I am on a forever quest to be behind in every game demo that I play. I had this week’s game on the docket to be played, but I was barraged with how good the game was, and I have to talk about it RIGHT NOW. That is what I did, and 4 hours into the game demo, I knew that Ball x Pit is a gem.

This week is Ball x Pit.

Ball x Pit is an action-adventure roguelite from Kenny Sun and friends and Devolver Digital. The game is going to be released sometime in 2025 for the PC, Xbox and Switch.

Ballbylon has fallen.

Annihilated by a cosmic event, the only thing left is an enormous hole in the ground where tombs filled to the brim with treasure. Many hunters go in, but only a few return, for the undead protect the tombs. Play as a treasure hunter armed with magical BALLS, venture in, kill, loot, and rebuild.

If you have ever played a Blockbreaker game before, then you already know the drill. The player gets to choose a character that has a unique ball. Drop in and rows of enemies line up, shoot your balls at them, and when they take a certain amount of damage, they die. The trick here is that enemies drop XP, and upon a level up, the player increases a random stat and is awarded one of three perks. If enough enemies get passed the player, then it is game over.

Ball x Pit takes the auto-shooter to another level with the depth of its leveling up and ball fusing. Balls that deal more damage but move slower, balls that break up into smaller balls, balls that deal some sort of AOE damage (poison, electric etc) are all present. Larger enemies drop the ability to level up and/or fuse balls. In no time, the screen will be filled with baddies and balls bouncing everywhere, to the point where all the colors meld together.

Leveling up balls are entirely random and have a chance to level up 1-5 different balls at one time. Attributes like more targets, more damage, and more balls can be acquired.

Fusing two balls is as easy as it gets here, but it is still just as fun to experiment with different ball fusions. Take a ball that deals damage in a 3×3 area and fuse it with the ghost ball that phases through objects, and you will get a single ball that deals damage in a 3×3 area and can hit practically every enemy on the screen. The most important part is that fusing removes a ball slot so you can continue to collect balls throughout your run.

It isn’t the deepest, but it is still really fun to experiment.

Outside of modified balls, there are passive abilities that can be chosen throughout a run. Critical hit chance/damage, increased damage, health, increased AOE, etc.

There is a base-building minigame outside the usual runs. Use gold from runs to buy property that gives you upgrades in the runs. I like that to harvest, you have to shoot workers, like balls, to bounce off the property to gain the materials.

Ball x Pit‘s demo is as grungy as I thought it was going to be. Lots of browns and grays in the demo, not in a bad way. What do you expect from old, dirty tombs? I really like the way that the Blockbreaker design has been implemented in Ball x Pit. Enemies take up a certain amount of space; the larger the enemy, the more space they take up, and the boss is HUGE. I also like the little shake they do when they die.

Ball x Pit nails the melancholic vibes perfectly. The music, while not in runs, is dark and sad-sounding, while in the trenches looking for treasure and fighting off the hordes is exhilarating and certainly catchy. The plinks of the balls hitting the bad guys are great too.

Ball x Pit’s demo is very promising. I like the auto-shooter genre enough to want to watch it evolve, and this game is where I want the genre to go. Ball x Pit is fun, and it is addictive. When I play another game, I wish I were playing this game. I get the “power fantasy” vibe, and I want more of it.

You cannot miss this demo, it is so fun.