Ball x Pit Is the First Game Since Vampire Survivors That’s a Threat to My Free Time

Vampire Survivors is the best example of a game where you sort of stumble out of it half-drunk from the sheer dopamine of it all, and wonder what day it is. I know there are plenty of other options too, this varies from person to person, but Vampire Survivors started a new range of impersonators. Some good, some bad, and that in itself is always impressive. Well, Ball x Pit is the first game since that which has got me good, and boy oh boy am I happy about it.

Ball x Pit, which I think uses the Hunter x Hunter methodology in not pronouncing the x, is a roguelike brick-breaker game. There's some bullet hell elements, some base-building elements, a really cool aesthetic, and just the most brain-brrrring gameplay you could possibly hope for. You must guide one of many characters, each with their own quirks, special ball types, and stats, through an array of different levels, pew-pewing at enemies and bosses as you go.

You gain experience for doing so, letting you upgrade your balls and your passives, and even combine some of them. Actually, there are two ways to combine them. The first you'll likely come across is Fusion, which makes a level 3 ball, and smashes two balls together to make one with the traits of both. However, if you get specific balls and get them to level three, you can make an Evolution, which is sometimes a combination of both, but sometimes a new shiny thing with similar traits. Either way, that new ball starts at level one, and can get stronger still. And yes, you can fuse two evolved balls into one super ball. It always slaps, but how hard it slaps is dictated by how well you've chosen the combinations.

Base-building has a touch of Dark Cloud to it. You need to position different buildings near other buildings to make the most of the passives they offer, which improve as you level up your characters or upgrade specific buildings. You're always fiddling around with your options to perfect the buffs you've got. Resource management is also a must, and you need to bounce your characters off buildings to actually build them, which is a fun little mini-game to play around with.

I've mentioned characters already, and while they all start off with slightly different starting balls and a cool passive, some later options add new gameplay elements. One character has a giant shield to make the game more about bouncing your balls back, whereas another can use one who can pierce through enemies to make it more direct. Heck, there's even a character who makes it turn-based, and one who plays the game for you. You can turn this into an idle game, and though I adore playing it, that means I can play it while I'm writing about it. You can bet your butt I'm doing that right now.

Ball x Pit is an incredibly clever and deeply satisfying roguelike that I can only hope gets more updates as we go forward. Every new ball and gameplay tweak in the game is so damn inspiring that I can't help but want more. I'll be playing this for months to come, and it'll be haunting my dreams for at least as long, too. Do not miss out on this game.

Our Ball x Pit impressions were played on PC, and a review code was provided by the publisher. It's also available on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox.