Blindfold

An accessibility mod for Balatro that provides screen reader support for blind players.

For discussion of Blindfold, as well as my other modding projects, I have a Discord.

If you would like to support my modding work, I also have a Patreon.

Features

• Screenreader output for all game screens and events
• Full keyboard and controller support, all rebindable
• Play-by-play scoring announcements, with per-announcement toggles
• Status hotkeys for the numbers you need mid-hand (hands, discards, score, money, joker slots)
• Review buffers for re-reading detail at your own pace
• Translations for all of Balatro's languages

Installation

1. Download BlindfoldInstaller.exe from the latest release.

2. Run it. It finds your Steam install of Balatro automatically (use Browse... if you keep the game somewhere unusual) and shows one row of buttons: press Install.

   Windows SmartScreen may warn about an unrecognized app the first time: choose "More info", then "Run anyway".

3. Launch Balatro through Steam. You should hear "Blindfold loaded."

Prefer a console? Run BlindfoldInstaller.exe --cli for the same flows as a menu.

Updating: run the installer again. It tells you when a newer version is out and the Install button becomes Update. "Install dev build" instead installs the very latest work-in-progress code from this repository — ahead of any release, updated the same way ("Update dev build" appears whenever there's something new).

Manual installation

Prefer to place files yourself? Each release also ships Blindfold.zip (this README is included in it):

1. Copy version.dll from the zip into Balatro's game folder, next to Balatro.exe (Steam: right-click Balatro → Manage → Browse local files). This is the Lovely Injector mod loader — skip it if you already run other Lovely mods.
2. Copy the zip's Blindfold folder into %APPDATA%\Balatro\Mods, so it ends up at %APPDATA%\Balatro\Mods\Blindfold (create Mods if it doesn't exist yet).
3. Launch Balatro through Steam.

To update manually, delete Mods\Blindfold and copy in the new zip's folder — settings live outside it and survive. To uninstall, delete Mods\Blindfold (and the game folder's version.dll if nothing else needs Lovely).

Uninstalling: the installer's Uninstall button removes the mod and offers to also remove the Lovely Injector and Blindfold's settings. Your game saves are never touched.

Getting started

Start Balatro through Steam and wait for "Blindfold loaded." From there:

• Arrow keys (or d-pad / left stick) move between controls; each speaks as you land on it. Screens are laid out as rows: up/down switches rows, left/right moves within one.
• Enter (or A) activates the focused control.
• The play screen reads top to bottom: your jokers and consumables, the blind, played cards, your hand, then the action buttons. Select cards in your hand with Enter (controller A), then press X to play or C to discard (controller X / Y).
• Space (controller LT + A) picks up the focused card so you can reorder: move to where it should go and press it again to place ("place between X and Y" tells you where a drop lands). Works on jokers, consumables, and hand cards — hands score left to right.
• S sells / U uses the focused joker or consumable (controller LB / RB).
• Status chords answer the common questions instantly: hands left (Ctrl+X, controller LT+X), discards left (Ctrl+C, LT+Y), score and goal (Ctrl+S, LT+B), money (Ctrl+M, RT+X), joker slots (Ctrl+J, RT+Y).
• Ctrl+arrows (controller right stick) open the review buffers: Left/Right switch buffers (game status, card detail), Up/Down step through their lines — for re-reading anything at your own pace.
• Announcement toggles, speech options, and rebinding all live in Options → Blindfold.

Controls

Everything is rebindable in Options → Blindfold → Keybindings.

Action	Keyboard	Controller
Move (sliders and tab strips adjust with left/right)	Arrow keys	D-pad or left stick
Jump to the start / end of the current row	Home / End	—
Select a card / activate a button (on a joker or consumable: pick up / place)	Enter	A
Pick up / place (reorder jokers, consumables, or hand cards)	Space	LT + A
Play hand	X	X
Discard	C	Y
Sell the focused joker or consumable	S	LB
Use the focused consumable	U	RB
Previous / next tab (menus)	[ / ]	left/right on the tab strip
View deck	D	RT + RB
Run info	Tab	Back, or LT + LB
Back / deselect all	Backspace or Shift	B
Pause / game menu	Escape (left native)	Start
Review buffers (switch buffer / browse its lines)	Ctrl + Left/Right, Ctrl + Up/Down	Right stick
Read hands remaining	Ctrl + X	LT + X
Read discards remaining	Ctrl + C	LT + Y
Read score and goal (e.g. "3000 of 80000")	Ctrl + S	LT + B
Read money	Ctrl + M	RT + X
Read joker slots (e.g. "3 of 5 jokers")	Ctrl + J	RT + Y
Debug: dump the current screen's controls to the log	F8	—

Languages

The mod follows the game's language setting and ships translations for all of Balatro's languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian). These are machine translations, so please let me know if anything is incorrect.

Credits

I would like to thank Rashad Naqeeb for inspiring this project (you knew what you were doing when you put the idea in my head.) I would like to thank Rashad Naqeeb, Aaron Ramirez, and Austin Hicks for early testing.

I would also like to thank my Patreon supporters:

• Ahmad Abukhdair
• Alex19EP
• Chris Shaw
• Garrett Burgess
• Nancy Feldman
• rashad naqeeb
• Todd Shaughnessy