Nubby's Number Factory

Nubby’s Number Factory by MogDogBlog is a nice little plinko-derivative. It’s goofy, with the same retro charm that peggle has, but its got some nice roguelike features such as item unlocks, permadeath, and metaprogression. The game is very satisfying, especially when you get good builds. It’s fun to watch your ball ricochet around the board while seeing the score skyrocket with each bounce.

This game has the roguelike curse of being very luck based. Due to the nature of the game (essentially a plinko-simulator), there is very little skill expression, so most of the gameplay revolves around luck. Getting the right items, getting fortunate with your drops, getting a decent level layout, etc.

This luck-based gameplay ends up with a pretty obvious meta. If you pick the statistically better items, you will have a higher chance of winning, and this results in all of your runs converging into the same build (the best build). If you don’t pick the best items, then you will simply lose (unless you get lucky).

Despite its flaws, Nubby’s Number Factory is a very fun game and I think we need to see more weirdness in the gamedev industry.