Next up on the block is Nubby’s Number Factory, which had been getting some buzz among people I know and is a bit of a ‘meme game’ with its deliberate lo-fi and absurdist presentation.

It’s again a drop-balls-onto-pegs game but with the goal of hitting a target score this time, with pegs whose scores increase between rounds based on how far past the target you hit, and you can buy or earn items that have various effects on the game.

The challenge then is to try and get items and buffs that will increase your score faster than the target score increases. Your choices here really do matter, since some items work together better than others, so you can strategize, but there’s still a lot of randomness here since you may get offered options that just don’t work well. Where you aim the ball does matter since the first peg you pop often affects a bunch of active buffs or items, but it’s difficult to predict how it will bounce and can often just go straight down the board.

That randomness is ultimately why I think I’m kind of lukewarm on this game. I did eventually ‘break the game’ (quite literally, as shown below) by gathering a good set of items and perks, which were deliberately chosen, but it took a lot of failed runs that really had no chance, as well.

And, having hit that high mark, I think I’m done with the game. There are various different ‘boss’ modes and challenges that apply variant rules and restrictions, but eh, I’m good. At its cheap price, it was still a decent way to waste an evening.