For those unwilling to devote the time and energy needed to fully appreciate this review of VIDEOBALL, let me begin with The Bottom Line:

VIDEOBALL is the platonic ideal of esports.

It is worth noting that VIDEOBALL is not a popular esport, but it is highly competitive and best played with a team of friends. It is a game filled with enthusiastic and chaotic moments and when things go right or wrong, adrenaline stirs strong emotions in your right hemisphere while your left hemisphere is making notes of what went right or wrong and how to strategize better with those scenarios in mind. You will never be a famous VIDEOBALL player, but you can work towards being a good VIDEOBALL player. In this way, VIDEOBALL is an esport specifically for those with a strong sense of “love of the game”. Is there trash talk? Are the players toxic? Only if that’s who you’re on a call with outside of the game itself (or in the same literal room as) because, thankfully for a whole lot of people who don’t want random gamers to hear their voices and don’t want to hear the voices of random gamers, there is no in-game voice chat.

As regards the “e” in “esports”, VIDEOBALL is highly electronic, representing nothing in reality whatsoever outside of balls and goals. The players are chevrons with direction that shoot triangles of different strengths, which affect objects in the game in very video gamey ways. Aesthetically, it’s Asteroids, the sport. Tim Rogers has said that VIDEOBALL has the best graphics of any game because it’s a perfect 1:1 recreation of VIDEOBALL and I believe him. VIDEOBALL doesn’t look like things in the real world or sound like things in the real world, but it does look and sound “right”, as though it is the way VIDEOBALL is supposed to be.

In addition to being very electronic, VIDEOBALL is also more sportslike than any other video game I’ve played. I often criticize games for being too “physicsy” or “floaty”. I generally prefer video games be tight and precise. But sports ARE physics. In his book The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan says, “To get the ball in the basket, you must loft it at exactly the right speed; a one per cent error and gravity will make you look bad. Three-point shooters, whether they know it or not, compensate for aerodynamic drag.” Playing sports is being extremely precise with complex physics that lead to imprecision in practicality. This is what it’s like playing VIDEOBALL. Except VIDEOBALL also has precise physics at the right times. You quickly learn the exact precise timings you need to create different triangles. When you use a big triangle, all the floatiness is gone and the balls fly at high speed exactly where they’re heading. It has all the impact of the home run bat in Smash Bros., but anyone can do it in the right moment.

In short, if you like esports or regular sports or video games in general, especially if you have friends, I highly recommend VIDEOBALL. VIDEOBALL is a perfect game on the level of Tetris. People might tweak it or try to copy it, but you can not improve the core of what it is. It was clearly made by people who both love and understand video games. It can get frustrating at times, especially with some of the AI (I’m looking at you, Choppy and Punchy), but you just have to remind yourself, “Well… That’s VIDEOBALL.”

For those unwilling to devote the time and energy needed to fully appreciate this review of VIDEOBALL, let me begin with The Bottom Line: VIDEOBALL is the platonic ideal of esports. It is worth noting that VIDEOBALL is not a popular esport, but it is highly competitive and best played with a team of friends. It is a game filled with enthusiastic and chaotic moments and when things go right or wrong, adrenaline stirs strong emotions in your right hemisphere while your left hemisphere is making notes of what went right or wrong and how to strategize better with those scenarios in mind. You will never be a famous VIDEOBALL player, but you can work towards being a good VIDEOBALL player. In this way, VIDEOBALL is an esport specifically for those with a strong sense of “love of the game”. Is there trash talk? Are the players toxic? Only if that’s who you’re on a call with outside of the game itself (or in the same literal room as) because, thankfully for a whole lot of people who don’t want random gamers to hear their voices and don’t want to hear the voices of random gamers, there is no in-game voice chat. As regards the “e” in “esports”, VIDEOBALL is highly electronic, representing nothing in reality whatsoever outside of balls and goals. The players are chevrons with direction that shoot triangles of different strengths, which affect objects in the game in very video gamey ways. Aesthetically, it’s Asteroids, the sport. Tim Rogers has said that VIDEOBALL has the best graphics of any game because it’s a perfect 1:1 recreation of VIDEOBALL and I believe him. VIDEOBALL doesn’t look like things in the real world or sound like things in the real world, but it does look and sound “right”, as though it is the way VIDEOBALL is supposed to be. In addition to being very electronic, VIDEOBALL is also more sportslike than any other video game I’ve played. I often criticize games for being too “physicsy” or “floaty”. I generally prefer video games be tight and precise. But sports ARE physics. In his book The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan says, “To get the ball in the basket, you must loft it at exactly the right speed; a one per cent error and gravity will make you look bad. Three-point shooters, whether they know it or not, compensate for aerodynamic drag.” Playing sports is being extremely precise with complex physics that lead to imprecision in practicality. This is what it’s like playing VIDEOBALL. Except VIDEOBALL also has precise physics at the right times. You quickly learn the exact precise timings you need to create different triangles. When you use a big triangle, all the floatiness is gone and the balls fly at high speed exactly where they’re heading. It has all the impact of the home run bat in Smash Bros., but anyone can do it in the right moment. In short, if you like esports or regular sports or video games in general, especially if you have friends, I highly recommend VIDEOBALL. VIDEOBALL is a perfect game on the level of Tetris. People might tweak it or try to copy it, but you can not improve the core of what it is. It was clearly made by people who both love and understand video games. It can get frustrating at times, especially with some of the AI (I’m looking at you, Choppy and Punchy), but you just have to remind yourself, “Well… That’s VIDEOBALL.”