Review – BALL x PIT

It’s here to take you to rock bottom, literally. Despite this, the place is not as bad as the saying makes it seem, it will just be difficult to survive inside it. The confines of this place reveal a frantic and challenging adventure, but one that brings many rewards and soon becomes addictive.

Developed by , this is a roguelite that mixes chaos, strategy and hundreds of balls in a classic mechanic of bouncing projectiles. Of course, all this craziness had to rely on Devolver Digital – for that reason alone, curiosity is at its peak, and I must say: it’s crazy that works.

Jumping headfirst into the depths of Bolalônia

The madness of BALL x PIT begins when a kind of UFO falls like a meteor over the city of Bolalônia. In addition to decimating the surface of the city, the object pierces the ground, opening an immense pit that seems to have no end. Warriors and treasure hunters come from everywhere to plunder what’s left of the great city.

The bravest began to descend through an improvised elevator, discovering that the depths hold many terrestrial and also alien treasures. The problem is that few return to the surface, as the place is taken over by dark creatures – the question remains whether everything came from space or whether they are inhabitants of the depths.

Here you will face courses that mix explosions, endless hordes of enemies and many types of weapons to use, as well as a powerful sphere that improves your skills or creates new projectiles. Think of a mix of Peggle, Vampire Survivors and . The result? An action roguelite with a chaotic and highly addictive rhythm, where replayability will be constant.

With a top-down view, BALL x PIT has simple commands: move to the sides, shoot with the ZR or activate automatic fire to make things easier. Finally, use the right analog stick to aim. Combine these commands with your strategy, as the level moves on its own and the hordes are coming your way. To win, there’s no point in aiming one by one, remembering that the balls will ricochet off the walls – you can use this to your advantage and cause even more explosions.

As we progress through the route, there is a bountiful harvest of experience points. Little by little we level up within the game, and it is through this that we can acquire new weapons, spells and effects. You can also improve what you already have – it will depend on the options that arise with each improvement.

In total, there are 8 weapons and effects options that we can carry at the same time and each of them can have up to 3 levels of upgrades, causing a real particle show.

Some spheres have fire, electric, poison powers and others are crazier, like vampires that bite enemies. You can also summon allies or items that fly over you to help in firefights. Spells can cause tremors on the ground and laser beams that travel across the screen from edge to edge. It’s a shame, however, that there isn’t a local multiplayer mode, it would have been very welcome.

The fusion system is the star of BALL x PIT

There are more than 60 ball variations available, and the icing on the cake is the possibility of combining them to create new effects. The game rewards experimentation: a fusion can generate a ball that freezes enemies, another that ricochets infinitely or even one that explodes into mini-balls upon impact. It is unthinkable what the result of each of the mergers will be, but they all guarantee good surprises.

Visually it may seem simple, but it ends up being very fluid and addictive – the more we mix, the more surprises we find. Fusions happen when we collect the colored spheres; They also allow you to improve the level of certain weapons and even bring evolutions by joining two weapons that have synergy, being able to form a new weapon. Honestly, it’s not clear what the difference is between fusion and evolution. The important thing is that, in this laboratory of chaos, mastering these combinations will be essential to survive in the deepest layers of this well.

The stages have a horde route with two mini bosses and, at the end of the route, the boss appears. These moments lead to insane battles and even more complex shootouts. When you beat the stages, you return to the surface of Bolalônia with all your deserved rewards and even a gear that helps improve this elevator.

It’s only worth saying that two gears will be needed to advance between the phases, that is, winning twice will be the requirement to progress. Fortunately, the matches are always unique, so it’s not a tiring replay.

Additionally, there are different characters to unlock that change the starting weapons a bit. Each of them also has its own attributes, making the experience slightly different. Adding up all the possibilities, BALL x PIT guarantees a very varied game with a lot to unlock, which is great and keeps us entertained for hours.

Returning to the surface

Outside the well, you also have activities to do. You and your characters are responsible for creating the new Bolalônia. With the resources acquired, it is possible to construct buildings, material collection fields and even monuments that reinforce your victories. Each construction will provide bonuses for your adventures in the depths. The combination is interesting, as it ends up being a necessary break between phases, without leaving the game.

Collecting items in the new city of BALL x PIT also uses the classic mechanics of shooting and hitting, in this case targeting the characters themselves to move between buildings. Over time, it is possible to automate some work, this way we gain resources while enjoying the games downstairs.

One caveat is that, sometimes, there is a feeling of slow progress on these buildings, requiring a few games until we actually see them in operation.

Each layer of the well has its own setting: we pass through deserts, frozen caves, chaotic forests and the enemies have very different patterns, following the theme of each phase. If you want more details on each item in the game, you’ll be happy to know that there is an encyclopedia and you can have information on all enemies and spheres.

The visual diversity of BALL x PIT is one of the highlights: the pixel art is vibrant, the number of particles on the screen is absurd (sometimes too much, confusing what is ours and what is against us), but everything makes the rhythm almost hypnotic.

The soundtrack follows the frantic pace in a very pleasant way, it manages to be subtle even though everything is crazy, but it also has its moments of greatest action, always in conjunction with the matches and their combats.

In general, BALL x PIT is beautiful, but playing in portable mode, at times it is difficult to read the information in the menus and interface. There is even an option to put texts in high resolution, but it doesn’t completely solve it. The pixel look of the city also ends up being a little confusing to view. On TV, everything is fine – the composition is very beautiful.

Despite having played most of the time on the Nintendo Switch 2, this is the version for the first Switch where I also tested, both perform well even when there are a lot of particles on the screen. Still, a version for the new console will soon arrive, which may bring higher screen resolution and perhaps other new features – using the mouse to aim, have you thought about it?

Even with a difficulty curve that can be quite demanding and some moments of visual confusion, the game nails what it sets out to do: being an explosive, strategic game with a soul of its own.

BALL x PIT is not easy. The first few games can be punishing, and mastering fusions takes time. But when everything comes together, when you match the right balls and see the entire screen transform into a spectacle of destruction, the game reaches that magical point of satisfaction. And then there’s no turning back: we’re going to want to get deeper and deeper into rock bottom.