Ballex²: The Hanging Gardens

Ballex²: The Hanging Gardens, developed and published by Mushreb Games, is a precision-based puzzle platformer that challenges players with gravity-defying traversal, physics-driven puzzles, and a serene yet perilous atmosphere. At first glance, it appears deceptively simple—roll a ball from point A to point B across floating platforms—but it quickly reveals itself to be a nuanced and demanding game that requires not just skill, but thoughtful planning and an understanding of each ball’s unique physics. The game is a sequel to the original Ballex, and it builds upon that foundation with more complex mechanics, enhanced visuals, and a deeper focus on environmental puzzle design. The core gameplay revolves around navigating a variety of intricate levels set in a surreal, suspended world known as the Hanging Gardens. You control a ball from a third-person perspective and must roll, glide, stick, and maneuver your way through obstacle-laden stages. What sets this game apart is the variety of ball types, each with its own material properties. The sponge ball bounces and compresses, the sticky ball can cling to surfaces, the stone ball is heavy and stable, and the balloon ball floats with an unpredictable lightness. Learning how each ball behaves on different surfaces and in varying environmental conditions is essential—not just to complete levels, but to do so efficiently and stylishly. These differences aren’t just cosmetic; they fundamentally change the way each level plays. Level design is clearly a centerpiece of the experience, with the game offering twenty main levels and twenty additional side levels that test the player’s mastery of the mechanics. The main stages escalate in complexity, introducing narrow walkways, swinging obstacles, moving platforms, wind currents, and timed switches. Meanwhile, the side levels often act as advanced challenges, pushing your understanding of ball physics and your control precision to the limit. Unlike many puzzle games, there's no jump button—your movement is dictated entirely by momentum, slope, gravity, and friction. This forces you to think ahead and react quickly, especially in later stages where timing becomes just as important as spatial awareness. Visually, Ballex² is minimalist but artistically striking. The game opts for clean lines, soft color palettes, and open-air environments that emphasize verticality and space. Floating gardens, seasonal backdrops, and distant ruins all serve to make the levels feel serene despite their difficulty. This aesthetic choice does more than look pretty—it also keeps the visual clutter to a minimum, ensuring that you’re focused on traversal and mechanics rather than overwhelming detail. That said, some players may occasionally struggle with depth perception in certain camera angles, which can lead to missteps, especially in the more vertical or multi-layered levels. The game offers two main control schemes, catering to different player preferences. The classic control mode uses directional keys with fixed camera angles, ideal for more methodical players who want to approach each puzzle like a chessboard. The free control mode gives you full WASD and mouse control with smoother camera movement, which is more intuitive but can sometimes be harder to manage in tight spaces. The choice between the two becomes more important in later levels where precision is critical. The lack of a jump button might feel restrictive at first, but it's a deliberate design decision that forces players to engage with the terrain itself and think about angles, momentum, and ball behavior rather than just brute-forcing a solution. One of the strongest features in Ballex² is the level editor and Steam Workshop integration. This opens the door for community creativity, allowing players to design and share their own stages using the game’s built-in assets. For a physics-driven puzzle game, this is a natural fit—the player base can keep the experience fresh long after completing the base game. Some community-made levels rival or even surpass the difficulty and creativity of the official ones, and for players who thrive on experimentation and mastery, this adds significant replay value. The developer has also done well to support the editor with regular updates and improvements, showing a level of commitment that adds credibility to the game's longevity. Despite its many strengths, Ballex² is not without flaws. The game’s difficulty curve can be steep, especially for players not already comfortable with precision platformers. While it’s rewarding to finally nail a challenging section, the trial-and-error nature of the gameplay can be frustrating when combined with punishing physics and limited margin for error. There are also occasional issues with visual clarity—some objects blend too much into the environment, and camera positioning can sometimes obscure crucial angles or platforms. Additionally, performance may dip on lower-end systems in particularly lush stages with many moving parts or dynamic lighting effects, although for most players this is unlikely to be a major barrier. Ultimately, Ballex²: The Hanging Gardens is a game built on precision, atmosphere, and challenge. It rewards careful control and mechanical understanding, offering a level of depth that goes well beyond its minimalistic surface. For players who enjoy methodical puzzle-solving, tight physics mechanics, and games that require focus and mastery, it’s an incredibly satisfying experience. While not for those seeking a casual or forgiving playthrough, it stands out as a polished and ambitious indie title with a clear identity and a well-executed vision. It’s a meditative, sometimes maddening journey across floating worlds that demands—and earns—your full attention. Rating: 9/10

