When I first heard about Ball x Pit, I wasn’t really interested in the concept. A roguelite brickbreaker doesn’t sound like my type of game. So when it landed in my inbox and I decided to give it a go, my expectations were fairly low.
I was stunned to discover what is easily one of the most fun games released in 2025. I’m already approaching 30 hours, and I can see myself easily doubling that in the weeks to come. So, let’s dig into this obscure little indie title – what makes it so good and, more importantly, is it something you should pick up for yourself?
Charming Visuals and a Satisfying Loop
My first impression of Ball x Pit is good. The graphics are nostalgic yet modern pixel art, and everything is beautifully designed. The gameplay itself is fantastic, and the effects and sounds make every level a joy to run.
Your goal is to break blocks that spawn as you run up the field of play, and eventually reach the end of the level without dying. If blocks get too close, they will attack you, and there’s also usually a load of enemy projectiles to worry about, too. If you reach the end of the level, you’ll gain a cog, which you can use to upgrade your lift and unlock the next level.
To win, you’ll need to merge various balls you can pick up by leveling your characters up during a run. You can then merge these balls to form powerful combinations, ultimately resulting in your victory.
Between runs, you’ll tend to your little village, which can be expanded for more structures as you progress. Many buildings will give you bonuses that carry into rounds, strengthening your characters and the rewards you get for runs.
And that, in a nutshell, is the game. It’s all very well done, and the gameplay loop is one of the most addictive I’ve played in recent memory. But like all games, this one has a flaw we need to talk about.
One Flaw, and it’s Minor
I honestly struggled to find a flaw in Ball x Pit. I could mention how some runs go very poorly, and that RNG had no place in modern titles, but that’s an opinion born from frustration, not a flaw. In fact, the game is dang near flawless, except for two minor things that bugged me.
The first is the music. There’s only one track for runs, and it gets old really fast. It’s an easy flaw to remedy, though. Simply turn the music off and play whatever you fancy in the background as you go – the game’s pretty well optimized and runs like a dream even with other applications open. That said, I am running a Ryzen 7 7700 with an RTX 4060 and 32GB of RAM, but this game will run on much less.
I would love to see more tracks added to the game, perhaps in future updates, but it’s a truly minor issue. The other issue is a little more significant, and that’s the lack of an endgame. Once you complete your first playthrough, you’ll unlock newgame+ (you don’t actually have to start a new game, though). All this does is allow you to play through all the levels again, but they’re far more difficult. Your progress slows, and all you can really do is upgrade infinitely upgradable buildings in between runs to raise your chances of completing the newgame+.
Again, depending on how you look at it, this isn’t even a flaw. The initial playthrough took me close to 22 hours, so you’re already getting massive value from the game, with its highly respectable price.
It’s just that the game’s so dang addictive, I just want more. It’s only when compared to something like Slay the Spire that this feels like a flaw, but StS is the exception, not the rule.
All things considered, this is as close to a flawless game as we’ve seen in recent memory. I haven’t even found any bugs in the game, and I’ve played for close to thirty hours and counting.
Definite Contender for Indie of the Year
We’ve been spoiled by many indie titles this year, but Schedule 1, PEAK, and the others didn’t capture me quite as successfully as Ball x Pit. It’s the best indie I’ve played this year, and while bigger AA games with bigger budgets have launched – KCD2 and Expedition 33, to name the standouts – Ball x Pit brings something so totally different it doesn’t feel right to compare it to those two.
It’s 100% worth a play if you haven’t picked it up yet. It’s going to keep you busy for a long time to come, and its indie price tag makes it an absolute steal. Get it, you won’t regret it.
If you’d like to see more helpful guides, news, or features from Prima Games, please consider adding us to your preferred sources.
- Delightful visuals
- Supremely addicting gameplay loop
- Fantastic animations and impacts
- The music could use some variation
- The end game is great, but at a stretch you could argue it doesn't add enough new stuff.
Published: Oct 15, 2025 12:00 pm