Review - BALL x PIT

Developer: Kenny Sun and Friends

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Available On: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2

Review System: Nintendo Switch 2

One of life's first joys is the ball. It's round, playful, and bouncy. Balls are central to human existence. The shape of the ball can be found almost everywhere, from ball bearings to baseball and basketball. It is the ball that helped power one of the earliest video games and also formed the brick breaker genre. Games of this nature include Arkanoid, Shatter, and Breakout, which I reviewed last year. BALL x PIT appears as a simple brick-breaking game, but like the bottomless pit it takes place in, there are a plethora of secrets to discover and excitement to be had.

BALL x PIT combines a brick breaker with roguelite, city-builder, and RPG elements into one cohesive experience that makes it easy to learn and hard to put down. With its simple gameplay and bevy of roguelite elements, BALL x PIT is an incredibly engaging experience and an evolution of the brick breaker genre.

Lots of Balls

Ballbylon has fallen. A strange entity has appeared, turning the kingdom of Ballbylon into a bottomless pit. The survivors have banded together to venture deep into the depths to fight the thousands of enemies that lurk in the shadows. In this world, balls are everything, and they become the ultimate weapon to fight against the evils of the Pit.

The quest is not easy. There are multiple levels of the Pit, each teeming with unique and dangerous enemies. With every venture down into The Pit, there are blueprints to discover and a town to rebuild. The ultimate goal is to face the strange, alien fiend that has destroyed Ballbylon. Victory lies at the bottom of the Pit. The journey is not easy, but with the help of the town's many citizens, there just might be a chance to win.

The Ball Pit

BALL x PIT is a brick breaker that combines various elements. At its base, the game is a brick breaker with bullet hell and shoot-‘em-up elements. Players slowly crawl vertically in a level and use their balls to destroy enemies, represented as tiles on the course. The goal is to clear these tiles of enemies before they get too close to the player. Once they get close, an exclamation point appears. Moments after that, the enemy attacks the player, causing damage.

Upon defeating enemies, gems drop across the stage. Picking these gems up levels up the player’s character and unlocks perks. These perks include new balls to shoot, as well as other passive perks that include more critical hits or damage reduction. The unlocks leave plenty of room for experimentation and combinations, but choosing the right one might just be the edge to face the hordes.

Welcome to the Ball

Occasionally, the enemy drops a multicolored circle of glowing balls. Collecting one unlocks more balls to unlock, but at times, they also unlock the ability to fuse and evolve balls. For example, choosing a fireball and an electric ball can create a fiery, energized ball that burns and shocks targets at the same time. Evolution also strengthens these wild concoctions as well. Several of these glowing spheres can be collected to strengthen a build and experiment with different balls.

The perk system is rewarding. I found myself making various combinations of balls and attack spells. One spell used lasers to set enemies on fire, as well as blind them. Another could damage and leech health off of enemies. Even the passive perks were effective, such as increasing damage for balls bounced or bouncing walls of the back of a level to increase the amount of damage.

Have A Ball

Shooting balls in BALL x PIT is easy and accessible. Holding the shoulder button allows for continuous manual fire, but there is an autofire button to fire a continuous stream of balls. However, movement is slower when balls are being fired. There is some directional control as well, which is important depending on the character chosen and the level. Shooting balls off a wall can increase damage and speed, depending on the character and the perks chosen. Some enemies use shields to block frontal attacks as well. Choose wisely when choosing perks, as well as characters.

As levels progress, the path widens, making enemies more numerous but expanding the range of movement. This increases the number of enemies to fight but increases the chances of earning gems and rainbow circles. Enemies drop health, but do not count on this, as the game is persistent in eliminating you.

Balls Galore

There is a euphoric rush when fighting enemies in BALL x PIT. When the right build is in place, BALL x PIT is incredibly amazing, while being tenacious. This makes it hard to put down, even in short sessions. I was clearing waves of enemies with balls that defied imagination. From a virus ball to a blind ball, I was always excited to try a new combination and slay foes. 

