Peglin

Fun, but runs are just too short. You get to feel powerful for only a few levels before it ends.

A different kind of deckbuilder
If you’re an avid gamer, you are most likely familiar with Slay the Spire, which popularized deckbuilding with roguelike elements. Peglin does to Peggle (a PopCap Games classic) what Slay the Spire did to Dominion (the card game). Peglin just reached 1.0 recently after a bit more than two years on Early Access, and now it’s a great time to join the fun you are a fan of games with randomized elements and high replayability.
Strike your luck and take your chances
I need to emphasize that this is a game that heavily relies on luck. Sure, there’s some strategy involved, but most of the time you’re at mercy of the RNG gods. If that doesn’t bother you, or you even like games like this (like I do), you’ll certainly enjoy Peglin. This is a game that is easy to discover if you will like it or not under two hours, so feel free to refund it if it ends up not being your cup of tea.
Gameplay loop
In total there are three different areas; each one with several levels. The main gameplay loop consists in basically throwing orbs and watching them collide with pegs while numbers increase and then the sum of those numbers are converted to the damage done to the monsters. It starts simple and straightforward, and as you progress you add different orbs that are wildly different - some can damage all enemies at once, while others are super bouncy, and there’s also orbs that heal you, increase your maximum health, etc. In each area there are levels with secrets, random events, shops and a final boss at the end. It feels like a different kind of dungeon crawler. Each successful run takes about one hour to complete when you are familiar with the game.
Variety and replayability
In total there are different areas (each one with their own theme, exclusive enemies and music) so far. Each area has a set of premade pegboards (the level layout) that rotates randomly on each playthrough. After some time you will start recognizing patterns, so when it comes to level layout, there’s little variety. In total there are only four classes, so not much variety there either. On the other hand, there are tons of different orbs (think of cards in Slay the Spire) and relics (trinkets), so discovering crazy combos that can even break the game is the driving factor of replaying Peglin. There are also New Game Plus modes too, called Cruciballs, that makes the game progressingly harder on each playthrough. What is super nice is that it’s also possible to create your own set of rules on Custom Mode.
Conclusion
Peglin is a great addition to the deckbuilding genre that certainly deserves your attention if you’re into games like Slay the Spire and/or games with heavy random elements. There’s also something super satisfying in how the game plays, which makes it super addictive.
The game is super fun, although it might need more levels and areas variety to spice things up for it to reach the category of indie classic. The developers have said that there are more updates to come, so that’s great news. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy your time with Peglin as much as I do.

Fun game but a bad rougelike. Has plenty of fun orb combos and interactions with items. I highly recommend to people who are fans of Peg games. 7/10

My beef with the game:
The start of each run is by far the most boring, makes a disheartened me not want to continue. The uncertainty of navigation is a funny gimmick but is heavily outweighed with annoyance, a punishment is fine but that punishment of throwing my run isn't (especially with some of the boards). Certain encounters are just over if you get a bad refresh spawn. Slime boss is in the game just to make you rethink your choice of opening it (idc if there's a method I'm not aware of, that fight is antithetical to the entire concept of peg games).

These issues might only be apparent on higher difficulties but if a rougelike doesn't feel fair/fun on higher difficulties (than what's the point) that's a big drawback for me.

This game is either "oh hell yea I'm doing absolutely great I can never die the build is so online right now" or "I have zero agency whatsoever and my only option is to just die start a new run I guess" and there's no in between. The lows are low but the highs are sooooooo high

A mix-and-match between Peggle and Slay the Spire,, but it plays really well for what it is. There is some variety involved with each of the four characters, plus the combinations of orbs that can be utilized throughout the run, Cruciball (Ascension) mechanics, and relics that can help (or sometimes hinder) the run.
It's a good game for sure, but some achievements depend a little more on luck and may not be reliable to find every single run. I've yet to delve deeper into Cruciball and much of the base levels are easy to deal with, so I'll need more time on this before providing an updated review.

Yes I recommend but...
I bought Peglin in Early Access about 2 years ago and LOVED it. I put 40 hours in then stopped playing before any big updates. I picked it back up months ago and wow a LOT of new orbs, bosses, enemies, characters and Cruciball (Challenge) levels were added. So much variability makes each run vastly different- great replay value! Unfortunately the more I played the more frustrating it became. Game play itself has become much more balanced, but the amount of RNG involved in completing achievements is stupid high.
70 additional hours and I'm s t r u g g l i n g for certain achievements. (Double egg I'm looking at you o.o)
Do I love the game concept? 10/10 yes.
It is nice to look at? Easy on the eyes for sure.
Does RNG make each play through unique? Absolutely.
Have I encountered any glitches? None.
Would I buy this game at full price. Yes I would!
Would I recommend this game to achievement hunters specifically? Not a chance.

Unlike classic roguelikes, Peglin is punishing player for progressing.
At first the debuffs you get are mild, but later on it gets so bad, losing doesn't come as learning experience, instead it leaves you filled with frustration.
To clarify for those who haven't bought this game yet, the only means of progression is for you to increase the Crucible level, basically difficulty.
Unlocking 3 additional classes is a thing you can do, and all of them have their own benefit during the run, but at the end, you're unlocking higher difficulties.
Each class has to unlock it's own Crucible level, so if you're playing the default class, the other ones won't progress at the same time.
At higher levels you will lose more than 20 runs, sometimes even 40 in a row, (runs that can last up to 30 minutes) because RNG didn't bless you with specific items that stay relevant in your traversal.
A lot of orbs become irrelevant, but if you do want to make them efficient, good luck getting them AND relics through RNG. Not only that, constant need in healing and upgrading the starter orbs to have some chance of survival will leave you with a small amount of gold.
Not only that, game gives you more junk into your bag, more default pebballs and 2 literal trash orbs to interrupt your deck queue.
If you do want to give yourself more chances of winning, exploit the save reload. It will start the latest battle or event from beginning, so if you were about to die, there's your chance.
I started doing this after Crucible 16, because losing 20+ runs was too much.
Close on reaching Crucible 20 with Spinventor, so far I have a grudge against this system and I just want to see what an ultimate form of sadism looks like.
Do I like this game? Yes, it's about numbers going up, but do I recommend it? Not for everyone, however, you can still play on previous difficulties, no one is stopping you.