PengPong is a bullet-hell roguelike where pinball meets gambling. Bounce your way through chaos and bet it all to survive.
Developed by: SANDY FLOOR
Played on: Steam
Length: 3 hours
A review key was provided by SANDY FLOOR.
If you didn’t already know, I have a debilitating obsession with watching balls bounce around in a confined space — especially when it comes in the form of fast-paced roguelites that emphasise build experimentation. But this time, I’m not talking about BALL x PIT. I’m talking about PengPong, a bullet hell roguelike from Korean developers SANDY FLOOR.
While bullet hell roguelikes are hardly uncommon these days, PengPong manages to put a fresh spin on the genre through strong presentation and a unique take on combat. You start the game as Peng, a former professional hockey player who takes up alien-hunting after their career goes bust. With your hockey stick and puck in hand, you head out into the great unknown to beat up enemies using the power of bouncing.
Unlike your standard bullet hell shooter, PengPong wants you to aim for maximum ricochet; making the combat experience a lot closer to BALL x PIT compared to others in the genre. Bouncing your weapon is the only way to clear the battlefield, and the weapons you choose determine your playstyle. The pufferfish, for example, are for players who enjoy playing with poison builds, while the gun is for players who prefer to max out on quantity.
As you progress further in the game, you also get to pick different starting characters. Peng is your all-rounder starter, but you might prefer to play as Croco who starts each run with 100 gold, or Otter who doubles your weapon count in exchange for lower damage multiplier. You can mix and match characters and weapons freely, which makes for fun experimentation. Most characters and weapons are unlocked naturally as you progress through the game, although some unlock conditions may require you to go out of your way.
Rounds in this game are refreshingly fast, starting at 20 seconds then increasing by 1 second per round until you complete a total of 30 rounds, with boss fights at every 15th and 30th round. Between each round, you get the opportunity to decide between two randomly generated paths. The choices range from an upgrade shop, to a gambling den, and even a mystery hole that leads you into another random selection of rooms.
If you’ve played games like these before, a lot of this will sound familiar to you. Where PengPong stands out is its Cuphead-esque vintage cartoon presentation which adds a ton of personality to the game, even extending to its enemy designs in each stage. A great amount of detail goes into making the enemies in these stages unique and enjoyable, such as the teddy bear that explodes into an army of cotton balls, or the gramophone that shoots musical notes at you. Even after round after round of facing the same enemies, they continue to remain fun to play against.
It is worth noting that the game only has three stages at the moment, despite being fully launched, with Stage 4 arriving in November 2026 and Stage 5 arriving in January 2027. It is strange for a game to fully launch with major content still on the way, but on the bright side, the end of the tunnel isn’t too far away and you can support the developers while you’re at it.
In the meantime, there’s enough end-game content to keep you playing, including permanent upgrades for your characters, and multiple challenge levels per stage to test your mastery. The game features over 300 items that will affect your run in different ways, so there’s a lot of fun to be had — or maybe you just want to play the slots. That’s fine too.
Verdict: Hockey Has Never Been This Addictive
PengPong is a bullet hell roguelike that combines addictive pinball-like gameplay with a vintage cartoon presentation to create a fresh take on a familiar genre. With refreshingly quick rounds and hundreds of possible builds, there’s a lot of fun to be had for both casual and hardcore players — especially once all the stages are released in January 2027.
Story via The Magic Rain. Read the original article
