Ball x Pit

Last updated
Ball x Pit
Ball x Pit cover.jpg
Developer Kenny Sun
Publisher Devolver Digital
Composer Amos Roddy
Platforms
Release
  • PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Windows, macOS
  • October 15, 2025 (2025-10-15)
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • October 28th, 2025
Mode Single-player

Ball x Pit is a video game developed by Kenny Sun and published by Devolver Digital. It was released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, macOS and Xbox Series X and Series S in October 2025 with a Nintendo Switch 2 version releasing later that month. The game combines two separate gameplay loops, an Arkanoid -inspired action stage where the player defeats monsters by bouncing balls against them, and a city builder stage where resources collected can be used to improve buildings that grant new characters and abilities in the action stage.

Contents

Gameplay

Ball x Pit takes place in the ruins of Ballbylon after the city was destroyed by a meteor, leaving a giant pit. Adventurers come to the ruins to seek riches of the former city but must face hordes of monsters that lurk in the pit. [1] The game was described by Game Informer as a game that combines roguelike, bullet hell and town-building simulation genres. [1]

The game has two separate stages. The first stage is an inspired by ball breakout games like Arkanoid . In this stage, the player controls one of several adventures, launching various balls at enemy forces that march slowly towards them; if any monster reaches the bottom of the field, they will damage the adventurer, and the run will be over if the adventure takes too much damage. [1] Each adventurer starts with a certain inventory of balls, some which can impact special damage to the monsters. Like with Vampire Survivors , collecting gems dropped by the monsters levels up the adventurer, giving them the choice to add new balls, leveling up existing balls, or obtain passive items that affect the gameplay loop. At times, monster will drop a special item that can be fissioned to drop several powerups, or used to fuse two existing balls into one with the effects of both, or evolve balls into a more powerful version. [1] Each run is broken into multiple segments; the early segments end with a mini-boss fight while the final stage is against a powerful boss character. [1]

After either completing a run or losing all health, the adventure returns to the surface to work on expanding a small village adjacent to the elevator that takes them into the pit. Using gold, blueprints, and material resources like wood and stone collected during the action stage, the player can build resource spaces or start the construction of buildings which can bring in additional adventurer characters or improve the attributes of all characters at the start of the action stage. The player can also expand the size of the village or upgrade existing structures with gold. To complete most of these actions or to collect resources, the player can launch workers at these spaces, the workers collecting resources or advancing construction on buildings when they do so. [1] Over multiple runs, the player can also gain gears from boss fights that allow the pit elevator to reach different levels with new monsters and bosses to defeat. [1]

Development

Lead developer Kenny Sun said he was inspired by Punball, a ball-breakout mobile game he had found around November 2021 that included roguelike elements. While he enjoyed the game, he felt there were several elements he could improve on, and after a few weeks, started work on his own game. As he expanded on his ideas, elements like introducing multiple adventures and the city-building supported the meta-progression between runs and keep the game interesting over multiple runs. [2]

Reception

Ball x Pit received "generally favorable" reviews on multiple platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [3] [4] [5] Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 92% of critics. [6]

The game sold more than 300,000 units across all platforms in its first five days. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Miller, Matt (October 15, 2025). "Ball x Pit Review". Game Informer . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  2. ↑ Peachey, Jack (October 13, 2025). "BALL x PIT Creator Talks Classes, Base-Building, and Developing for Twitch With Devolver Digital". Game Rant . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "BALL x PIT - PlayStation 5". Metacritic . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "BALL x PIT - Nintendo Switch". Metacritic . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  5. 1 2 "BALL x PIT - Windows". Metacritic . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Ball x Pit". OpenCritic . Retrieved October 25, 2025.
  7. ↑ Donlan, Christian (October 15, 2025). "Ball x Pit review - a laboratory of potential". Eurogamer . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  8. ↑ Valentine, Robert (October 15, 2025). "Ball X Pit review". PC Gamer . Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  9. ↑ Wood, Austin (October 20, 2025). "Clever roguelike Ball x Pit sold 300,000 copies on Steam and consoles in 5 days, forever proving mankind yearns for 1976 Atari icon Breakout". GamesRadar+. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
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