From the ashes and rubble of Ballbylon rises ‘BALL x PIT’, a wildly inventive fusion of brick-breaker chaos, roguelite intensity, and some base-building strategy, all bundled into a neat little package. MKAU Gaming got an early taste of what’s to come with the demo, which throws you head first into a frenzied loop of ball-fusing combat, monster slaying mayhem and some resource gathering survival, which is all wrapped into a fantasy-based fast-paced setting. Let’s see how the demo played out.

In BALL x PIT, players dive into a chaotic roguelite adventure that blends brick-breaking mechanics with base building, adding a hint of survival elements. It’s set in the aftermath of Ballbylon’s mysterious destruction by a big spaceship that resembled an eyeball. You take control of a hero whose task is to go into the pit, which is infested with monsters, and gather the resources needed to rebuild Ballbylon. The core gameplay revolves around launching and ricocheting balls to wipe out the hordes of enemies, and these balls can be fused to create magical balls that do different things to the enemies to make your life a little easier. 

Beyond the pit’s perilous depths, you rebuild the once-thriving city. When you are down in the pit, you gather resources like coins and gems with full release, expecting over 70 unique buildings with the demo. Only having about four things you can build with and no room for expansion, once the allocation room is full, it’s full. In the demo, I managed to unlock two different heroes but kept going back to my original one that looked a little like a knight in shining armour, as he had the levels built up more than the newcomer. I would love to see in full release different and unique abilities, so you might need to use a certain hero for a certain map for a bit of a boost. 

I was impressed by how tight and responsive the controls were, which was fitting for the style of game because sometimes it’s a little on the more tense side of things. I liked enabling the auto-throwing so the balls, as soon as they would bounce back to you, would be thrown back out instantly, which created some unforgettable chaos. You had your basic movements with W, A, S and D moving forwards, backwards and sideways, trying to stay away from the hordes of enemies coming towards you at pace. The UI for placing down buildings was simplistic and didn’t leave you scratching your head wondering what was going on. 

The demo had one map available to use, which could be best described as an underground mining cave system that was built around a never-ending walkway. There are other maps there, but they must be available on full release; the developers have said you can expect anything from blistering deserts to icy caverns with full release of the title, though. I actually had a heap of fun as no run felt the same and it brings the competitive side of you out trying to beat you’re last time in the pit before meeting your untimely death.

Like all good games, the further you go, the harder the game gets with increasing difficulty, and some of the combinations for fusing were completely absurd but seemed to work quite well. There are up to 60 different combinations you can run to release powerful and unpredictable hits like poison and fire, or fire and lasers.

I was impressed by how tight and responsive the controls were, which was fitting for the style of game because sometimes it’s a little on the more tense side of things. I liked enabling the auto-throwing so the balls, as soon as they would bounce back to you, would be thrown back out instantly, which created some unforgettable chaos.

You had your basic movements with W, A, S and D moving forwards, backwards and sideways, trying to stay away from the hordes of enemies coming towards you at pace. The UI for placing down buildings was simplistic and didn’t leave you scratching your head wondering what was going on.

The audio design was a perfect mixture of a medieval ambience, but once you had entered the pit, it turned into what sounded like a futuristic EDM, creating a unique contrast that seemed to work well. The heavier beat drove a sense of momentum, which made you want to push further and further. However, over time, the constant barrage of clashing sound effects, particularly from the bouncing balls and repetitive audio cues from the enemies, started to wear thin, and I found myself turning the audio off in those longer pit runs.

I loved the top-down graphics in BALL x PIT. There is a fusion of retro arcade aesthetics with a modern minimalist feel, which is both chaotic and clean. The arenas in the demo are bold and colourful, with some nice sharp contrasts that help tell the difference. I’ll forever be a fan of that simplistic retro arcade feel in these games. I liked the attention to detail put into the character models, which brought a modern feel to a retro-feeling game. The screen can become a little cluttered with all the effects, making it tricky to sometimes see what is going on and not get overstimulated.

In conclusion, the demo for BALL x PIT delivers a bold and chaotic experience that manages to still free fresh and familiar and never seems to get old with the gameplay because not two runs are the same. It blends brick-breaking mechanics, rougelite progression, and survival elements all into a neat little package, and I’m keen to see this come out on full release.

Written by: Hayden Nelson