Reddit user says Google's fruit fly brain simulation can play Balatro

The user, posting under the name ActualAerie1011, shared a Reddit post containing video of the model completing a winning run. In that match, the simulation played with the default Red Deck on the lowest difficulty setting, Android Authority reported.

To get the model to that point, the user wrote a custom seed-finding algorithm. Because Balatro runs are randomized, such tools can identify seeds likely to produce high scores. The user then had the algorithm and the brain-based model play identical seeds, compared the two sets of outcomes, and rewarded the model when it performed well and penalized it when it did not.

The user said training has not stopped, so the reported 20 percent win rate could improve over time, according to Android Authority.

Some users in the Reddit thread questioned the claim, mainly because the user has not published technical proof or a GitHub repository that others could review and verify.

The work builds on Google's recent release of a complete map of an adult fruit fly's brain. Since that release, people have used the simulation for a range of tasks, and the Balatro experiment is one of the more unusual applications so far.

Balatro, released in 2024, combines poker hands with solitaire-style deck building and has remained popular on mobile and other platforms. Its randomized runs make it a common target for seed-analysis tools.

【Editor's Summary】A Reddit user says a Google fruit fly brain simulation won about 20 percent of Balatro runs on the easiest difficulty using a standard deck, after being trained against a custom seed-finding algorithm. The claim, reported by Android Authority, has not been backed by published code or technical evidence, and some Reddit users remain skeptical. The experiment follows Google's release of a complete adult fruit fly brain map.