Resources for the Lua programming language

Lua is a lightweight, high-performance scripting language designed for embedding in applications and games. Developed in the early 1990s, Lua is known for its simple and flexible syntax, making it easy to integrate into C and C++ programs, as well as its efficiency in handling tasks like configuration, automation, and extensibility.

Lua's small footprint and dynamic nature make it ideal for embedded systems and game development, where resources are limited but performance is key. Its powerful features include first-class functions, garbage collection, and tables (which can be used as arrays, dictionaries, or objects), enabling developers to write concise and efficient code.

Widely used in game engines (like Love2D and Roblox), network software, and applications requiring embedded scripting, Lua’s ease of integration and speed have contributed to its lasting popularity. Its active community continues to contribute to its growing ecosystem of libraries and tools.

Balatro: When Simplicity Enables Genius

In December 2021, a Saskatchewan IT worker started learning Lua by creating a folder called "Learning/Lua/" on his computer. Two and a half years later, that hobby project became Balatro: a poker roguelike that sold over 5 million copies, earned Game of the Year nominations, and proved that game-breaking success doesn't require enterprise tooling or venture capital.

LocalThunk chose Lua and the LÖVE2D framework for the most honest reason possible: he was learning, and they were beginner-friendly. The entire game clocks in at roughly 30,000 lines of Lua code, openly readable by unzipping the Steam executable. No corporate codebase, no microservices architecture, no DevOps complexity. Just clean Lua running on a framework designed for exactly this: rapid game development without fighting the tooling. The language's simplicity meant LocalThunk could focus on what actually mattered: creating addictive game mechanics that bend poker's rules into something genuinely novel.

The success came from game design, not technical sophistication. But that's precisely the point. Lua got out of the way. It let a solo developer working evenings and weekends build something technically solid enough to run flawlessly across PC, console, and mobile while he obsessed over joker synergies and scoring systems. When your indie game hits 5 million sales and your biggest technical decision was "which beginner framework should I learn," you've vindicated every choice that prioritized shipping over architecture astronautics. Balatro is a love letter to simplicity, and Lua was the envelope that got it delivered.