Beastieball

About Beastieball

Beastieball is a single player and multiplayer open world role playing game. It was developed by Wishes Ultd. and was released on November 12, 2024. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Coach a sports team of Beasties in this turn-based volleyball RPG! Your Beasties' relationships power up their teamwork!

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Reviews

99%Audience ScoreBased on 1,501 reviews

story193 positive mentions

grinding34 negative mentions

Unique and strategic volleyball-based turn-based combat that adds depth and engagement beyond traditional monster collectors.
Charming and expressive beasties with detailed animations and personality-driven relationships that enrich gameplay and story immersion.
Well-written, funny, and emotionally resonant story with memorable characters and a compelling world enriched by a superb soundtrack.

Early Access status means a number of beasties have unfinished art and animations, occasionally affecting immersion.
Some players experience occasional bugs, UI clutter, or camera issues, including motion sickness for sensitive individuals.
A few difficulty spikes and pacing issues exist, with minor balancing concerns and sometimes grindy progression or obscure puzzle design.

story
528 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37% positive mentions, 61% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions
The story in the game is widely praised for its engaging, heartfelt, and often humorous narrative that effectively blends sports themes with creature collecting. Players appreciate its thoughtful characters, meaningful environmental and societal themes, and well-paced progression, which provide a refreshing and deeper experience compared to typical monster-tamer games like Pokémon. While some find the plot simple or predictable, the overall writing, character development, and integration with gameplay mechanics make the story a compelling highlight.
- “The story is one of the most genuine stories that I've had the pleasure of experiencing in a while.”
- “The story is shockingly good as well, the world and the critters within it are oozing with charm, characters are engaging and fun, and there's some very poignant and atmospheric beats you can stumble upon entirely by accident that tie in to the game's overarching themes and messaging.”
- “The story is great too, all the characters have their depth on top of being endearing with a really well-built world.”
- “The gameplay is fun if not totally balanced, but the story is just really bad.”
- “I would genuinely prefer a very simple or non-existent story over what is presented because it really sours things.”
- “It's easy to get hooked on, it seems pretty interesting at first but as soon as you complete the first half of the story it just feels rushed.”
gameplay
494 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42% positive mentions, 57% neutral mentions, 1% negative mentions
Beastieball offers a fresh, innovative gameplay experience that blends turn-based creature collecting with strategic volleyball mechanics on a 2v2 grid, delivering deep and tactical battles that are easy to learn but challenging to master. The game shines with its unique relationship and synergy systems between beasties, creating emotional bonds that impact combat, alongside accessible yet richly layered mechanics, making it stand out in the creature collector genre. While some find the complexity initially overwhelming, the gameplay loop is widely praised for its engaging, dynamic, and rewarding design that keeps players invested beyond the main story.
- “The matches are both dynamic and strategic, and there’s a lot of depth when it comes to customization, with different mechanics between beasties such as relationships, friendship moves, and more.”
- “Beastieball not only manages to create a unique gameplay system that is innovative (especially considering this genre, where majority of creature-collectors are just pokemon-likes), but it also manages to design it to a degree where every match is meaningful and engaging.”
- “The gameplay is a level of strategy that you rarely see in most monster collectors - aside from a basic volley and an attack that might as well be skipping your turn, your beasties only get three moves and they have to be shared between attacks, volleys, support, and defense, on top of dealing with movement and lanes and statuses and all sorts of different mechanics, meaning your team needs to be cohesive or you might end up getting trounced by an enemy group you didn't expect to see.”
- “Lots of mechanics, but basically no reason to engage with any of them because they just make you win slower.”
- “The gameplay is extremely boring and lacks much strategy - it just boils down to brute force to an even greater degree than single-player pokemon, which is saying a lot.”
- “Gameplay: fair (repetitive, will bore after awhile)”
music
357 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54% positive mentions, 45% neutral mentions, 1% negative mentions
The music in this game, composed primarily by Lena Raine, is consistently praised as exceptional, energetic, and memorable, effectively enhancing gameplay and immersion. Reviewers highlight its unique, varied styles that blend nostalgia with fresh sounds, often calling the soundtrack a standout feature that rivals top-tier games. Dynamic layering and thematic consistency across battle and exploration tracks provide an engaging, mood-fitting audio experience that players love to listen to both in and outside the game.
- “Lena Raine's music is impeccable as always.”
- “The soundtrack is amazing, Lena Raine continues to make great music.”
- “The soundtrack is incredibly high quality and highly varied, featuring memorable songs like 'dingy dust-up' and 'vs. the mega beasts'.”
- “Unlike most games I have reviewed so far on Steam, the soundtrack is okay.”
- “Some parts in the game seem to have the music glitch in and out at times.”
- “The music is fine (not that special to warrant a separate soundtrack imo).”
graphics
