Ball x Pit

Ever since 2022 there’s been a rise in what a lot of gamers like to refer to as the “number go up” game. It’s exactly as the name suggests. A game where the goal is to raise your character number and stats constantly. The dopamine of earning something every few seconds, and repeating until either you win or die. One of the biggest indie crazes at the time was Vampire Survivors. I’m sure a ton of you know what it is, because just about everyone had the game installed on their chosen device. Computers, consoles, and mobile phones all around! Everyone was addicted to this game like it was a drug. Vampire Survivors is one of those miraculous success stories where a title with a small team and scope managed to achieve a lot. It’s received dozens of updates since its release and even crossovers with big name franchises like Castlevania. I attempted to get into it once, and despite pumping in five hours of playtime I just couldn’t. The core gameplay loop was fun, but it wasn’t enough to keep me wanting to play more. Vampire Survivors got stale and I also did not understand the folks who said the main joy is “watching the game play itself.” Okay, what is the fun about that though? I’m not saying every video game needs to be deep or complex as there have been numerous times in the past I praised games with minimal gameplay. I’m just saying I want to play a game that’s engaging and not endless dopamine.

I didn’t get into Vampire Survivors. I heavily respect its success and dozens of indie games that followed soon afterward, but I didn’t fall in love with it. For a while it was Survivor-esque games flowing around and making up the “number go up” genre. Then came Balatro in 2024, and I am surprised I haven’t played it despite being an indie nut. Balatro blows up for essentially being roguelike poker, but the numbers always go up. Garnishes millions of dollars, becomes another massive indie success story, and even manages to get nominated for Game of The Year. Balatro is another game I heavily respect despite not having any interest in playing. This time it wasn’t because of it being a “number go up” game but because I just don’t really care about poker. Back in 2024, I published my review for Card Shark and how much I struggled to remember the rules of poker. So I personally never understood the appeal of “number go up” games. I get why they are so beloved, but when I play a game I really want it to grasp my attention. I want to be hooked because it’s genuinely fun, or because it’s challenging me in such a way that I can’t find in any other game or piece of media. I don’t want a game to be something I put on in the background while I do something else. Maybe this is just me getting older. I’m not as easy to please as I was back then, and my favorite games recently have either been thought provoking or deep in mechanics. “Number go up” is not for me, or at least that’s what I thought until recently.

Last year a ton of kickass indie games came out. More than I can keep up with, so let’s check yet another one of them out. Here we have Ball x Pit, a number go up  roguelike made by solo indie developer Kenny Sun and published by Devolver Digital. It’s always Devolver that put out the craziest releases, because I remember when the reveal trailer for Ball x Pit came out and the first thought that crossed my mind was, “What the f*ck is this?” In a good way though. The type of thought that comes up when you know it’ll either be special, an instant hit, or both. Turned out it was both as Ball x Pit got glowing reviews when it released, and became one of the best indies of 2025. Currently sitting with an overwhelmingly positive rating on Steam and recently it received a new update. Adding some although not a lot of content to the game, and I expect Kenny Sun to continue this for the next year or two. Until he decides what his next project will be as Ball x Pit probably set him for life. When it came to Ball x Pit, Kenny Sun was inspired by a mobile game he played back in 2021. He thought it was amazing, but that there were a lot of flaws. Parts that could be expanded or tinkered with to create a deeper game he could’ve stayed with longer. So he got to work and eventually he made Ball x Pit. The game gets picked up by Devolver Digital, they help get the name out there, and succeed! Ball x Pit is an amazing game, and I’m surprised I didn’t play this sooner because the last five days of my life saw me hooked to this like….. Well I used the drug addiction joke earlier so let's not do it again.

I’ve been in a roguelike mood recently. I mean my Game of The Year for 2025 was Hades 2, and even after achieving the true ending I keep coming back for more. In the same way I played the first games for a hundred plus hours across two years because that’s how addicted I was. There’s also that other superb 2025 roguelike, Absolum, which is like Hades meets Streets of Rage. Both of these games resparked my love for a genre I thought I was getting bored of, and so I went out looking for more. Ball x Pit was recommended to me and so it led me here to today’s coverage. This was an amazing game. Ball x Pit retrospectively was truly the biggest surprise of 2025. It took a bunch of ideas I and many others don’t like, and combined it to make a rock solid game. Today we’ll be discussing why I adored Ball x Pit and the reason it deserves your utmost attention.

