ORBIT: Bingo Roguelike is the debut title from developer BeriaLabs Games, following on from the excellent Balatro ORBIT closely emulates the format however rather than using cards and poker hands to score points ORBIT uses Bingo. Each round or ORBIT you play you are tasked with defeating 3 separate tables before facing a boss at the end of all of 3 tables. After each ORBIT you get the chance to select a joker card to help with the ever-increasing point limit you must hit to complete a table.
ORBIT shows bingo isn’t just for your gran to enjoy.
Building your deck of jokers is where the tactics and skill comes in as a single joker card can dramatically change the way your round will go, it really does become a balancing act as you could be building your jokers to get bonus points for placing balls in diagonals on the bingo board and all of a sudden, a tempting rare joker will pop up in the store potentially giving you a huge bonus with a few other complimentary jokers but will risk weakening you until you find those cards or if you ever do. There has been Many times I ignored my inner voice and allowed greed to get the better of me and ruined a promising run chasing what could be with rarer cards. It’s how you learn the interactions of these jokers and using this experience that allows you to progress (I never learn and constantly make this mistake!).
Playing each round starts off slow but as you get further down the tables things really pick up and you start seeing some huge bonus numbers as you tactically build your Bingo deck to get maximum points, however this can become a trap as sometimes I have found myself ignoring an easy win to place balls to potentially get 3 or 4 lines in one go to chase the dopamine hit of seeing your points light up with fire which is the games way of saying you have just hit a huge multiplier.
The great thing is even if you do fail every game is different with the huge variety of joker cards and the different bosses adding random penalties you have to be mindful off it adds a huge amount of replayabilty. One nice touch I appreciated was the ability to copy and share in game seeds so if you or a friend happened to discover a particularly interesting or challenging run you can share these seeds so others can experience it or you can revisit later to try and better your score.
The shop can make or break your round.
After each successful Orbit you are rewarded with a visit to the shop where you can buy or sell jokers, buy bonus items and enhance numbers on the board by paying to enchant them giving you a bonus if you place a ball there. This really adds to the tactical element of the game as you can stack the odds in your favour by giving you as many high rewarding balls as possible and when coupled with certain jokers for example “odd numbers get a multiplier” these bonuses really add up. However, you are only allowed a certain amount of all of these items so be sure to choose wisely.
ORBIT is a lovely looking game with pleasant retro style art for the interface, everything is crisp and clear and each joker, table and action is explained clearly in game helpfully simply by hovering over it so you are never really stuck however the game does include an excellent tutorial which sets you up nicely as I imagine this game could be extremely confusing, if you have ever played Balatro you will pick this game up instantly as it follows the exact same format regarding round amounts shop rewards and so on which is a good thing. The music is also nice and peaceful to listen too which does contrast on times with the sound affects when you get several multipliers at a time giving off hitting the jackpot at the casino vibe.
ORBIT is a relaxing and peaceful experience.
Overall I really enjoyed ORBIT I found it fun and engaging, the thrill of seeing your bonus points accumulate all through your carefully placed bingo balls is very rewarding and as each run is different it really does keep you coming back for more. Although I will say I feel the developers missed an opportunity naming some of the jokers after famous bingo calls such as “Two little ducks” or “two fat ladies. If you enjoy roguelikes like the aforementioned Balatro you will definitely enjoy ORBIT, if you want to try the game for yourself you can find it here.
