string	loc_vars	Result
{V:1}FF00FF{}	vars = { colours = { HEX('FF00FF') } }
{V:2}#2#{} suit{}	vars = { 'Spade', 'Heart', 'Club', 'Diamond', colours = { G.C.SUITS.Spades, G.C.SUITS.Hearts, G.C.SUITS.Clubs, G.C.SUITS.Diamonds } }

{B:index} changes the colour of the background to a custom colour provided as an entry in the loc_vars vars.colours table. See Localization for more details.

index is the array index of the colour entry in the vars.colours table.

Unlike the similar Defined background modifier {X:}, {B:} does not remove or change the whitespace of styled text, so displayed contents will remain the same as their input string.

Text string	loc_vars	Result
{B:1}00FF00{}	vars = { colours = { HEX('00FF00') } }
{B:1,V:2}Oh no!{} Anyway...	vars = { colours = { {1, 0, 0, 1}, --#FF0000 {0, 0, 0, 1} --#000000 } }
{B:1,V:2}#1#{B:2,V:1}#2#{}	vars = { 'Spa', 'rts', colours = { G.C.SUITS.Spades, G.C.SUITS.Hearts, } }

{E:1} applies a pop-in effect when the text is first displayed, and a floating animation to each letter in the text.

{E:2} applies a bumping animation to each letter in sequence.

{E:} is incompatible with background modifiers {X:} and {B:}. If background modifiers are set, {E:1} will only show a pop-in effect with no motion, and {E:2} will be ignored.

Text string	Result
{C:green,E:1}probabilities{}
{E:2}Joker{}
{C:red,E:2}self destructs{}

{T:tooltip-key} adds tooltip functionality to the text, which displays a small tooltip UI above the text when the text is hovered over.

tooltip-key must be the name of a key found in either G.P_CENTERS or G.P_TAGS. See the entries in the SMODS.Center category and SMODS.Tag for more.

Text string	Result
{C:tarot,T:v_crystal_ball}Crystal Ball{}

{s:scale} changes the size of the text.

scale is a decimal value where the default size is 1.0.

Vanilla Balatro only uses s:0.8, s:0.85 and s:1.1 text scales.

Text string	Result
{s:0.8}0.8 {s:1.0}1.0 {s:1.1}1.1{}

Some style codes can be combined within one set of curly braces, like {X:mult,C:white}.

• {T:} and {s:} are compatible with all other modifiers.

• Background modifiers {X:} or {B:} can be used in conjunction with text colour modifiers {C:} or {V:}.

• Text motion modifier {E:} is incompatible with background modifiers {X:} and {B:} - if background modifiers are set, {E:1} will only show a pop-in effect with no motion, and {E:2} will be ignored.

• {C:} and {V:} are exclusive - if both are used, {C:} will be ignored.

• {X:} and {B:} are exclusive - if both are used, {X:} will be ignored.

Text string	loc_vars	Result
{X:mult,C:white}X0.5{}
{C:edition,E:1,s:2}YOU WIN!{}
{s:0.8}({V:1,s:0.8}lvl.#1# {s:0.8}){} Level up{}	vars = { G.GAME.hands[card.config.hand_type].level, colours = { G.C.HAND_LEVELS[math.min(7, G.GAME.hands[card.config.hand_type].level )] } }

Colour	Key	Value	Example	Note
	red	G.C.RED
	mult	G.C.MULT
	blue	G.C.BLUE
	chips	G.C.CHIPS
	green	G.C.GREEN
	money	G.C.MONEY
	gold	G.C.GOLD
	attention	G.C.FILTER
	purple	G.C.PURPLE
	white	G.C.WHITE
	inactive	G.C.UI.TEXT_INACTIVE
	spades	G.C.SUITS.Spades		Suit colours affected by High Contrast setting
	hearts	G.C.SUITS.Hearts
	clubs	G.C.SUITS.Clubs
	diamonds	G.C.SUITS.Diamonds
	tarot	G.C.SECONDARY_SET.Tarot
	planet	G.C.SECONDARY_SET.Planet
	spectral	G.C.SECONDARY_SET.Spectral
	edition	G.C.EDITION		Animated colours
	dark_edition	G.C.DARK_EDITION
	common	G.C.RARITY.Common		Added by Steamodded
	uncommon	G.C.RARITY.Uncommon
	rare	G.C.RARITY.Rare
	legendary	G.C.RARITY[4] (vanilla) G.C.RARITY.Legendary (SMODS)
	enhanced	G.C.SECONDARY_SET.Enhanced
	default	G.C.UI.TEXT_DARK

This dictionary is initially assigned by the loc_colour function in functions/misc_functions.lua.

Steamodded automatically adds additional entries to LOC_COLOURS for all custom objects in:

• SMODS.Rarity
• SMODS.Gradient
• SMODS.ConsumableType
• SMODS.Suit

which can be used as colour keys in the same way by {C:} and {X:}. When referring to custom Rarity, Gradient, Consumable or Suit colours added by SMODS, the key must be prefixed with the mod prefix.