Story

There once stood a great city named Ballbylon. Home to thousands of people, ruled by a heap of great leaders, and streets of plentiful commerce. It was a peaceful kingdom and everyone lived happily, but that wasn’t until an ungrateful day. Blue skies turned dark, the earth violently shook, and a giant comet larger than Babylon hurled down from above. Killing everyone is the city and creating a massive crater that leads deep into the earth. Rumors began to spread on how monsters  were crawling out of the pit, and it soon turned out those rumors were true. The massive pit was home to numerous monsters and ecosystems, and the people of the land moved away. Afraid of one day being killed by monsters potentially reaching the surface. Anyone who dares to go to the pit where Ballybylon once stood would be a fool. However, some adventurers believe there is some hope. Some mystery to be uncovered by journeying in the heart of the pit. An elevator was built to help journey to the depths below, and alongside the elevator was an attempt to rebuild the crushed society. The adventurers came in many forms. Some were warriors, others were former fighters, a few were trained in magic, and some just joined because the pit also held treasures. It was the quest of a lifetime, and opportunity invites people from every corner. Your main goal is to help your adventurers fight through hordes of baddies, collect resources, obtain upgrade gears for the elevator, and erect New Ballbylon. .

Gameplay

This is one of the most unique roguelikes I have ever played. I wouldn’t say it’s original, but it takes ideas from multiple genres and games to create something new. There are mainly 2 aspects to Ball x Pit. Those two are journeying into the pit, and the town management. There are eight layers in the game. Each layer is a twenty to thirty minute level where you’ll blast away at the enemies coming at you, fight two minibosses, and the boss lying at the end of the layer. Players get a choice of what adventurer they wish to bring in, and if you unlock the Matchmaker building for New Ballbylon you get a choice of two. Each character has their own abilities as well as their own starting ball. Some characters will even change how you play. For example, the Tactician will transform the active action of Ball x Pit into a turn based game, or the Cohabitants let you launch two copies of a special ball in opposite directions. You have  two kinds of balls while out in the field; baby balls and special balls. The special balls can be leveled up using gems picked up from defeated enemies. Collect enough gems and your character gets a small stat increase and a choice of three upgrades. Either to gear they already have, or new equipment such as special balls or trinkets. You can carry a total of four special balls and trinkets each, and they can then be leveled up to a maximum level of three. You have balls that afflict ailments, balls that can deal area of effect damage, balls that deal colossal damage, or balls that create more baby balls.

The fun doesn’t stop there though as Ball x Pit keeps things fresh with the fusion system. Every so often a defeated enemy or miniboss will drop a fission. Picking this up gives the players one of three options. Either level up a bunch of items, fuse two balls together, or an evolution combo. Combining two balls is quite simple. You take two balls at max level, combine their traits, and make one ball. Opening up a slot for another special ball, and gaining a more powerful one. It’s the evolution balls that are the most unique. Combining traits while also creating a new special ball with new quirks. However, the caveat of an evolved special ball is that it starts at level one. So you have to upgrade back to level three again, but once done it’s back at max power and you can even combine an evolved ball with another standard special ball. There’s numerous combos for you to mess around with in Ball x Pit, and it transforms a game with a simplistic gameplay loop into one that manages to stay fresh. Beat a layer with enough characters and you’ll earn the gears needed to travel to the next layer of the pit. However, obtaining those gears is hard seeing how each character levels up separately after runs and enemies get harder with each layer. You’re gonna die a lot, and this is where we get to the second component of Ball x Pit. That being the city building aspect. A part I normally despise, but came to love with time. 

Town building is what you expect if you’ve played a town builder. You have resources and then spend those resources to unlock new facilities. These facilities though will give players means of growing stronger. Such as stat increases, access to stat scaling, perks such as the ability to revive or the aforementioned matchmaking, or new characters to utilize for later runs. However, you’ve gotta build these buildings and it’s not something that occurs over time. Taking all the characters you have you can then launch them out into your town. Have them reflect off surfaces and bump into the buildings you’re trying to construct. Bump enough times and a building will properly be erected. Characters can also pick up resources from harvesting spots allowing you to hasten the rate. Build and upgrade more on future runs, so the game can become more manageable. Ease up a game whose difficulty is always scaling, and just like the numbers going up those later layers is some of the craziest sh*t you’ll probably deal with. This wonderful blend of ball bouncing action and town management is what prevents Ball x Pit from getting stale. An offering of downtime on one or the other. Let’s just hope you can unearth the mysteries that lie in the hellscape.

