Four years after I bought Holedown, I’ve finally got around to reviewing the PC version. Its a game that crept up on me over time because of how relaxing and satisfying it is. It gives me the same “I’m a genius” feeling that Peggle does because this is an accidental ricochet dream wrapped up in roguelite elements and online leaderboards.
Holedown is split into two distinct gameplay modes, the first more structured portion to unlock the endless leaderboard mode at the end for the more competitive gamers. The objective is the same for both though – dig down as far as you can. You do this by aiming and firing lots of balls that will hit various bricks ascending from the bottom of the screen. Each block has a number signifying how many balls need to hit it before it breaks and you need to break them before they reach your ball firing drill. In the main game, each planet you visit has a core that you are aiming to reach but you have limited shots to reach it and if a block hits your drill or you run out shots, the run is over.
Initially you’ll fire just a couple of balls and getting the trajectory right helps you bounce the balls into tight nooks or rebounds to cause maximum damage. If you are able to, its best to sneak in under some other bricks and trap the ball because if you remove all the blocks supporting higher blocks, they’ll tumble too. Mastering the art of where to break through the brick towers and cause carnage is a vital skill to winning big in Holedown. Each time you do it is incredibly satisfying. Of course as bricks break, you trajectory will change and this is where my Peggle reference comes in. Just like Peggle pegs vanishing would cause epic chain reactions, the same happens with your balls in Holedown. You can feel a genius easily and if you had a doozy shot, you don’t really spent time lamenting it as the next shot is a few seconds away.
As you drill, you’ll collect gems. These gems go towards overarching unlockable upgrades. These include increasing your total shots, the amount of balls fired per shot and how many gems you can collect per run. You can also unlock the next planet too. These are all crucial because as you progress, bricks move from needing a few ball hits to a few hundred ball hits and so getting a shot of 40 balls ricocheting around causes big numbers of damage. Its often the only way to survive at the end of the game. Once you’ve mastered the main game, a final endless planet is unlocked. This is the only one tied to a leaderboard but you’ll likely have unlocked every upgrade by then. Whilst each run has randomised brick location, at least you have an even upgrade keel to battle the leaderboard positions with. There is also a local 2 player co-op mode which I imagine would be an enjoyable twist but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet.
When paired with the chirpy minimalistic electronic soundtrack, a huge monster that makes noises when you click it and satisfying pop sounds as bricks break – Holedown’s gameplay is both relaxing and engrossing. I can dip in and out of it for a quick 5-10 minute endless run whenever I fancy and I feel both invested and sated by the time my run ends. This is a true casual gaming gem that I recommend for anyone wanting to fidget game for a few minutes and feel like a genius – even if its all by accident. I’m glad I reconnected with this game 4 years after I bought it and truly appreciate it now.
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