15 Days: Part 24 – April 1st to April 15th 2026

It’s All Just Balls, Really.

Yes, yes. I know. This is late coming out to you. I have but one excuse: BallxPit.

It’s been a while since I played a game that I became a little addicted to. Thankfully, I’ve completed it (with 100% achievements) and have not gone back to try ‘New Game+’ (yet…) and so have now returned to write a blog. It was fun though, and the first game I’ve played where an unlocked character will actually play the game for you. I found that odd; watching the game play itself, but I did learn a few things along the way which changed my strategy later in the game.

BallxPit is fun. There’s more to it than I thought but once you’ve understood the mechanics and set everything up in good order, you can just rinse and repeat to your heart’s content. And for me, in the time I spent playing it, that was all I wanted.

It’s not all been just fun and games though. I have also been testing. First up is Hazard Pay.

Described as a ‘…pixel-art dystopian block-pushing puzzler, a shadowy client has hired you to navigate a network of hazardous secret labs. Find a way to clean the scene and destroy the ███████. Take the money, do the job, don’t ask questions.’, this isn’t like any of the other games I’ve tested and it was fun to play and work through.

I tested the demo last year and so this was about adding some more time to this full build. I have to say I’ve been impressed with the strides taken between then and now. That’s also a benefit when taking a break between a demo and full build because I can come back into it with a fresher perspective and the development changes are easier to see, unlike being part of a project from start to finish.

However, the flip side for me is that for the projects I’ve been a part of from beta to release, it means I become a core part of a team and I see a lot more of how everything naturally evolves and the reasons why. Testing is a great way to learn; that’s just a small part of what I’ve taken from all these years doing this, let alone everything else.

Anyway, before this becomes a history of ‘Paul James, Games Testing’, once I know the release date for Hazard Pay, I will make sure to add it here. For now, the demo is available on Steam via: Hazard Pay

As always, wishlists are encouraged, very welcome, and hugely appreciated. They really do make a difference in a game being seen.

Aside from this, and as often as they can send me new builds, the solid march towards UrbX Warriors continues on. There’s been a lot going on in the background as Brazen Gameplay prepare for Debug Games Festival on April 25^th, and I have been running through the ‘Show Build’ as much as is possible in readiness for that.

I know I keep saying this but, despite the countless runs through the demo, I have never been bored. I started testing UrbX Warriors in March 2025 and the time has flown by.

I suspect I’ll be trying to get the highest demo score at Debug, just like I did at CRASH LIVE! but I also suspect there’ll be a queue of people wanting to play it, so I will just sit back and watch everyone have fun with it. And please, for the love of bugs, I hope no-one breaks it. 😅

Moving on, the Game Dev Heroes nominations are still open until 4^th May… https://gamedevheroes.co/

To finish, there is one more key reason why I’ve taken longer than normal to write and publish this blog; I’ve been working on the outline and structure of a game of my own.

I often have ideas and I try my best to write them all down or record them in some way. Take my advice and make a note every time an idea pops into your head because, if you’re anything like me, you’ll forget that idea later. I also take time to sit and think about what my next steps on this journey may be. The obvious one has always been to move from testing to developing, or at least that’s what I seem to see happening with other people. But my instinct has always said no to that. Living in a realm of learning about everything has always been more alluring, and that is still the case. But I cannot deny that the more projects I work on, the more challenges I give myself, and the more I embrace what this has already given me and what is still to be experienced, the more inevitable the idea for a game of my own will grow. And that’s what I’ve been doing. Writing down ideas, creating an overall structure, thinking it through, and taking the time to work towards a game that I would want to play. And it’s that last point that is at the heart of it. Without that, there’s no joy, and I take a lot of joy in creative pursuits. So, for the moment, it’s ideas, structure, joy. And I’ll do that for everything I can think of or ever had a desire to create, and I’ll go from there.

Especially now that BallxPit is over.
For now.

And that’s that mini-but-important update done.

Until next time, as always, stay safe and thank you for reading.

Paul.