I'm Finishing A Steam Game: Ball x Pit

Every year one of my New Year's gaming resolutions is to finish a single-player game I purchased through Steam. Back at the beginning of the year I thought that game would be Final Fantasy II. But for some reason I put the game down and never picked it back up. Instead I heard about a single-player game while writing a post about Amazon Game Studios. The game is published by Devolver Digital. The game? Ball x Pit which just surpassed 1 million copied sold. A promotional video was just published on Tuesday.

For those unfamiliar with the game, Devolver was nice enough to put a description of game play in the press release.

About BALL x PIT

This brick-breaking, ball-fusing, base-building survival roguelite is ready to chew you up and spit you into the pit. Build your home base, fuse ridiculous combinations of balls, and blast through hordes of enemies as you rebuild the legendary New Ballbylon.

Fuse Your Balls

The Ball Fusion system encourages explosive experimentation with over 60 randomized balls to equip and combine during your journey. Discover overpowered combinations and unexpected synergies from hundreds of possible outcomes. Load up, lean in and let the spit hit the fan.

Build New Ballbylon

Expand New Ballbylon with over 70 unique buildings that provide gameplay bonuses and unlock further power-ups, new characters and more. As your community grows, entrust homebound heroes with automated tasks to keep the resources coming while you dive deeper into the pit.

Discover New Realms

Face legions of diverse enemies within the pit, battling through barren deserts, frozen caverns, savage forests and more. Each region offers its own unique set of hazards on top of hordes of increasingly challenging foes and mighty, screen-filling bosses.

Recruit Fellow Hunters

As you explore the pit, you’ll encounter fellow treasure hunters eager to add their skills to your expedition. Each character has unique, upgradable mechanics that totally change the way you play the game. Experimentation and adaptation are crucial to the success of New Ballbylon.

I've set aside an hour every day to play the game, which is a type of game I probably haven't played since working my way through college working in a bowling alley with a rather large video arcade back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And the pixel graphics match that era of video games as well. The music won't hit the charts like that of Expedition 33, but fits in well with the game play.

So far I've spent $16.60 including tax on the game. After playing for 35 hours, I think the 50 cents-an-hour I've paid is a good buy. I've unlocked 14 of the 16 playable characters and completed 5 of the 8 maps. I've only completed 23 of the 63 Steam achievements but most of remaining ones require completing the final map.

However, I do need to hurry up and at least complete the final map this year. Seems the developer promised free downloadable content if they sold 1 million copies. So I have expansions coming in January, April, and July. So technically I can keep my record of not completing single player games intact even if I complete the final map. But I have the feeling I might try to complete the DLC as well.

I'll try to work on my backlog of Steam games in 2026 instead of buying new ones. But I couldn't resist the videos I saw of Ball x Pit. The game lived up to my expectations.