BALL x PIT Reviews
Ball x Pit is a brick-breaking, resource-farming, base-building, ball-bouncing bonanza that addictively combines multiple different genre archetypes to make one of the most unique and rewarding new indie games in recent memory.
Ball x Pit is without question the surprise hit of the year, a title that came so far out of left field and is so wacky that of course Devolver Digital is its publisher. Their golden touch yet again has found a game so fun, so addictive, that it is easily a contender for my personal Game of the Year. When a game is on your mind every hour of day, even when you are focused on an entirely different game, then you've certainly done something right.
Kenny Sun's new game is a voguish spin on an Atari classic - and it rules.
A roller coaster ride of ball-bouncing action that loves to break its own rules.
Balls 'evolve', gaining new effects if specific weapons are fused.
This is one of those “don’t judge a book by its cover” sorts of games, where the real excitement only reveals itself once the controller is in your hands. It will only take a single level to make you a believer.
Ball x Pit is a tremendous brew of so many ideas it ought to collapse under the confusion. However, it operates in such perfect balance that it appeals both to the one-more-go instinct and to more cerebral planning and creativity. Kenny Sun Studios set itself a heck of a challenge but, fortunately, hasn't dropped the ball.
It's a hands-on and involved version of its contemporaries, and a truly unique option for anyone who loves the genre. Don't expect jaw-dropping visuals or a tearjerker of a story. But the trade-off of epic gameplay is more than worth it here. In short, you'll have a ball. In fact, you'll have tonnes of them."
A thoroughly 21st century take on Breakout that may just be a classic in the making, mixing 70s style bat and ball mechanics with a succession of insane power-ups and a deeply interlinked resource generation minigame.
Ball X Pit carries the spirit of an arcade classic, while imbuing it with modern roguelike ideas. It's immediately one of the best indie games of the year.
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It's designed in such a way that you're constantly given reasons to keep playing, and runs are short enough that it's easy to excuse "just one more". The game is so cleverly done and so moreish to play that fans of roguelites and quick-fire arcade fun simply have to check it out.
Ball X Pit is a wildly inventive twist on a classic formula, blending brick breaking with roguelike progression, RPG mechanics, and resource management into a chaotic, endlessly replayable experience. Thanks to a deep roster of characters, seemingly endless ball combinations, and a settlement system that evolves between runs, the game will sink it hooks into you and refuse to let you go.
Ball x Pit's glorious, anarchic chaos makes it a must-play roguelite for fans of over-the-top arcade fun, despite a couple of minor stumbles.
BALL x PIT is an unexpectedly addictive roguelike that throws a few well-worn ideas into a pot to meld them into something bizarre, captivating, and unique. While there’s a rhythm to firing, fusing, and evolving balls that’s moreish and hard to put down, things like the city-building complement the package so well, it’s the ultimate “one more run” game. And just like the balls you’ll spend hours branding the enemy with, you’ll keep coming back again, and again, and again.
Though an amalgamation of ideas, BALL x PIT makes for simple, addicting fun. Its ball-breaker concept is packed with enough variety to keep you hooked for increasingly harder challenges.
The combination of level- and base-gameplay is really what makes Ball x Pit a joy to play. You’ll either end up with a winning run and get to either progress further down the pit, or you’ll quickly realise that a character needs to be levelled up through more levels, or through careful upgrading of buildings tied to speed, damage, and so on. There’s always something to do, and you’re always progressing in some way.
BALL x PIT offers a highly diverse range of build options, while its city-building system outside of combat creates a long and rewarding progression curve. There's always a new goal to pursue, and the constant cascade of bouncing balls delivers a uniquely satisfying, almost pachinko-like thrill.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Proving there's almost nothing that can't be painted with the roguelite brush, Ball x Pit manages a dangerously intoxicating blend of arcade brick-breaking, ball-based alchemy and town planning that I haven't been able to put down.
If there’s any complaints to make about Ball x Pit it’s that there’s not more game here. Only having eight levels means you’ll revisit a lot of the same sights and you might eventually get bored of the repetition.