two & a half gamers

Ball X-Pit Review: The Most Innovative Game of 2025?


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Ball X-Pit is one of the most creative roguelite hits on Steam - a blend of Arkanoid, Vampire Survivors, and base-building meta that delivers insane depth. In this episode, we dive into the full gameplay loop, the fission/fusion/evolution system, the “two games in one” base mechanic, and why this could be a massive mobile hit if executed properly.


What you’ll learn

• How Ball X-Pit sold 367k units & $4.4M in under a week

• Why its roguelite mechanics go deeper than Balatro/MegaBong

• How fission → evolution → fusion creates multi-layer combos

• The innovative base-building/harvesting system

• Why it’s trending on Steam, TikTok, Reddit, and Twitch

• Why this will definitely come to mobile

• Why Devolver publishing matters for reach & discovery


Key takeaway

Ball X-Pit proves that roguelites can still innovate - especially when they merge physics, skill, and deep buildcraft with a completely new meta layer.


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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Podcast:


Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg


Chapters

00:00 — What is Ball X-Pit & why it’s trending

04:20 — Roguelite design: fission, fusion, evolution mechanics

10:56 — Combat depth: balls, builds, synergies, boss fights

17:56 — The base-building metagame (the real innovation)

26:50 — Why this could work on mobile + final thoughts

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

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Please share feedback and comments - [email protected]

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If you are interested in getting UA tips every week on Monday, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lancaric.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & sign up for the Brutally Honest newsletter by Matej Lancaric

Do you have UA questions nobody can answer? Ask ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matej AI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the First UA AI in the gaming industry! https://lancaric.me/matej-ai

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