In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Josh and Bryan dive into a Roguelite Roundup double feature with Loop Hero (2021) and Ball x Pit (2025), exploring how each game twists genre conventions in its own eccentric way. They start with Loop Hero, the 2021 auto-battling, world-rebuilding oddity from Four Quarters, unpacking its eerie DOS-inspired aesthetic, its “zero-player” design origins, and its signature loop structure that blurs the line between dungeon-master and adventurer. Bryan and Josh break down the tension between player strategy and character automation, how tile placement shapes risk and reward, and why the game’s intentionally opaque systems are both fascinating and frustrating.

Next we turn to Ball x Pit, the recently released brick-breaker–meets–city-builder from Kenny Sun and Friends. We discuss the game’s gleefully chaotic blend of chunky 3D constructions and crisp pixel effects, its two intertwined gameplay loops, and its ever-expanding roster of characters, buildings, and more than sixty ball types. The conversation digs into the fusion, fission, and evolution mechanics that make every volley unpredictable, the strategic timing involved in choosing upgrades, and the playful experimentation the design encourages. With its brisk metaprogression, flexible buildcrafting, and constant sense of discovery, Ball x Pit feels tightly crafted and refreshingly energetic.

Three Word Reviews:

Loop Hero:

Bryan - Around in Circles

Josh - Loops Within Loops

Ball X Pit:

Bryan - Not the Pits

Josh - Leans Too Far

In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh dive into and Roger, a short but emotionally powerful experience from developer TearyHand Studio. Initially framed as a horror story, the game follows a girl who wakes to find a stranger in her home, with disorienting minigames and high-contrast visuals amplifying her fear and confusion. They discuss the game’s unusual narrative delivery, its WarioWare-like micro-interactions, minimal text, and evocative sound design. What begins as a tense mystery gradually reveals deeper questions about the protagonist, hinting at something more intimate than danger.

Later on they explore how the game’s story revelations transforms earlier gameplay into poignant commentary through mechanics rather than exposition. Its notable that while the game concludes with a Bible verse, its message remains universal, human, and deeply felt. And Roger is a memorable, compassionate experience less about fun and more about understanding, which showcases how interactive storytelling can reframe emotions in a remarkable way.

Notes:

Florence

One of 2025's Best Games, And Roger, Is About God, Love, and Loss (Patrick Klepek, Remap)

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Revelation and Reframing

Josh - Confusion and Uncertainty

In this episode, Bryan and Josh dive deep into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the 2025 dark fantasy RPG from French studio Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive. This is the first outing of director Guillaume Broche, formerly of Ubisoft, featuring a powerhouse voice cast including Jennifer English, Ben Starr, and Charlie Cox, and a wildly eclectic soundtrack by Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percier that spans classical to dubstep. If that wasn’t enough to draw you in the premise of the game alone is one of the more intriguing in recent memory: For the last 67 years, the island of Lumière has endured the “Gommage,” a ritual in which an ethereal being known as the Paintress erases everyone older than a mysteriously dwindling number. Expedition 33 sets out to confront the paintress, them embark on an exploration of how art, death, and memory intertwine within the game’s Belle Époque-inspired world.

Bryan and Josh also unpack the game’s richly layered writing and worldbuilding, noting how the prologue perfectly sets the tone and how the setting pulses with French cultural flair, even down to battling a mime in the opening minutes. Clair Obscur features a truly memorable cast, contributing to a story that’s equal parts tragic and hopeful, and while the combat system’s balance of dodge, parry, and unique “Pictos” and “Luminas” mechanics met the challenge of keeping combat snappy and engaging. However, at the end of it all, Clair Obscur’s core themes of death and grief give it both its weight and its beauty, cementing its place as one of 2025’s standout video game experiences.

Notes:

The impossible (true) stories behind the making of Clair Obscur Expedition 33

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Lumière

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - What Comes After

Josh - Overcaffeinated, Moving, Obscure