Analysts say these cuddly monsters have staying power!
Beastieball is a Canadian Indie Game "Volleyball RPG" by Wishes Unlimited, set to release digitally for PC in 2024, with Klei Entertainment as the publisher. It stars a rookie Beastie coach on their way to reach the top of the Beastieball League, in hopes of saving the nature preserve of their hometown from the League's plans to build a stadium ontop of it. For this, they must find and raise the titular Beasties and form a team capable of climbing through the rankings all the way to the Crown Series tournament, where only the 50 best ranked coaches may compete.
The game's Kickstarter page can be found here
, while the initial reveal trailer can be found here. See Monster Racers for another mons-based sports game.
Beastieball contains examples of:
- Anti-Frustration Features: It is possible to activate the option to instantly win any match by just the press of a singular button, ensuring that skill level is not a limiting factor in finishing the game.
- Art Evolution: Starting with the second version of the demo, the game's artstyle saw a shift towards more abstract, expressive designs with bigger, rounder facial features compared to head size.
- Cast from Hit Points: Various moves will reduce the Stamina of a Beastie using it to achieve their effects, most severely the defensive move Torch Pass, which reduces the user's stamina by 100 (the maximum) to remove the incapacitating wiped condition from an ally and then tag them in.
- Character Customization: It is possible to customize not just the clothes, face and skin color of your character, but also their phone color and pronouns, including a gender-neutral "they/them" option.
- Cherry Tapping: It is entirely possible (albeit long-winded) to defeat an opponent with just scratch damage, like from the Free Ball attack, or even dealing no damage at all by simply hitting empty, undefended lanes.
- Childhood Memory Demolition Team: The Beastieball League is this to both the protagonist as well as Riley, intending to destroy the nature preserve they spent most of their childhood in to build a stadium in its place.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Regardless of any unique conditions, a Beastie must be defeated in a match to become part of the team.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Averted - Unlike most other games of its genre, Body, Spirit and Mind attacks do not feature any natural advantages against each other. All proficency with and resistance against a certain type is based on the specific stats of a Beastie.
- Fungus Humongous: Ranging from the edge-of-realistic ball-sized mushroom balls up the above human height mushrooms forming the supports for the nets of outdoor playing fields.
- Fantastic Flora: By trope definition, the various mushrooms count as this, growing practically anywhere and when picked, regrow immediately. One variety even suddenly springs from the ground and forms a net whenever an outdoor Beastieball match starts up.
- Idle Animation: The protagonist bops their hips back and forth when standing still.
- Inevitable Tournament: The Crown Series, where only the 50 highest ranked Beastie coaches may compete. It is the target of the protagonist to compete, if not win it.
- Mon Game: Featuring the namesake Beasties, creatures that come in various shapes and forms, and who's natural goal it is to travel the world and reach their full potential.
- Palette Swap: Besides the literal variation a Beastie may have within its natural palette, they may also appear with an entirely different one on rare occasions.
- Planimal: The Beastiepedia entry of the reptilian Sprecko describes that its whole body is covered in a sort of fungal growth, which also renders it rather sticky.
- Predatory Business: The Beastieball League is implied to be this, wanting to destroy the Rutile Town nature preserve seemingly for nothing but their own gain.
- Railroad Plot: The Beastieball League's plans to build a new stadium over the Rutile Town nature preserve are halted once a new coach emerges, and may end up scrapped entirely should they prove successful.
- Relationship Values: Beasties that interact with each other will eventually form bonds, which grant both of them access to a powerful combo move.
- Saving the Orphanage: The protagonist sets out to defeat the ranked coaches of the Beastieball League to gain a better ranking and thus more influence, in hopes of stopping the league's plans to destroy the nature preserve of their home town.
- Scratch Damage: The effect of a low level Beastie trying to attack one of higher power, also the result of the "Free Ball" attack, which always only deals a singular point of damage.
- Shout-Out: After defeating Marlin's team, he'll ask you if you watch sports anime. Answering with "I don't believe in sports anime" will make him respond:Marlin: Well, you'd best start believing in sports anime... You're in one.
- Starter Mon: Axolati, Kichik and Bildit, as well as Sprecko all fall into this category, the first three being presented to the player as a choice, while the final is given to them during their first match regardless of their previous decision.
- Sports Story: Centered around the titular Beastieball, a volleyball-like game that Beasties apparently naturally enjoy playing.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Even a small level advantage allows you to fire balls dealing well over 500 stamina damage... while the maximum stamina never exceeds 100.
- Three-Stat System: Body, Spirit and Mind respectively, which individual species of Beasties may be more or less effective at.
- Thriving Ghost Town: Including the player character, Rutile Town is only shown to have 9 inhabitants.
