[Review] Road to Ballhalla – Nintendo Switch

Road to Ballhalla
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Torched Hill
Published By : tinyBuild
Category : Puzzler, Platformer, Arcade
Release Date : Aug 02, 2018

Of all the games that I’ve played in my life, I’d have to say that this one has one of the most epic stories of all time. Nah, just kidding. Road to Ballhalla on the Nintendo Switch takes an extremely simple concept, and keeps it simple through and through. You’ve been tasked with something that will test your timing and patience, and your willingness to go on when things get extra tough.

The game introduces you to a series of trials, where you’ll learn the concept of what you’ll be doing. Each level, all you need to do is roll a ball from the start to the end, avoiding the numerous obstacles all along the way. As for moving the ball, all you can do is roll it, or give your speed a tiny boost. There won’t be any tricky jumps or attack moves in this game. Obstacles will present themselves in quite a few different forms. You’ll encounter pads on the floor that will alternate from on and off. Lasers will swing back and forth, and you’ll need to find walls to hide behind until the coast is clear, or other lasers will be completely steady and need to be turned off with ground switches.

As you play the levels, the game will track two things for you. First, there are a large number of yellow orbs you’ll see. Some of these are in a natural path for you so you’d have to try and avoid them to not collect them. The other thing that’s tracked is how many times you respawn. Depending on how you do with these, you’ll be rewarded with blocks which are going to be needed to progress later in the game. These can unlock additional worlds, as well as hidden areas in your current and previous worlds.

Overall, Road to Ballhalla is an extremely fun game. I enjoyed that Torched Hill didn’t try to stuff some ridiculous story into this game like what happens so many times (I’m looking at you, match-three games). Instead, it’s just a simple puzzle that’s going to mess with your brain. One thing that won’t help is the snarky flavor text that fills the floors and voids while you play, misleading you down dead end paths and taunting you when you die. So just be warned, this game will make fun of you while you play. Regardless, this is a very fun game and it’s quite challenging to keep your brain steaming.