Ball X Pit is the latest obsession to attract gamers, a confused roguelite that combines the mechanics of games like Peggle, Diablo and Vampire Survivors to create something that is indefinable but dangerously replayable. Somehow, this is the work of one man, Kenny Sun, a game developer from Brooklyn, New York, who loves games like Vampire Survivors, Deep Rock Galactic Survivor, and Blotch Arrow. We chatted with Sun to first confirm how the hell we say Ball x Pit out thunderous, and then to talk about how he came to create this more Frankenstein-esque game.
“It’s Ball Pit. Just Ball Pit. There’s no X,” Sun explains. “It’s mostly a tribute to anime like Phantom Hunter. The X can also stand for fusion, which ties into the game’s theme.” He also reveals that when he first had to choose a game name for Steam, it was City of Balls.
“It started when I was playing a brick-and-mortar roguelite mobile game a few years ago. I got into it, but didn’t like all the free-to-play elements. So I wanted to create a version without it, so you could buy it once. From there, it evolved through tons of iterations,” says Sun, explaining the game’s origins and why he decided to build a farm as a key part of the game’s progression.
“I wanted something more visual and personal than just a menu – something with an identity. I liked the idea of little characters bouncing around the base. Plus, in my last game I was doing base building, so it wasn’t a huge leap.”
Some ideas were not adopted, but Sun suggested that at least some of them may return with updates to the game.
“I try not to waste work, so most of the ideas come to fruition. One of them was a magma ball that left a trail of lava that enemies could take damage from – when the game started scrolling, it didn’t make sense visually, so we cut it out,” he says, talking about something we’ll be able to see one day.
“I cut out the pet system – you could move pets into levels and they would gain XP. It was fun, but too much apart from character development. There was even a monkey that jumped on enemies.”
Sun is already rolling out updates, listening to player feedback, and improving mechanics to improve quality of life. “The hitboxes were misaligned, so I redid them. I also added luck protection when fishing – players didn’t like getting too many bad shots in a row.”
If you haven’t played Ball X Pit yet (and you really should), we asked Sun for his top tip that would give you an edge.
“Aim for the back of the board to make the balls ricochet – that’s the key to damage,” he advises. His favorite combination? “I like hemorrhaging structures – combine them with area elements like lightning or a ghost. Flash hits everything on the screen.”
His favorite villager? “The one whose balls bounce off his back. I love chaotic screens. Pair him with his roommates to get double balls – it’s crazy.”
Ball X Pit is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X and S, with a Nintendo 2 version coming soon. As for future updates?
“I can tell there’s more coming, but I don’t know exactly what,” Sun teases. “The game did really well and it seems right to give players a little more.”
Rachel Weber is the senior editorial director of games at IGN and a millennial. She has been a professional nerd since 2006, when she started working at Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. He loves horror movies, horror movies, horror movies and French bulldogs. These extra wrinkles on her face are due to her going blind on time and staying up too delayed, completing all the side quests in RPG games like Fallout and The Witcher 3.
