Beastieball Steam Charts & Stats

So many QoL features that enable you to just play the game. I can't wait to keep following their progress, this is amazing for early access. It's like they want you to only have fun when you play.

Absolutely wonderful and engrossing. I'm four towns in and can't stop thinking about this game. The "battle" system is fresh and seems to be pretty deep. It takes aspects of Pokemon like status moves and prediction that are ignored in the single player and brings them to the fore. I already can't wait to get into competitive play once I'm a bit further. The writing is brisk, funny and touching. The game strikes a great balance of capturing the exact feeling of Pokemon while fixing almost every shallow or tedious thing about it - I feel like I've been transported back 20 years in a way that even replaying the old Pokemon games can't do for me. In terms of Early Access, the only noteworthy distracting aspect is the unfinished Beastie animations - many seem to just have a single sprite for now. If you want the most complete experience then it might be worth waiting, but personally I have no regrets jumping in early.

Great dialogue. Fantastic creature designs. Deep and engaging combat volleyball gameplay. I think what's charmed me the most is the the interactions your beasties have with each other and yourself. You'll see miniature character arcs play out between them, both outside volleyball and during it, and it ranges everywhere from blossoming friendships to jealousy: It really gets me attached to these little guys...

To start, I love these kinds of games, so some bias is at play, but this game's INSANE positive reception is really no joke! I mean, as someone who usually reads negative reviews before buying, check out this game's "bad reviews" - not much to say there, lol. The game where little guys hit the ball (that's the executable's file name, btw) is really just that. Turn-based, 2v2 action where the goal is to exhaust your opponent's options and score some points. The creature selection is very fun, and each "Beastie" has a lot of personality and inspiration - you even get to see the behind-the-scenes concept art and iteration process! It's so fun seeing all of the team's ideas come together, and that goes on the story side as well. It's not an art game or anything like that, but it has a lot of heart and fun personalities that I personally came to love by the end (Sports King my hero). I'll warn you though - it's harder than your average creature collector! Beastieball removes a lot of the variance that keeps other games interesting/'balanced' (there are no crits OR type advantages, just stats and a dream), and yet it makes up for it with turns that can take so many different directions based on one action a player chooses to make. Where you're standing changes damage, who you hit changes the actions your opponent can make, the moves you use can halt a strategy altogether, the bench can randomly tag in and ruin your whole plan - so much to think about on each turn. While it can make your head spin at first, it becomes second nature by the end of your first couple bosses, and - for me personally - made wanting to get into PvP that much more exciting a prospect. I can go on and on, and I haven't even said anything about Lena Raine's incredible soundtrack, but just know: I played this game for a full-time job's amount of time when I first got it, and I'm still not done with it yet. Huge recommend!!!

The fun and good character designs similar to the early generations of pokemon, and a battle system that makes you think more than "Me hit again, but HARDERER!!!" The fact that the battle system has more than one win condition (on account of it being battle-volleyball) makes matches actually very stimulating compared to other modern Monster Collector games like TemTem and Nexomon.

Just beat the main story and I'm already tempted to give it another run This game manages to escape the standard 6v6 type-matchup formula Pokemon had set for creature collectors, and also has music from Lena Raine (y'know, the one responsible for Minecraft and Celeste's OST) I can confidently say this is the most refreshing the creature genre has been since I was playing on my DS.

Disclaimer: I have not finished the main story, but I've already put in around 12 hours at the time of this writing. If the Early Access label has you worrying about the amount of content, you can safely push those aside. I cannot recommend this game enough. If you've grown disillusioned to modern Pokémon (and other similar creature catchers), this game is for you. Beastieball oozes charm, passion, and attention to detail with several truly unique elements and systems at play. Everything feels so [i]alive[/i], from the world to the characters in it and especially the Beasties. It's amazing how much just a few lines of unexpected "dialogue" between Beasties can really drive home a sense of connection and character. The world feels truly open and free flowing, especially when compared to others like Paldea. I do wish there were more reasons to stop by old towns other than the connection events. Additionally, the dialogue and humor can be a bit corny for my tastes at times, but otherwise holds up especially during heart-to-hearts. The combat is intricately deep, although with such comes a solid learning curve. Rather than standard "dudes in a line" combat like most other RPGs, Beastieball instead relies on turn-based volleyball. Winning battles does not necessarily mean knocking out the opponents' teams, but that is often the most straightforward way. There are multiple viable strategies and plenty of outplay potential that actually makes you feel intelligent for winning points rather than just having the bigger numbers. You are doing yourself a disservice by not at least giving this game's demo a chance. Download it and give it a spin, then see if you agree.

Fantastic game all around, the best monster collector I've played since Black/White 2. Fully feature rich and mechanically complete, albeit still rough around the edges as of Early Access summer 2025. There are a big chunk of mid to late game creatures with placeholder sketches and unfinished animations, which may be the only reason to potentially hold off until further updates roll out. It doesn't ruin the experience, I personally wasn't all that bothered by static beasties floating around, but it is jarring. The animation quality for what is done however, is very expressive, and will be well worth the wait when complete. Mechanically, when I was hooked into the battle system, I was completely hooked and never let free. Beastieball is obviously very Pokemon inspired, and it draws from the familiar basics of double battling, but a clean diversion from the formula that feels refreshingly addictive in a unique way. Battles are done on an 4x2 grid. Three actions per offensive play, one defensive action which triggers on receive. Five beasties form a team; two in play, three available to tag in on defense. There isn't traditional resistance or weakness, but stats are distributed into 3 offensive/defensive attributes, which feel familiar enough to Pokemon splits. Some attacks can specifically target the front or back row, or become drawn to a beastie, which creates a dynamic puzzle to solve every volley. There's an Effort Value system which works exactly how you'd want it to, team building becomes incredibly addictive when you have the means to use it. Base stats are well varied, with the right amount of flexibility to build entirely different individual beasties. The quality of life for competitive tweaking extends from EV stats, to moves and abilities. It respects your time yet still feels rewarding. Natural doubles strats are fun to discover (a la Earthquake + Levitate), play styles are well balanced for anything to feel viable. Finding creative ways to optimize a team seriously hasn't felt this good since my time on Showdown circa Gen 6. Of course none of the feel good technical aspects would matter if the game surrounding wasn't also enjoyable. I personally had an amazing time with the story, even if it's nothing groundbreaking. It's believable, fully fleshed out, writing is surprisingly well done, characters are genuinely expressive and likeable. Indie writing has always been very hit or miss imo, but the devs here have legitimate writing talent. The biggest praise I can give is how cohesive everything feels, it all just meshes together so, so well. Truly a special game that's only going to get better.

The game is really good. It's a mix of Pokemon, volleyball, and even Paper Mario. Works great on the Steam Deck too.

The single best indie creature collector I've played, in every way. The best monsters, the best battle system, the best presentation, the best writing. And I want to emphasize that last one: the writing is so much better than I ever would've expected. It's a wonderful game.