4 star because…

This game leaves a bit to be desired. I paid the full price thinking it would be very in depth and unfortunately it was not. I won’t hate, because I’ve had a lot of fun playing it! If you see the preview of this game and think it’s for you, it likely is! And for what it’s worth, it is that game minus the ads that most mobile games have. I paid full price, and mind you, it’s a full quality game for the price, BUT, I wish there was more to it. 4 planets (stages/levels) is not enough. I could see a lot more out of this game, and I’ll keep it downloaded to my device in hopes that more content comes soon. I fully upgraded and “beat” the game in roughly 3 days, if not less.

Needs more diverse gameplay

This game is pretty fun the campaign took me about 4 hours to beat but after that there isn’t much to keep the player engaged. Sure there’s an endless mode but it’s just the same concept but without an end goal. The game price, I would say, is a little greedy (you are practically paying for a premium version of many free brick breaker games that are already out there) and I think there needs to be more worlds that introduce in game power ups, currently the only in game power up is the purple currency used to buy upgrades. I think there should be more upgrades in the blocks that you break that give you advantages while playing. Although I almost guarantee this game won’t be updated to add more content I think it desperately needs it to make the game more worthy of its price. I also understand that the developers think that they have a $4 price point standard for each of there games but even though these games look well polished they need more content to justify this “standard” This whole review was poorly put together and probably sounds like a poorly thought out rant but oh well 🤪

Curiously Addictive

Have always enjoyed this game, but for a while I’d shelved it because I’d played the campaign through and had a high score in the infinite stage that I just couldn’t beat. (I swear it was updated with a physics fix that made it just slightly more challenging in being just slightly more accurate/removed one tiny seldom triggered bug/whatever it was.) I came back to it after a few years to find my one wish — that the infinite stage could be made more colorful along with showcasing the other music from other stages — had been implemented! These days I use it as a kind of software toy, not expecting I’ll EVER beat my high score (though it’s fun to try). I just like the chaos that can sometimes be found in creating a particularly good shot that happens to be both acyclic and yet a very long path. I compete not on depth but try to see how many “touches” (times bullets hit the bricks) with every shot. Which happens to be good strategy for winning but is a much harder thing to compete with oneself at. And thinking of it now ad a software toy, it takes the edge off the inevitable crash and need to reset progress. Basically, rethinking how I approach the game the second time I’ve come to it to play, it’s turned it into a go-to fidget toy. And I love that… It might not be everyone’s favorite, but it’s a neat twist on the old “Breakout”-type gameplay, and for me it’s surprisingly rewarding in repeat gameplay.

Enjoyable but meh, not worth the price

The play style of Holedown is solid! I love to aim the line at different angles and watch the onslaught of balls Ricochet off of everything, it’s satisfying! What’s not satisfying though is the 3 hours I spent going through the games worlds. They have an endless world however there is no sense to play because there is no variety in the abilities you purchase. Plus the boss battles at the end of each world are just the exact same boss but with a higher number to bring down to defeat it. Ugh! That’s lazy. You guys could’ve made them different shapes, or have them move around or SOMETHING! Rather than the same circle of doom at the end of every level. This is definitely NOT worth $4 you all got greedy, this is a $.99 cent game up and down the board unless you have new worlds and abilities planned for the future. Shame really, because it feels really great to play, oh well.

Perfect challenge:fun ratio!

I’ll admit, I didn’t love this game at first. I had to try it a few times, reluctantly. After beating the first level, I couldn’t put it down. I picked up some techniques like shooting at specific spots on the rounded edge and paying attention to the numbers to think about my strategy. At first I was shooting randomly and crashing often. I beat all the levels and was happily surprised by the black hole level. Brilliant! Got my whole family hooked on this game. I’m excited for future updates and improvements. The simplicity is a major draw, but it could be fun to have power-ups and other types of blocks, like maybe squared corners to make it more challenging or diamond shapes. Anyway, this is a SUPER fun game and I highly recommend it!!!

A satisfying, but short experience.

Really satisfying feel to the gameplay. Could use more upgrades, more levels, more something. Maybe a challenge mode with blocks that have their own characteristics (flipping blocks on/off so the player has to time shots), or with balls that behave differently (arching maybe), or the board acts differently (moves up with time, not moves), or with a time limit. Not sure why I can continue to catch crystals when I’m playing the endless level and have all the upgrades, wish there was something to still put those toward. Really fun, was worth $4 to me, but I’d understand if someone were to say it was too much money for the experience.

Great fun if you want some mental exercise!

Holedown is a simple puzzle game that balances your own strategic thinking skills against run-based roguelite progression systems to create a casual, yet very fun and fulfilling experience. The gameplay, which is best described as a hybrid between Breakout and Tetris, allows you to dominate the game the more you use your brain, while also making things easier via upgrades between runs if/when you find yourself struggling. It’s a very smooth and addicting game loop that never grows stale for the duration of the game. It’s worth far more than it’s minuscule asking price, and easy to recommend.

No Restar Button

Yes, the game is kind of addictive, but there isn’t a restart button, which means that you have to finish the current game your playing, so if by accident you select a planet, star, planetoid or whatever you have to finish the current game or lose on purpose. If you want more balls, more moves or another level, again, you need to finish the current game or lose on purpose. But the worst happens when your current game freezes, kind of. Everything is still working but the ball freeze; so you can change the settings turn off the music, the sound, the language but you cannot restart the game, no matter if you close the game, even if you turn off your device, the game is unplayable. Your only option is to reset the game, which means that you will lose all your progress and achievements, you have to start all over again.

A delightful ball bouncing spectacle. Dig deep underground by shooting balls and breaking blocks to traverse your way to the core of planets.

Nintendo Sun Jun 16 2024