The Ned Balls

In Brief

The Ned Balls is a simple and easy marble rolling game.

The Game

All the Steam community reviews in English are positive, though the four non English reviews are negative. You can see them HERE. You can also see a few videos of game play HERE, HERE and via the Steam store page HERE.

The reviews basically say (or imply) that 'The Ned Balls' is a very short game that can be completed in ten minutes and is not worth its full price of £0.79/$0.99. I counted a total of 16 levels and on my first try for each of the first three levels completed all three in a total time of 52.7 seconds, and could easily cut that time down significantly. Some of the later levels took around a minute to complete, though the last one can be completed in a matter of seconds if you choose the right path from four alternatives. The game play is okay and I like the fact that you can select any of the 16 levels to play right from the outset. There is a slight difficulty increase as you progress from the first to the penultimate level, but it's not significant. In fact the last level is actually one of the easiest to complete and probably the fastest so long as you choose the correct arm of the puzzle; (I did it in 6.1 seconds on my second attempt - the first attempt I chose the wrong arm of the puzzle, so took 21.1 seconds). To scroll through the levels just hold the left mouse button down on the right side of the level images and drag. You can use the mouse wheel if you wish, but you'll find it excruciatingly slow. All the levels are definitely far too short (in my opinion) for a commercial marble rolling game and there are no power ups, or hard to maneuver obstacles to confound you. If you fall off, there is only a fraction of a second lost as you re-spawn where you fell, instead of starting from the beginning like most marble rolling games I know of that force you to do start from the beginning of the level.

I have lots of these marble rolling games that are far longer and have many more levels; that said, I suppose you can't really complain when it's being given away free today, especially as it is playable. This is another of those games you could play during a coffee break. It doesn't have much replayability apart from maybe trying to beat your scores. The ball/marble is controlled by the WASD keys and is quite sensitive. Overall I'd give this a thumbs up, but only just. If a level editor was included it would add so much more to the game. I really enjoy marble rolling games, but today's offering was not challenging at all and was also rather disappointing. The simplistic levels are probably ideal for a young child of around five years old.

The first game I ever purchased for my son when he was still at primary school was a marble rolling game called Marble Blast Gold from Garage Games that we found while I was looking for a Rube Goldberg machine like computer game called Chain Reaction featuring a purple dinosaur (not Barney the dinosaur, which we also bought for our daughter) and was similar to The Incredible Machine but more 3D like. We still play both occasionally and he always beats my times, even when he was five years old. He loved the marble game so I purchased several others over the next few years including the famous Marble Madness game and a more upmarket one (graphically) called Switch Ball

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway

Don't forget to check out the giveaway forums. Delenn has usually posted the latest freebies. The latest (3) offerings from Epic Games include the excellent first person cooperative zombie shooter Killing Floor 2, Lifeless Planet Premier Edition (an atmospheric third person exploratory 3D puzzle platformer with Sci Fi overtones. While seeking life on a distant planet, an astronaut discovers an abandoned Russian town. He suspects his mission is a hoax until a mysterious young woman saves him from a strange and deadly phenomenon...), and The Escapist 2, (a top down 2D sandbox game. Craft, Steal, Brawl and Escape! It’s time to bust out of the toughest prisons in the world as you return to the life of an inmate in The Escapists 2, now with multiplayer!). Next week we get the brilliant sequel to Torchlight (ie Torchlight II). Just pop over to the game discussion threads HERE and HERE for links to most of the free games.

The Indie Gala developers freebies are available HERE (latest additions) and HERE (81 games in the Showcase, most full versions). Recent additions include Snow White Solitaire Charmed Kingdom, Adam Wolfe (Complete Edition) and Spirit of Xanadu, plus a couple I've previously missed in the showcase section called Temper Tantrum and Last Man Standing).

I don't think I've mentioned before that The Endless Space Collection , a 4X space strategy game covering the space colonization age in the Endless universe, where you can control every aspect of your civilization as you strive for galactic domination is now permanently free on Steam HERE (79% positive reviews from 6068 reviews).

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