141 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37% positive mentions, 61% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions
Beastieball features a charming, vibrant 2D art style reminiscent of Paper Mario, with cute and distinctive creature designs that contribute to its unique identity. While the graphics are praised for their creativity and engaging animations, many users note that the game is still in early access with unfinished artwork and placeholder sprites that impact the visual polish. Overall, the visuals are considered appealing, fun, and a strong point of the game, complementing its energetic tone and strategic gameplay.
- “The art design and direction is stellar, with a striking contrast of a 3d modeled map to serve as a backdrop against 2d, paper Mario–esque cutout sprites, the colorful cast of characters which vary so widely in shapes, sizes, and artstyles while all managing to feel like they belong in the same world, and last but certainly not least, the titular beasties which range from squee-inducingly adorable to jaw-droppingly awesome.”
- “Even with the work in progress visuals, the game looks absolutely stunning!”
- “The 'thousand-year door'-esque art style was charming enough, and the customization options for my character was fine, though I definitely made that one jacket blue and white to match the obelisk blue colors from Yu-Gi-Oh GX.”
- “Early access is noticeable because many sprites are still placeholder sketches, and a good chunk of the beasties still use placeholder artwork or don't have finished animation.”
- “There is a ton of unfinished artwork and animations; many beasties have almost no animations at all, and it looks very bad.”
- “It's early access definitely shows, with some graphical bugs and even unfinished beastie art if you play for more than an hour.”
humor
95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for being charming, witty, and genuinely funny, with many memorable jokes, clever dialogue, and endearing character interactions. It balances lighthearted comedy with heartfelt moments, often delivering satirical and self-aware writing that enhances the game's unique and engaging tone. While a few find some humor corny or juvenile, overall, the comedic style is a core strength that complements the game's charm and personality.
- “The story and characters are charming, funny and memorable, and there's some real heart in the way that certain real world issues are tackled.”
- “The battle mechanics are totally unique and exciting, it has a funny and entertaining story that feels heartfelt and immersive (and also doesn't take itself too seriously), the creatures are fun and unique and have animations chock full of life and personality.”
- “The narrative and world building has genuine effort and heart, the characters are charming and the tongue and cheek writing often made me laugh out loud.”
emotional
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98% positive mentions, 2% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Beastieball delivers a deeply heartfelt and emotionally resonant experience that intertwines charming creature interactions, a wholesome story, and unique mechanics to create genuine bonds between players and their team. Its mix of humor, touching narrative moments, and vibrant presentation evokes strong emotions, often moving players to laughter and tears alike. The game stands out for its warmth, personality, and sincere portrayal of relationships, making it a standout emotional journey in the monster-collection genre.
- “How heartfelt, how devastating, what a labour of love from the very beginning of the game all the way to the very end!”
- “Honestly can say I cried at multiple parts of the story.”
- “Watching two beasties grow closer over time and then execute a perfectly synchronized play adds emotional weight to victories and makes the team feel alive rather than interchangeable.”
grinding
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3% positive mentions, 3% neutral mentions, 94% negative mentions
Grinding in Beastie Ball is generally minimal and well-balanced, with many quality-of-life features like auto-battle and speed-up options that make leveling more enjoyable and optional. While some players note occasional tedious moments, particularly when leveling low-level beasties or in specific modes, the game emphasizes strategy and team-building over repetitive grinding, ensuring a fresh and engaging experience. Overall, grinding feels purposeful and integrated without being a tedious chore.
- “Despite being a monster-catching RPG, this game is not grindy at all.”
- “If I could change one thing (and this is my only complaint) it would be making the level gap smaller for a creature-collecting game. Beastieball has a big level gap; some beasties are just not worth using because of their level. This sucks because it makes me so sad when I stroll into an area with my level 40 team and see a silly little guy at level 20. To scale him up, I would have to grind harder than a medieval serf working his lord's land (I'm exaggerating, but grinding sucks). I attribute this to the open world; if you mainline a certain path or destination, you end up ruining the levels of the beasties.”
- “Along with the chance of a beastie becoming injured when used too much, it makes grinding a hassle.”
- “It's even more tedious in expedition and tower modes where a mistake could cost you the game.”
character development
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52% positive mentions, 38% neutral mentions, 10% negative mentions
The game features expressive, creative, and charming character and creature designs that stand out for their personality and detailed animations, drawing comparisons to classic Pokémon while offering fresh, strategic gameplay. Players appreciate the thoughtful development of both main characters and background NPCs, enhanced by engaging relationship dynamics and subversive storytelling that bring depth and emotional resonance. Overall, character development is praised for its creativity, cohesion, and meaningful integration into gameplay and narrative.
