Developer newobject and publisher Raw Fury have launched a demo version of Ballionaire for the Steam Next Fest.
With the emergence of a poker-like roguelike card game Balatro, a trend inspired by gambling has surfaced.
What's the secret? Take a standard luck-based game that you could find in any casino, mix it with countless fancy gadgets, trinkets, and oddities, and then coat it with a "one more round" roguelike veneer to make it as tactile and impactful as possible.
The ongoing Steam Next Fest is not short of these gambling gimmicks, and Ballionaire is one of the colorful pinball-like roguelike games featured.
It's simpler than the chaotic scenes in the trailer. You drop a ball from the top of the board and watch it bounce through the pins. Every little bumper or hit-able trinket the ball touches on its way earns you money. Some of these bumpers (called "triggers") have special functions. Axes split your ball in two, letting it fall in multiple directions, thus activating more gadgets. Teleporters send your ball back to the top of the board for another drop. You can get different types of balls, designed after classic elements like fire, water, and eggs (placing an egg box somewhere catches the eggs, thus earning passive egg income).
As you upgrade, the game gets crazier and you seek greater rewards to please the gods. You might plant a small patch of cacti, which earn money when they're not hit, and then try to use other bumpers to keep the ball away from them. Or you could cook, neatly placing tomatoes, some bread, and a piece of cheese together, which your ball collects upon hitting. Place a frying pan below to combine all these into a meal, earn extra money, and then a big mouth at the bottom of the board swallows everything up.
Both Peggle and Peglin are influenced to some extent by the poppy sounds of traditional Japanese gambling machines.
As for the recent rise in gambling-themed games, we have reason to ponder deeply, as the gaming industry has already practiced enough psychological tactics in free-to-play games and MMOs.