Thoughts

Ball x Pit finally gave me the addiction people got when Vampire Survivors and Balatro released all those years ago. For a game whose concept is pretty dumb and silly on paper it’s handled very damn well. There’s a lot of mechanical and system depth to a game literally titled Ball x Pit, and as I mentioned moments ago I like how it gels together. Most of my favorite roguelikes have the secret X factors to prevent a mainly combat experience from becoming stale. Hades has NPCs whom you can talk to, form relationships with, and get these fun side narratives aside from the main story that’s always ongoing. Pacific Drive has you fixing and replacing the parts of your car. Swapping them out for stronger components so you can travel into the more dangerous areas of the Olympic Peninsula. Slay The Spire has numerous encounters where you can take a risk to then earn something that may potentially help you. All the while forming a stack of cards that can synergize together and form a unique strategy you hope can work. Ball x Pit has the X factor of building New Ballbylon, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I don’t like city builders. I have nothing against the genre, but much like “number go up” games they’re not for me. It’s why I haven’t played Frostpunk or Cult of The Lamb despite hearing great things about them. Ball x Pit could’ve treated the city building poorly, but it puts a ton of effort in.

City building is easy, streamlined, and you’re always encouraged to erect new buildings. Such as the stat scaling buildings or houses for new characters, because they may be the thing that makes a future run easier. I mentioned in my Hades 2 review that not everyone likes the progression of roguelites whereas a traditional roguelike removes you of everything upon death. I will always be in favor of games that let you level up or unlock new stuff on failed attempts, but it allows for failure in a genre that’s already demeaning to be less so. I wouldn’t say Ball x Pit is as distressed as Hades 2, because there are some moments that got me annoyed and we’ll talk about it shortly. Yet, I always came back from a run intrigued to see what I could unlock next. What power could I give myself to make the next attempt go further. What new characters would I earn, and what new strategy would they give me. It’s during this building process that I form more strategies in my head. What special balls to aim for, when and what fusions to aim for, and avoid death like the previous attempt. The city building is confidently designed not just because of how it’s made, but because of how it accommodates the overall game. The second side of Ball x Pit and prevent it from getting annoying, frustrating, or unfair too quickly. In fact, if the city building aspect was not here then I feel like I would’ve dropped Ball x Pit within the first four hours. The same way I couldn’t get into Spelunky or Enter The Gungeon because there wasn’t enough to prevent all the repetition from kicking in too early. So the city building gets a big thumbs up.

It’s the core gameplay I was here for in the end though, and that core gameplay loop is addicting. There’s a reason why I managed to pump in 18 hours within the span of five days. The core loop is simple to get a hold of, but hard to master. New players think it’s best to target the foes closer to you, but it’s better to learn how to get your balls to bounce. Shooting them into spots, angles, and corners where you know they’ll dish out the most damage. Seeing their different ailments & special attacks go off as they rocket around. Taking out multiple enemies at once versus one at a time. Ball x Pit is pretty skill driven, but that isn’t to say it isn’t luck driven as well. Luck plays a big part in runs, and at times it does feel like luck is the thing driving the player forward. Early runs of the game had me dying often, because I was still coming to terms with how the game is played and leveling up stats. Occasionally there was the run though where my dude just became too powerful and cleared out a screen within a few seconds. Then I unlocked the matchmake hut, and that’s when the difficulty became more manageable albeit broken. It’s very easy to break this game with some character combos eliminating all difficulty and effort you’d have to put into this game. This doesn’t happen often though, and I will say it’s break the game.

As I said with Hades 2, the first portion of a roguelike is fun because you’re figuring out how to get good and reach the end. The second portion is still fun because you’re trying to maintain the success streak. You understand the systems and are testing different ways to forge these broken builds. I like when games can be broken, because it allows players to experiment and see what works. A game that is broken is more fun than a game that’s too balanced, because it’s balance that kills player discovery. It kills players' attempts to discover how to solve a problem using the different tools they have at their current disposal. Ball x Pit may have some flaws whether it be some runs being too luck driven and curves in difficulty, but I always found myself coming back for more. It’s such a joy to play, and despite what I said about luck for a majority of my playtime it balanced skill and luck pretty well. This is one of few roguelikes where luck is heavy, but it did not annoy me. My only other complaint with the gameplay is that some characters are better than others. I have no idea why anyone would want to play Radical, which is an AI controlled dude who plays the game for you. However, if he starts messing up you can’t correct him. The Itchy Finger is the second adventurer you unlock, and he’s probably one of the best due to his firing rate and how many baby balls he shoots. There’s the Juggler, you don’t need anymore explanation as to why he’s the best. You probably already know because you played.

Ball x Pit gets a strong recommendation in my book. It’s an addicting roguelike that’ll keep you gripped, and the dozens of characters and balls to use will give you endless hours of play. I don’t know if I personally want to keep playing after having achieved the true ending, but overall I had such a fun time with this game. Kenny Sun really killed it for his first attempt at making a game, and I hope he goes far with whatever project he proposes next. In the end I am going to have to give Ball x Pit a 9.5/10 for being superb. Thanks for reading.

9.5/10, Superb