Picking a game of the year for 2025 is really challenging because this year had so many excellent games, plus a new console release, and a further shift away from traditional consoles towards handhelds and streaming. And also because 2025 was just so much all the time. But rather than picking which game is technically the best, I’m going to go with the game that met me where I was: BALL x PIT.
My shortlist included Mario Kart World, Ghost of Yōtei, Pokemon Legends Z-A and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4. I’m sure Silksong and Hades 2 would be on that list too if I’d had time to play them.
Honourable mention of the year goes to the cow from Moo Moo Meadows who finally got her moment to shine in Mario Kart World, and I now hope will start making appearances in other Mario games. I want to see her do discus in a Mario Vs Sonic battle at the Olympic Games.
Were this story about Mario Kart World, we’d also need to give props to Leather Daddy Waluigi, as well as Wampire, who has earned a place in my heart.
But 2025 has been a wonderful and challenging year for me personally, enjoying watching my daughter grow into a feisty toddler and dealing with preparing my childhood home for sale has been a lot. What I’ve really needed was a bit of a mindless distraction to help me unwind – a mindless distraction that also offered the option for deep strategic thinking without forcing me to always do that.
While it’s obvious to see how BALL x PIT is designed to mess with my dopamine receptors, it wasn’t pulling that happy brain chemical lever to make me buy things. It just wanted me to have a good and relaxing time. And you know what? I wanted that for me, too.
BALL x PIT – quick links
Plot-lite roguelike that hits all the buttons
BALL x PIT is a Devlolver game about seeking riches in a pit of monsters, plus farming, for some reason. I had assumed it was about descending into Dante’s circles of hell for most of my play through, so discovering it’s about a former city filled with monsters was a surprise.
This tells you how integral the plot is to this game. All I needed to know about it was that it has a bunch of the elements I like about a wide variety of free-to-play games, without any of the hallmarks that makes all those apps the worst.
I will fully admit that I spend too much time playing brainrot free-to-play games on my phone. I love to match three, farm and throw balls at bricks until the number gets smaller. These games are deliberately engineered with dark patterns to get people addicted and then frustrate them until they spend money, and I am not immune to either propaganda or an addictive gameplay loop.
What I love about BALL x PIT is that the developer clearly loves those kinds of brainrot games while hating all the insidious garbage that comes with those games just as much as I do, and also enjoys Vampire Survivors, which is a specific Venn diagram, but I’m into it.
Variety is the spice of life in BALL x PIT
My personal favourite ball combinations are Laser X Brood Mother, because then you get a bunch of baby lasers that destroy everything and have satisfying flashing lights, and Brood Mother X Vampire, because you hurt enemies and gain health on a large scale. And I love hurting enemies while gaining health. That’s the best.
But there are so many options there’s a good chance that my favourite is not your favourite. It’s ok to be wrong about things.
Then there are all the characters you unlock as you go, and I genuinely don’t have a favourite one. They’re all so delightfully unsettling in their own ways. Each makes the game more interesting and less repetitive with their special powers. Shoutout to the Juggler, because there should always be a juggling character in any game about balls.
Handheld is the way to go
Between expeditions into the pit, you farm resources. As with all these games, at the beginning of the campaign any amount of resources gained seems like a victory, whereas towards the middle I had more resources than I knew what to do with, and not enough options of what to build.
My one complaint about farming is that the goldmine kinda breaks it. Until the goldmine is unlocked, resources are a steady drip, but if you combine concentrated gold mining (and heavy use of the spa) with leaving a few lumberyards, farms and stone mines going, it becomes both too autonomous and not autonomous enough, in an annoying grey area where it has too much friction and not enough challenge.
Plus there also just isn’t enough to build in the later stage of the game when I have the resources to do so. If they don’t want to add more characters or proper buildings, just let me build some aesthetic nonsense or something that gives me a false sense of progression. Though it’s something that will likely see a bit more balance in patches, I hope.
Read: BALL x PIT review: ball-bouncing roguelite is hard to put down
At the time of writing, I have apparently spent a little over 45 hours in BALL x PIT on my Xbox Ally X, which is a horrifying piece of information to be confronted with. By the time you read this, that number will likely be higher, and I regret almost none of this time.
Calling out the Xbox Ally X here is key, because this is a game to be played handheld. I can’t imagine playing it on an actual Xbox but it’s perfect for handhelds.
People have been comparing BALL x PIT to Balatro. I don’t think that’s an accurate comparison because I spent way more time in Balatro and regret a large chunk of it. Balatro is addictive in uncomfortable ways, whereas BALL x PIT is easier to pick up and put down again.
In good news, Kenny Sun, the solo developer behind BALL x PIT, has said that there will be more content coming soon, so that’s something to look forward to. I hope you’re enjoying BALL x PIT as much as me.
