Roguelite Enginebuilder x Bullet Heaven, I love this game! It is so addictive to play one more round. And I'm extra happy with the last character you unlock to reduce some of the active grind. No missables, and completion time is around 30 hours.
Approximate time to 100%: Around 30 hours
Estimated achievement difficulty: 2/10
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: Many runs, as it is a roguelite
Is there a good guide available: You don't need a guide, but I used this to remember which balls combine well:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=35907...Multiplayer achievements: No
Missable achievements: No
Grinding Achievements: Completing each level with each character can be a bit grindy. Gladly, there is a handy dandy solution with the last character you unlock ;)
DLC-Only achievements: No(t yet, but there are 3 dlc's planned for 2026)
Speedrun achievements: No
Time-gated achievements: No
RNG-achievements: No
Does difficulty affect achievements: No
Unobtainable/glitched achievements: No
Gamepad or mouse and keyboard: I preferred to play with a gamepad
Sometimes you see a game and instantly know, "That is a game for me." I had that with BALL x PIT, everything it does sounds like it should be the game for me... turns out.. it was! What an addictive game and a perfect one for the gameplay loop of "ahh, just one more round..." I had such a fantastic time playing this while being at home with the flu. It is an active game, but not one where you need to strategize or consider every move. It reminds me a lot of
Loop Hero, another banger published by Devolver Digital.
In BALL x PIT, you play with one of the many heroes who shoot balls to kill enemies that come toward you, think Space Invaders x Breakout. You have 5 slots for special balls, which you can upgrade and then combine to make space for new balls. It helps to catch them as then you shoot them faster, but it is also totally fine to let them go and just wait a tiny bit before you shoot them again. The shooting mechanism is semi-automatic. You decided where to shoot; however, the shooting itself is automatic. You'll also unlock a bunch of items that will just give you buffs to make you even stronger. And over the course of the game, you'll unlock more and more characters. There are a total of 16 characters! Some are just a little bit different, some are totally different! (One makes this game turn-based, I'm so glad that isn't the normal mode, as I hated that :P). And if this isn't enough variation... Later on, you get the option to combine characters to make the combos even stranger, aka more powerful!
None of the achievements in BALL x PIT are missable. I can say I spend way too much time completing the early levels with each character. Don't do that if you want to complete BALL x PIT in as short a time as possible, as later on it gets way easier to do that. Just focus on getting further with the levels with the characters you enjoy the most. There are achievements for completing each level with each character; however, with the option to combine characters, it is way easier to do that after that, and if you are pretty done with the grind, the last character you unlock makes it all a little easier as well!
I give BALL x PIT 5 out of 5 stars. It isn't a game for everybody, but it was the perfect game for me!
And can I just call out that I love how the developers use the name in so many different ways in their marketing! Pretty smart!
5.0