Onmyoji Card Game Caught Copying Balatro Down to the UI — Then Charges Players More Than the Original Game's Price Tag

Copying a game is one thing — copying it and then charging players MORE than the original? That's the level of audacity NetEase subsidiary Onmyoji Card Game (阴阳师百闻牌) just pulled off. A new limited-time event called 'Prank Party' was exposed by players as a near-1:1 clone of the hit Steam indie roguelike Balatro, with the original game's best decks repackaged as cash-only microtransactions. You literally can't make this stuff up.

Here's what happened. The 'Prank Party' event launched in Onmyoji Card Game, and players immediately noticed something fishy — the entire mode was essentially Balatro with a reskin. The core gameplay mechanics were identical, and the UI was so blatantly copied that side-by-side screenshots made it nearly impossible to tell the two apart. The original poster provided extensive visual evidence.

For context, here's what Balatro's deck selection looks like in the original game. As a standalone indie title on Steam, all decks are included in the base game with no additional purchases required.

Now here's where it gets spicy. The Plasma Deck — widely considered the strongest and most versatile deck in Balatro — was locked behind a paywall in Onmyoji Card Game, priced at roughly 25 RMB (~$3.50). It could only be purchased with 'Jade' (勾玉), the game's premium currency at a rate of approximately 5 Jades per 1 RMB.

The Black Deck got similar treatment. In the original Balatro, this deck is considered harder to play because it reduces your number of hands by one — a genuine downside. In Onmyoji Card Game, they simply removed that penalty and sold the buffed version for about 20 RMB. The original difficulty nerf literally became a 'premium upgrade' selling point.

The Magic Deck was also carved out and sold separately for another 20 RMB. Add up all three premium decks and you're looking at around 65 RMB (~$9) — roughly the same price as Balatro's entire game on Steam.

The OP was careful to preempt any white-knighting. Yes, other decks can be unlocked with an unlimited in-game event currency (the yellow tokens). But here's the catch — the three premium decks above have ZERO free unlock options. They're cash-only, period. And even the freely unlockable ones can also be bought with premium currency, because why not squeeze every last drop?

The cherry on top? They copied Balatro's gameplay and UI but completely skipped the tutorial. The event drops you straight into gameplay with zero guidance or onboarding. The OP sarcastically noted: 'Maybe they figured everyone's already played Balatro — COPY! Boldly copy! COPY! You all know I copied it! But you still gotta pay up!'

The comment section was an absolute roast session. One player shrugged: 'When have these companies NOT copied? That'd be the real news.' Another pointed out the real issue: 'If it were just a free limited-time mode, people might turn a blind eye. But monetizing the clone? That's beyond the pale.' The most upvoted take hit different: 'When it comes to making games, over 90% of Chinese studios copy. But when it comes to monetizing games, Western devs couldn't match them even if they tried.' Savage, but accurate.

Veteran players dug up NetEase's track record too. Apparently this isn't Onmyoji Card Game's first rodeo — Marvel Duel (漫威决斗), another NetEase title, was previously caught copying data wholesale from a Chinese indie card game called Yixianpai (弈仙牌). Card text was literally copy-pasted, with one Iron Man card accidentally containing Yixianpai's proprietary keyword in its skill description. This pattern allegedly started with Identity V (第五人格), where NetEase discovered the sweet formula: copy indie studios' original content, leverage your massive user base to profit, then offer the smaller studio a pittance to settle out of court. It's especially rampant in the card game genre.

Other commenters called out the hypocrisy: 'NetEase has always been like this, yet they go around accusing others of copying them.' 'Does NetEase think they're some kind of angel?' Given NetEase's past high-profile campaigns against plagiarism, getting caught red-handed with this level of evidence is peak irony.

As of now, the official team has said nothing. Knowing NetEase's playbook, they'll probably ride out the storm in silence. But this time the evidence is airtight — UI comparisons, identical mechanics, and a premium paywall on top of a clone. There's no angle to spin this. As one commenter put it with the community's favorite self-deprecating meme: 'Messing with Onmyoji fans is like punching cotton — but even the cotton fought back this time.'