Review: Ball x Pit – A Surprisingly Meditative Roguelike Full of Colour and Variety
A vibrant, addictive roguelike where bouncing balls, evolving builds, and town management keep every run feeling fresh and exciting
Available on: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Playstation
Genre: Roguelike, Adventure, Action, Arcade
Developer: Kenny Sun and Friends
Publisher: Devolver Digital
How Cozy? ⭐⭐⭐ Not traditionally cozy, but surprisingly meditative, colourful, and very satisfying once you settle into its rhythm.
Game Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Ball x Pit completely hooked me. I’ve spent a lot of 2025 dipping my toes deeper into roguelikes, and this has easily been one of my favourite discoveries. It’s packed with variety, rewards experimentation, and has that dangerous just one more run pull that’s hard to resist.
While it might not look like a cozy game at first glance, there’s something oddly calming about watching balls bounce, evolve, and fill the screen as your build comes together. Combined with meaningful progression outside of runs, Ball x Pit manages to feel both exciting and strangely soothing at the same time.
Story
Ball x Pit isn’t driven by a traditional narrative, but it does offer a light, functional story framework that supports its gameplay loop. You’re gradually building up a town that exists alongside your runs, and as you progress, more characters, buildings, and systems unlock.
Rather than telling a linear story, Ball x Pit focuses on progress through play. Each new character you unlock feels like discovering another piece of the world, and expanding your town gives a growing sense of place and purpose between runs.
For me, the lack of a heavy narrative actually works in the game’s favour. It keeps the focus on experimentation, mastery, and progression, while still offering a satisfying sense that you’re building something meaningful over time. The town becomes an anchor point, a familiar space you return to between increasingly exciting runs.
Related: Looking for more cozy roguelike games?
Check out my list of top roguelike games that still feel cozy
Gameplay
At its core, Ball x Pit is a roguelike built around variety, experimentation, and progression, and it absolutely shines in all three.
Key gameplay features include:
Huge Character Variety: You unlock multiple characters, each with their own unique playstyle. Some can only hit balls from the back, others completely change how turns work, and each one makes runs feel distinct and engaging.
Encouraged Experimentation: Each run randomly boosts gold gain for a different character, nudging you to mix things up rather than stick to a single favourite.
Ball Evolutions and Fusions: Finding the rare rainbow ball is always exciting, allowing you to evolve or fuse balls together. With over 60 balls available, builds can get wild very quickly.
Town Building and Progression: Between runs, you build up a town that permanently improves your stats, from intelligence (boosting effect power) to dexterity (increasing critical hit chance). It’s incredibly satisfying and makes every run feel worthwhile.
Loads of Content: With over 70 buildings, 8 full levels, and multiple characters required to clear each one, there’s a huge amount of gameplay on offer.
The way progression is handled means that even a failed run never feels wasted. You’re always unlocking something, learning something, or building towards a stronger future run.
Graphics and Visuals
While the art style might not initially be my personal cup of tea, the balls themselves completely won me over. Bright, vibrant colours bounce across the screen, and the more balls you have in play, the more exciting and visually satisfying it becomes.
One of my favourite visual touches is the starry cutscene screen used for ball evolutions and fusions. It’s a lovely contrast to the more traditional, arcade style visuals and makes these moments feel special and rewarding.
As builds grow more complex, the screen fills with colour and motion in a way that feels energetic rather than overwhelming, especially once you get into the flow of a run.
Longevity
Ball x Pit offers a huge amount of replayability, especially if you enjoy:
Unlocking characters and experimenting with playstyles
Chasing powerful builds and ball combinations
Gradual town progression and stat improvement
Roguelikes that reward long term investment
With so many balls, buildings, characters, and levels to conquer, there’s always another goal to work towards.
Conclusion
Ball x Pit is an excellent roguelike that kept me completely hooked. Between its massive variety, satisfying progression systems, and colourful, energetic gameplay, it stands out as one of my favourite roguelike experiences of 2025.
While it may not be traditionally cozy, its meditative moments, rewarding town management, and addictive loop make it a fantastic pick for cozy gamers looking to branch into something a little more arcade driven. If you enjoy roguelikes with depth, variety, and constant progression, Ball x Pit is well worth your time.
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