Ball Drop Roguelite - Gameplay Loop? I Need Ideas or Just HMO
Making this Ball Drop roguelite started as something to kill time while I was watching YouTube—I probably spent like 10 minutes on it at first and didn’t think much of it. But as I kept adding little things here and there, I started to realize it actually had some real potential. Now it kind of feels like my little project that I want to keep building out. At the moment, the core gameplay is super simple: you press the space bar to drop colorful balls onto a checkered plane, and whenever two balls collide, you gain points. That’s basically the whole loop right now, but it’s already weirdly satisfying.
Lately I’ve been thinking about expanding the game and pushing it into more of a roguelite direction, maybe taking inspiration from games like Nubby’s Number Factory or even Balatro with their layered mechanics and progression systems. I’ve kind of hit a creative fork in the road, though. One idea I had was to make balls drop in waves, where the player has to strategically use abilities, items, or even environmental obstacles to maximize collisions and score as efficiently as possible. That could make it feel more active and skill-based.
On the other hand, I was also thinking it might be interesting if the player could collect different types of balls or unlock upgrades that change how the balls behave, letting them interact with different maps, obstacles, or physics in unique ways. That approach feels more build-focused and experimental.
I’m not sure which direction would be more engaging or fun in the long run, and I keep going back and forth between the two ideas.
Liking the second idea more rn