PunBall by Habby is a physical brick-breaking puzzle where you shoot balls to destroy bricks, like in the good old Arkanoid. During the game, you catch powerups and meet more and more sophisticated tasks, including level bosses. Install PunBall on Android and iOS and start the most exciting brick adventure!

Graphics

This kind of game hardly needs detailed realistic visuals. Yet the designers made it colorful, bright, easy to distinguish. Numbers at bricks that display their HP are well readable. The speed of fireballs is high, but they can be tracked with no issue. Fire, rockets, and other powerups don’t mix.

And you don’t need the freshest flagship device to play PunBall. Even phones with iOS 10.0 or Android 5.0 can handle it well. On tablets, the game looks just as well, given that you can even download an optimized iPad version.

Controls

Despite the general setting that reminds Arkanoid and its clones like DX-Ball, PunBall is controlled differently. Your platform moves and chooses its place automatically, and you just cannot miss the balls as they return. Instead, you define the angle at which you shoot the balls, thus defining the entire trajectory. This resembles tons of classical physical puzzles, from Bubble Shooter to Angry Birds. There is only the most basic introduction in the beginning, but you will explore it further while playing.

Gameplay

In this brick-breaking game, you control a ball (or multiple balls) that hit bricks hanging in the air and step by step destroy them. This simple idea is enhanced by pinball mechanics and various powerups you catch while playing. When you catch one, you can choose which to use. Powerups are necessary because your enemies are way more powerful than in other games, so they need to be hit multiple times. And, besides that, there are bosses that spawn new enemies and hit you!

As casual as it is, PunBall has a lot to explore if you take it seriously. There are talents, powerups, equipment, so you can either get them as rewards for your advance or buy them in the shop. But the highlight is the process of aiming the balls and watching them do the job.

Lasting Appeal

The game has over 100 chapters, each with its own enemies and bosses, and more come often. Yes, they are replayable, as you actually can fail a chapter and die before the end. In addition, there are constant events with new quests and rewards. Each level is quite challenging from the very beginning. There is no introduction, so you learn all the gameplay elements as you go. Though the game is only around since 2021, it is set to follow the example of Archero by the same developer. 

Conclusion

PunBall is a great casual game for those preferring simple five-minute breaks to long sessions in front of Xbox or PlayStation. Combining pinball, Arkanoid, and physical puzzles of the smartphone era, it looks like as big a hit as Archero by the same developer Habby. You may find some levels too hard in free mode, but it’s up to you whether to pay for bonuses or try out the hard way.