Ballgame Preview (Summer Game Fest 2026 Exclusive)
The award for most addictive game that I played during Summer Game Fest 2026 was Ballgame, a pinball-golf fusion that plays like a precision platformer and controls similar to a twin stick shooter. Ballgame is easy to pick up, but very hard to master and just like Golf, Ballgame always leaves you wanting more due to the unpredictable physics and the never-ending pursuit of perfection. Every year people are looking for the next Balatro or Vampire Survivors, that game that is ultra-addictive, simple to understand and very accessible and i’m pretty sure it’s Ballgame as there are a lot of parallels.
Ballgame is the debut from Human Computer, a small indie studio from California that began as just four people whose ultimate goal is to make playful and fun games that respect your time. In Ballgame, you play as the golf ball and your goal is simple: to get in the hole in the least amount of strokes possible. Similar to Balatro, you really don’t need any prior knowledge of the subject matter to enjoy Ballgame because it’s just as much of a physics platformer as it is a golf game.
One thumbstick controls the power and one controls the trajectory. Using the thumbstick to fire the ball counts as a stroke towards your score, but you can also just roll around or jump with X without using a stroke. Using a combination of rolling and jumping can get you around fairly far and can even get you to environmental items that can bounce or propel you in the right direction. However, some environmental items can bounce you in the wrong direction or even kill you, which sends you back to your last checkpoint. There are also items throughout each level that can help reduce your strokes like the diamonds that subtract a stroke at the end of the hole or the light bulbs that grant you the power to take another shot mid-flight without a stroke. If this is starting to sound slightly complicated, it isn't and it’s truly one of those games that immediately clicks as soon as you start to play it.
The game is supposed to launch with 99 holes, but aside from the standard tournament mode where you try to get the lowest score, there is an entirely different mode called heists that throws everything you’ve learned out the window. The goal with heists is to complete the hole in the shortest amount of time, which is pure chaos. Each mode feels extremely unique.
The visuals are gorgeous and unexpected with a blend of media including pixel art, which is the most prominent, but there is also cel shaded art and full video to create something mesmerizing. Human Computer wants the experience to feel like a 90’s Saturday morning cartoon. Ballgame features a lot of dopamine inducing elements from the visual effects, the sound design and the ear worm soundtrack, which are also three areas that Balatro excelled.
I’ve always believed that games like Balatro don’t require a story, but just the slightest semblance of one can make a big difference. In Ballgame, you play as a golf ball who has recently become sentient and you’re trying to figure out who you are, where you are, why you’re in an inter-dimensional hotel and who is this shifty magpie dressed in wizard garb. It’s likely not going to win awards for writing, but it sounds whimsical enough to be the perfect accompaniment to the gameplay.
We got a chance to sit down with Elliot, the co-founder of Human Computer at Summer Game Fest 2026 to talk about what makes Ballgame special. You’ll have to excuse the interview as there was a lot of people are very loud music, and we have tried to clean up the audio as much as possible. At the time of recording, there is a demo for Ballgame on Steam that you can try for yourself. enjoy the interview
