Ball x Pit Is Peggle Meets Vampire Survivors — A Surprisingly Addictive Bouncy Roguelite
Ball x Pit is a new action roguelite from developer Kenny Sun and publisher Devolver Digital. It mixes ricocheting-ball mechanics with auto-fire survivals and light base-building. I tested the game on Nintendo Switch 2 using a review copy provided by the publisher.
What is Ball x Pit?
Ball x Pit blends ideas from several genres. In short, it’s like Vampire Survivors meets Peggle with roguelite and deck-building touches. You control a hero who fires a constant stream of bouncing balls at rows of brick-like enemies. The setting is a grim, PS1-era fantasy pit called Ballbylon where you dig for treasure and resources.
How it plays
Gameplay is simple to learn but deep to tinker with. First, you move your hero with the left stick. Then, you aim the ball stream with the right stick. Next, you turn on autofire and mostly watch the chaos. Balls ricochet around the arena and damage enemies. Meanwhile, enemies drop experience gems and items that you collect to level up.
Runs are attritional and often long. For example, it can take up to 20 minutes to clear a final boss on a layer. Therefore, you spend a lot of time watching numbers grow and enemies fall. In addition, bosses often have very large health pools and feel like heavy damage sponges.
Balls and upgrades
You can carry up to four balls at once. Each ball type has distinct effects: some deal area damage, some spawn extra balls, and some leech health. Also, balls can be combined via fusion pickups or evolve into stronger forms.
Every time you level up during a run, you choose from a random selection of new balls or passive skills. Because the selection is semi-random, runs are partly intentional and partly left to chance. Additionally, hero base stats and character level persist between runs, but each run starts with a default ball for that hero.
Base-building and progression
Between runs, Ball x Pit offers a base-building minigame at the pit’s rim. You use collected resources to construct a township called Ballbylon. Buildings grant permanent buffs and unlock new heroes. However, early progression can feel slow. For instance, with only a few heroes unlocked, harvesting and building require repeated effort and layout tweaks.
Moreover, layers are not randomized and must be cleared with at least two different heroes to unlock the next layer. As a result, players often gravitate toward two favorite heroes rather than trying the entire roster, because heroes level independently.
Runtime, platforms, and notes
Ball x Pit is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. I played the Switch 2 version for review. Overall, the game is highly replayable and addictive, though it can be occasionally unbalanced and repetitive.
Finally, the game’s core appeal is its mix of automated action and small decisions: choose your balls, level up, and watch the pit turn into a shower of bouncy destruction. It’s straightforward, often satisfying, and easy to pick up for short or long sessions.
