That Jimbo sure is getting about, isn’t he? Last year, Balatro‘s starring fool took a dagger to Dying Light 2, and faced off against the legions of the night in Vampire Survivors. I’m starting to think he’s better-traveled than Ben Starr at this point. Well, in Balatro’s latest crossover with Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts, Jimbo is trading carnage for canvas, and he can now star in his own medieval margin doodles.
Scriptorium is a fascinating concept, brought to life by Yaza Games. Here, you can design some amazing medieval artwork using its sprawling asset library, which includes everything you need to illustrate, say, your next Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The response on Steam has been ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ since it arrived in April, and I’m not surprised. It even has a campaign mode which lets you take commissions from wealthy patrons, the coin from which can be used to decorate your creative space.
The new gallery update, which is out right now, brings over 200 new drawable assets, including everyone’s favorite joker (unless you’re a DC fan, I suppose). Here, you’ll be able to create your own Jimbo-fronted cards, front and back, which you can then export. A Balatro collab is a cracking idea, and I’m sure there’ll be some impressive creations flying around social media at some point. To celebrate Jimbo’s arrival, you can even design your own ship to bring him ashore as part of a series of fresh commissions.
Elsewhere in the update, Yaza Games has introduced a new sandbox and story mode gallery, which will help you keep track of all of your creations. On top of this, you can now export designs with transparent backgrounds, making it easier than ever to share your stuff – non-commercially, of course – than ever.
Having spent more than enough time doodling my own marginalia in notebooks while at school, Scriptorium calls to me. This is one of the most creative crossovers I’ve seen in a minute, and I’m stoked to see what people make. Whatever you do, though, don’t let Jimbo show the king Balatro on a Steam Deck, lest he get strung up for heresy. Then again, getting the European monarchy hooked on LocalThunk’s roguelike game would’ve probably avoided a few wars.