这是我第一次写评价。 我非常喜欢这个游戏，可以说甚至有些超出了我的预期，几乎要达到了快流泪的程度。当我看到在关卡里出现原版 Ballance 游戏开屏画面也复刻出的关卡的时候，我真的很激动。说实话，我其实并不算滚球类游戏玩得好的那种人，我不会长距离的单轨和石球单轨，我不会反复刷新自己的最高分，也不会刻意去追求速通水平，因为我菜，失误很多。但是，我也不是那种菜到完全打不动的水平，我之前也是起码能做到一命连续打 Ballance 的 1-13 关的人，我个人觉得我应该有资格可以评价关卡上的设计，好的设计就是好。确实值得夸赞。 游戏设计机制巧妙，确实比起一代 Ballex 有非常多的设计上的改进，有些关卡确实略微难了一些，但我认为玩法机制基于 Ballex 一代的保留，确实足够让我反复重试挑战他们。 唯一的不足是确实有些卡，这个我相信应该我的电脑配置不够可能是导致卡顿的其中一个问题，不过确实觉得优化上还有改进的空间。有些关卡我即使不开录制软件也跑不到 60 帧。不过问题不大，也不是随时都是如此。 感谢这款游戏。我看到了原版游戏 Ballance 的影子，也让我感受到了独立于原版的、新颖和不错的设计。

Magnificent game. The many, lengthy levels are very intelligently crafted, varied and atmospheric, both in terms of scenery as well as music, which I think is unique for every level. The controls even though unusual, in the sense that movement is possible in 45 degrees steps, work really well after some practice. After all, that is the concept of the game. If using the arrow keys of the keyboard is uncomfortable, a good idea is to map them to a gamepad's D-pad. In sort, Ballex 2 is a meticulously well designed , challenging action / puzzle game, with great aesthetic sense.

我其实想打一个中评，但是steam没有中评，打差评又有点过了，只能以好评的形式来写 就是它很明显有Ballance的影子也确实被社区评价为Ballance的精神续作，但是机制搞得太复杂了，好多种球，好多种机关，还有什么钥匙开门什么的，东西太多太杂了 Ballance为什么取得了巨大的成功，就是极简的设计极致的体验，就三种球然后那些机关组合出了简约但不简单的关卡设计，可能有人喜欢这种拓展开来的复杂机制，但是不太对我的胃口，我就打个比方说飞行棋你们肯定都爱玩，是绝对的好评如潮，那加一堆机制进去搞一个“技能飞行棋”出来，我觉得口碑会褒贬不一的，因为不是所有人都喜欢这种 画面音效没得说，视听盛宴，但是真的就是对我来说机制搞得太杂了劝退我

好玩。 突然想起小时候玩的平衡球，但是那个游戏很老了，想找一找有没有新的平衡球游戏，B站搜了一下看到了这款游戏的视频，玩了一会儿发现就是我想找的游戏，保留平衡球核心玩法，又有更好的画面，游戏的界面和配乐也很好，我最喜欢的是内置排行榜的设计，能够直接在游戏内看看高手的路线（但是感觉好像人数不是太多）。 我不是竞速游戏老玩家，不能以专业的角度发表看法，但如果你只是想回味一下童年，寻找一个画面更精良的类平衡球游戏，那就是它了。

Прекрасная ))) Просто отличная игра )))

Müthiş, müthiş, müthiş.

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非常好的游戏，创意无限！！！！强烈推荐！！！！二代比一代简单了不少，手残的也别怕！！！！