BALL x PIT is not easy. Each level has two mini-bosses and then a final main boss. These bosses are fortified and will throw every trick they can at players. While health can be collected during a level, the sheer number of enemies and the aggressive bosses make each level a challenge. This becomes formidable when enemies begin firing back en masse. Fortunately, that is where the village comes in. 

It Takes A Village

It is in the village that BALL x PIT introduces a new mechanic: City building. During the course of a level, players collect blueprints. The blueprints are then used to build structures that unlock perks, characters, and status upgrades. Additionally, tiles can be placed for harvesting material like wood and stone. Once the tiles are placed down, they can be harvested. Harvesting plays like another ball-focused minigame, where bouncing the balls off the structure builds it and unlocks it. Homes, barracks, garrison, research labs, and so on can be unlocked to upgrade stats and abilities. Some structures are specific to levels and help boost chances. 

As the town grows, so does the challenge of putting structures and bouncing them. There is only one chance to harvest per session. After bouncing balls upon structures, the player needs to venture down into the pit to gain another harvest session. BALL x PIT becomes a case of rinse and repeat. Fight monsters in the pit, win or lose, and then head back to town to build as well as harvest. 

Who Are The People in Your Neighborhood

It’s worth it to invest in building. Building different structures provides different characters to choose from when entering The Pit. One character is a disgraced lawman and fires a scattershot of balls. Another is a warrior who has seen many battles and fires piercing balls. At one point, characters can be combined to create different combinations of shots, which is useful for encountering the game’s tougher enemies. This was most especially useful during the mushroom level and the colony of enemies I faced at the end boss. 

As a roguelite, players die and die often. However, the game has a balance that kept me coming back and wanting more. Games that have that “one more time” hook tend to be of good game design. BALL x PIT constantly wants you to come back and play, and the short level designs make the game perfect for short-term sessions as well as playing on-the-go. Additionally, it nails the roguelite formula well. The game is challenging and a grind, but it isn’t too grindy or tremendously challenging. Players die and repeat, but there is a meaningful sense of progress and growth. 

Bounce!

This is most especially true during the moments of building the village. Before long, you have an entire town ready to be built. Bouncing the balls in the town feels meaningful and purposeful. You grow in power and capability with each structure that is successfully built. BALL x PIT never feels like it’s grinding for the sake of grinding, nor does it put unnecessary firewalls in your path. It all feels steady and rewarding. It may take some time to get there, especially in the opening hours, but it gets better as players go along. 

I can’t speak highly of BALL x PIT enough. When the balls are bouncing, and enemies are falling, the game is tremendously fun. Even the soundtrack by Amos Roddy hits all the right marks and gels extremely well with the overall game. The same can be said of the game's early 90s-inspired presentation that feels like it was pulled from the early PS1 era. BALL x PIT has various angles going for it, and it gels with each one.

Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

It's difficult to find any real flaws or blemishes to the design and execution of BALL x PIT. It's clear the developer at Kenny Sun and Friends wanted to create a type of game they grew up on but infuse it with a simple yet intricate mechanical foundation that feels refreshing and modern, yet straightforward and familiar. That foundation was the classics of brickbreaker titles like Breakout and Arkanoid, but then infuse it with a shoot-'em up. It's clever and tremendous.

Perhaps the only real blemish may just be the repetition. You go into the pit, you win or die, go back to the surface, repeat. There are blueprints to collect, and multiple difficulties to keep things fresh, as well as experimenting with different characters. However, the principle is to keep entering and exiting the pit until Ballbylon is saved. I'd recommend BALL x PIT for quick bursts and hour-long sessions.

Enter the BALL x PIT

The wonder of indie games is the ability to experiment and break barriers. Find out what works and doesn't work, and introduce something new to the world. There simply isn't anything else like BALL x PIT out there, and while its style of gameplay may not be for everyone, I encourage anyone with a passing interest to give it a try. The balls speak for themselves.

Experimentation in video games isn’t easy, especially in today’s gaming space. BALL x PIT manages to experiment with a brick-breaker with a shoot ’em up and combine those two genres with roguelite elements and city building to become a wholly unique game. Engaging, refreshing, and engrossing, BALL x PIT is a ball! Ready your balls and roll out. You’ll be bouncing with this one.

BALL X PIT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED