Yet another ballgame on board

If you’ve ever played on an arcade pachinko machine — you know that there is no real science behind this.
Ballionaire video game
Ballionaire video game
Updated on
3 min read

CHENNAI: Retro Arcade style games are making an undeniable come-back in the thriving indie games niche. There was UFO 50, which created waves last year with its package of 50 different retro style games and 8-bit graphics. And now, Pinball, and other Pachinko-style mechanical games have found a new avatar in Ballionaire, which has a very fascinating bumper-based mechanic.

Ballionaire is very simple to explain. To start with, you are provided with five attempts with balls that drop down a pyramid shaped machine to reach a cash goal. Fail to meet the target, and the game ends instantly. So what makes it so good?

If you’ve ever played on an arcade pachinko machine — you know that there is no real science behind this. You simply watch the ball drop from the top of the machine, and hope that it somehow makes it’s way down to the ideal prize category by hitting the right pegs. Ballionaire tries to make this process a bit more controlled by adding the chaos of “bonks”.

These bonks are completely random trigger elements on the board. Most triggers win you several points, all in pursuit of meeting the ultimate target. Let me paint you a picture here: a jump rope pushes your ball up, keeping your ball afloat for longer, and potentially pushing it to more high value bumpable items. Bonking a tree wins you a sweet $200. If you meet a “bread” bumpable, the ball carries it along to the very bottom of the pyramid to win a few extra points. And so it goes.

The thing is, you need to understand that these bonks aren’t just simple buttons, like the ones in the space pinball game that generate points. They also morph and split into new balls –— like a fire ball, a floating balloon or a coin. They can result in power-ups, they can make the ball “carry” items, they can cut the ball in half. They can even be dangerous monsters that explode on a bonk.

There are also “boons” –— these are special, permanent benefits that are provided to you over the course of the game. Choose them wisely. Consider for example, the “invearth” boon. This is particularly terrible — it makes all the balls move against gravity. Don’t ever pick that one. But there are other boons, like the “boomerang” that gives your ball a second wind if it hasn’t managed to bonk anything on its way down.

Clearing the first mission is simple enough, if you understand this: despite the supposed randomness of the objects bonked — there is still an element of strategy involved. There is almost certainly a perfect way to choose, and place the items to get the optimal number of points. And herein lies the challenge of the game. It hooks you in for hours on end. It unlocks several different boards and objects — with sufficient variety to test out this surrealistic pachinko board and all of its permutations.

The game is currently available on the PC via the Steam store. It has a lovely vibrant art style and lovely music. You can play it even if the only videogame you’ve ever played is Candy Crush. I really hope a Ballionaire mobile version is in the works.

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