- “And depending on relationship roles you might see exclusive dialogue that allows you to experience character development within your beastie squad; this is peak gaming.”
- “And depending on relationship roles you might see exclusive dialogue that allows you to experience character development within your beastie squad, this is peak gaming.”
- “Yes, your team members have character development!”
- “The team relationship dynamics are also a lot of fun to watch and a bit like watching your team go through sports anime character development.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 67% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game offers exceptional replayability driven by its built-in randomizer, roguelike challenge modes, and strategic depth in combat. Players praise its variety of post-game content, mods, and multiple modes that keep each run fresh and engaging. Overall, it stands out in its genre for providing long-lasting and diverse replay value.
- “This combined with the built-in randomizer gives this game intense amounts of replay value!”
- “The rogue-like challenge mode adds meaningful replayability and forces players to think differently with every run.”
- “Every beastie is so cute and absolutely loaded with personality, the gameplay itself combines a good mix of both challenge and replayability and even with a smaller roster of beasties, there's always a new strategic combination of moves that can be used to change up how the beasties act.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38% positive mentions, 37% neutral mentions, 25% negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its charming art style, engaging characters, and nostalgic vibes reminiscent of classics like Paper Mario and Earthbound. Players appreciate the blend of fun animations, poignant moments, and immersive world-building, though some feel certain locations and interactions occasionally lack depth. Overall, the rich atmosphere, combined with strategic gameplay and unique creature designs, creates a captivating and enjoyable experience.
- “The art style and animations (with the fun emotes popping up, the screen shaking upon hit, and the atmosphere of it all coming together) actually remind me of Paper Mario series, and I really enjoyed it!”
- “The story is shockingly good as well, the world and the critters within it are oozing with charm, characters are engaging and fun, and there's some very poignant and atmospheric beats you can stumble upon entirely by accident that tie in to the game's overarching themes and messaging.”
- “The design, atmosphere, music, level of strategy, field management, various plays to be made, plus an amazing roster of beasties all blend together into a wonderful game that I know I’ll be happy to play for a long time!”
- “This, along with some character interactions and locations that very clearly do not feel fully formed, leaves an occasional sense of emptiness that doesn't detract from the game a ton, but still makes the atmosphere feel a little off sometimes.”
- “Usually, I'm skeptical of monster collectors as they tend to lack one thing or another a certain corporate monopoly does: monster design (especially rare in indie monster collectors, ironically), character design, atmosphere, immersion, party synergy, strategy, difficulty, uniqueness, etc.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 57% negative mentions
Stability reviews are mixed, with some users praising smooth performance on the Steam Deck and noting it is surprisingly bug-free for an early access title. However, others report visual glitches, audio bugs, occasional soft locks in battles, and minor UI issues that may require lowering settings for better performance. Overall, stability is adequate but can be improved.
- “Runs great on Steam Deck too.”
- “Surprisingly bug-free even though it's early access.”
- “Runs great on Steam Deck and is a fun twist on the monster taming genre!”
- “The performance is terrible, with visual glitches and audio bugs, and battles can sometimes soft lock, forcing you to restart the game.”
- “The game doesn't run perfectly; you may need to turn down some settings. It almost freezes when taking a screenshot.”
- “There are small graphical glitches and strange overlapping of UI, which can make it hard to read things in battle.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 60% negative mentions
The game's optimization is inconsistent, with some users experiencing severe performance issues, visual glitches, and crashes during battles, while others note occasional problems mitigated by auto-save features. Control options are well-optimized for both gamepad and mouse/keyboard. Overall, stability and performance require improvement to prevent frequent crashes and slowdowns.
- “The game has had a few performance issues, though few and far between, and the auto save helps anytime the game has unexpectedly closed or encountered an issue.”
- “Control optimization is good; you can use gamepad or mouse and keyboard.”
- “The performance is terrible, with visual glitches and audio bugs, and battles sometimes soft lock, forcing a restart.”
- “At about the 10 hour mark, the 'research complete' pop-up got slower and slower, stuttering and eventually froze, crashing the game during a battle.”
- “There are team optimization bottlenecks that impact gameplay.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 67% negative mentions
The game avoids common modern monetization pitfalls like microtransactions and excessive DLC, offering only an optional soundtrack DLC. Unlike many contemporary sports and esports platforms flooded with gambling and cryptocurrency ads, this title maintains a straightforward, fun experience without intrusive monetization.
- “There is no DLC overload, no microtransactions, none of that modern gaming nonsense that would take the fun out of the game. The one optional DLC is for the soundtrack, which is pretty great.”
- “You can't watch any kind of sport or esports without being drowned in ads for gambling and cryptocurrency and gulf monarchy playground cities for rich white people.”