Ludography
71/100
Metacritic7 critic reviews
More scores
Metacritic usersuser score
65/100
Player reviews
60% positive23 reviews
Steam Deck
Playable
Runs on
Windows
Price
US$19.99

Where to get it

OddBallers cover

2023 · Game Swing · Adventure · Dodgeball

OddBallers

Fast and frantic multiplayer dodgeball that will put both skills and friendships to the test with hilarious surprises and brutally unfair tactics.

Released
26 January 2023
Platforms
Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4WindowsXbox OneXbox Series X/S
Genres
AdventureDodgeballIndiePartySimulationSports
Developers
Game SwingUbisoft Mumbai
Publishers
—
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Bird view / Isometric
Themes
ActionParty
Age ratings
PEGI 7CLASS_IND 10GRAC 12+ACB PGESRB E10+USK 6CERO A
Languages
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil) and 5 more
Time to beat
8hmain story9hcompletionist

About

OddBallers is a dodgeball-themed party game developed by Game Swing and Ubisoft Mumbai and published by Ubisoft. It released on January 23, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows platforms.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Oddballers is a multiplayer party video game themed around the game of dodgeball. The game is played from the top-down perspective and loosely follows the premise of dodgeball, where two teams throw balls at each other, with the goal being to hit opposing players with the ball, or in defense, catch the ball being thrown at them. However, many new elements are added into the formula due to environmental effects and mini-games objectives that occur concurrently. Thirty different arenas across three main themes - farm, city, and island - affect the gameplay.

For example, in the farm themed levels, players may have added objectives of avoiding being run over by a tractor or shearing any sheep they encounter. Another minigame involves beekeeping and obtaining and transporting honey while playing dodgeball. Progressing through matches allows the player to unlock character customization options such a appearances changes and celebration emotes through a free battle pass setup. Both local and online multiplayer is available, with four or six player multiplayer being possible depending on game mode and game platform.

Development

The game was originally self-developed by Game Swing and was released onto early access for Windows on Steam in 2020. Ubisoft would later purchase the rights for the game, and the full version was announced in a September 2022 Nintendo Direct presentation. Its development was a collaboration between developer Game Swing and Ubisoft Mumbai, with additional work by Ubisoft Pune. The game was released on January 22, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows through Ubisoft Connect.

Reception

The game has received mixed reception from critics. IGN, Eurogamer, and Nintendo Life all saw it as a fun but flawed game. Aspects praised include the core gameplay mechanics, amount of unlockables and customization for characters, and simple controls. The minigame that interwove beekeeping into the dodgeball formula was cited as a standout minigame. A major complaint was the game's online multiplayer, in that it was very difficult to find others to play with, and the inability to play online lessened the importance of the character customization, which was a major point of the game's progression.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Windows26 January 2023Worldwide
Xbox Series X/S26 January 2023Worldwide
Nintendo Switch26 January 2023Worldwide
Xbox One26 January 2023Worldwide
PlayStation 426 January 2023Worldwide

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Collections1 collection

Years

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.