Demon’s Hand: New League of Legends Balatro-inspired Mini-game

League of Legends

23h

Ganesh Jadhav

With Patch 25.06, released on March 19, 2025, League of Legends surprised players with a brand-new mini-game: Demon’s Hand. Inspired by Balatro, this rogue-like deck builder is integrated into Noxus' lore and can be accessed directly from the League client.

How to play Demon's Hand?

Demon's Hand follows its inspiration as a deck-building strategy game where you battle enemies by forming powerful hands from a deck of 52 cards. Your objective is to whittle away your opponent's health before your own health reduces to 0.

You can access Demon's Hand by loading up the League of Legends client and starting a new game.

Gameplay

The players start the game with a set amount of health points and a hand of eight cards from a deck of 52 total cards. You attack the enemy by forming hands of maximum 5 cards. The damage dealt by a hand depends on the strength of the hand assembled.

The 10 possible hands and the equivalent damage to the enemy is as follows:

Solo (Single high-value card) - 10 damage
Dyad (Two cards of the same number) - 20 damage
Dryad Set (Two Dyad sets, four total) - 40 damage
Triad (Three cards of the same number) - 80 damage
March (Five cards in sequential order) - 100 damage
Horde (Five cards of the same suit) - 125 damage
Grand Warhost (Three cards of the same number + two cards of the same number) - 175 damage
Tetrad (Four cards of the same number) - 400 damage
Marching Warhost (Five sequential cards of the same suit) - 600 damage
The Demon’s Hand (Five highest-value cards of the same suit) - 2000 damage

During each battle, players have 3 discards of up to five cards to redraw cards in hopes of assembling a stronger hand. Each enemy has unique modifiers that affect the game, such as debuffing certain hands or altering discard mechanics.

Winning battles earns you currency and it helps you buy Sigils (similar to Jokers in Balatro). There are 24 rare Sigils which enhance different playstyles and that can be unlocked by queuing up for League of Legend matches.

League of Legends Demon Hands sigils (credits: Riot Games)

The Map & Game Modes

To complete Demon’s Hand, players must defeat five enemies, followed by a final boss battle. One of the five encounters can be an elite enemy for increased rewards.

League of Legends Demon's Hand Story Mode Map (credits: Riot Games // League of Legends)

There are three game modes in total, each unlocked progressively:

Story Mode - Available by default.
Hard Mode - Unlocked by:
- Completing Story Mode.
- Collecting 8 rare Sigils by playing League.
Demon Mode - Unlocked by:
- Completing Hard Mode.
- Collecting 16 rare Sigils.

Rewards

Demon's Hand offers various in-game rewards for completing milestones:

Complete Story Mode: "Locked In" Emote, 500 BXP (Battle Pass experience)
Complete Hard Mode: LeBlanc Illustration Icon, 250 BXP
Complete Demon Mode: "The Demon’s Hand" Title, 250 BXP
Collect all 24 Rare Sigils: The Demon’s Hand Icon, 250 BXP

Play Before It’s Gone!

Demon's Hand is available until April 28, 2025. So, load up your League client before the event ends!

Follow Strafe Esports for all the latest League news and our X account for the latest content and coverages. Also, stay tuned to Strafe YouTube for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.