No more crying on the field after a tackle?! It’s an Alpacalypse!
Ladies and gentlemen, Alpaca lovers, fans of wacky physics-based party games and soccer/football alike, today, I bring you… Alpaca Ball: Allstars. Firstly, let’s look at this title! I bet most of you (like myself) will wonder how the developers came up with the title and overall concept. Origin stories for things like this are always a fun read after all! Alpaca Ball: Allstars first came to be in October 2020, with Salt Castle Studio, Leoful, and Badland Publishing being responsible for this (not that it’s a bad thing mind you!). The game promises you, yes you, a chance to fight your way to the top and win the cup, in a kind of Rocket League style. Because really, it doesn’t matter if you use absurd or chaotic means to do so. So stick that fluffy neck of yours out, and assert dominance against your enemies on the field.
As part and parcel with your typical party games, the title offers a solo (career) campaign or a co-op (versus) mode of up to 8 players for you and your friends. In addition, there’s a little interesting story to be had here with the solo campaign. In other words, you are a small-timer Alpaca, looking to enter into the big soccer/football league. With the support of your family, friends, and your fluffy neck, you charge your way across various matches to try and grab the soccer/football cup!
Can’t use your feet? No prob-llama! Use your head!
At last, it is time to explore the gameplay! The premise of the game will always remain the same as your typical soccer/football game. Which is, of course, to score more goals than your opponent(s). There’s the option to duke it out 1 v 1 all the way to 4 v 4 play. You’d be please to know the game does in fact offer a remote play function. This way, it’ll allow friends who do not own the game to join in on the fun. The control scheme is pretty simple too, and each button serves a function for you to ram and smash your way into opponents, and nab that ball off them! The movement however does seem a little clumsy and messy, but one shouldn’t expect too much cohesiveness from a game operating with ragdoll mechanics. The chaos after all is part of the fun!
Time to talk about the graphics and boy is it adorable. Hmm… to describe the Alpacas bashing into things, it’s kind of like watching a jiggly pudding. Or watching something really fluffy bounce off things. It’s very satisfying to watch. There’s a great variety of designs in the 10 arenas, and a vibrant-looking map and UI interface to match with it. The characters also have a range of designs too, however, I would have liked to have seen more wacky and wild designs. In saying that though… I enjoyed what I was seeing, from the colorful, cutesy cartoon look the game has to offer, to the ragdoll mechanics that provided some hilarious distorted images during gameplay.
An Alpaca a day keeps the ball in play.
Now, about that soundtrack, I’ve been listening to. For starters, I wholeheartedly enjoyed the music that came from the start-up menu. I felt that the music was appropriate and it definitely put me in that competitive soccer/football mood. The developers did an excellent job at preserving the South-American theme of the game. They were also able to keep the music very light, festive, and carnival-like.
All in all, I had a blast playing Alpaca Ball: Allstars, and I think others will too. It gave me a similar kind of fun vibe to playing titles such as Untitled Goose Game, Gang Beasts, Party Animals, Fall Guys, and Among Us. While I felt there could have been some more content and updates, it makes up for it by being what it is. That is, a fun, charming, and wild arcade party game! Is it worth the price tag? …I think once some more content and updates are added in there, yes.
You can purchase Alpaca Ball: Allstars on the Nintendo Switch.
You can also purchase it for the PC (Steam) Playstation, Xbox and more.
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