Portal
Portal™ is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories, Portal has been called one of the most innovative new games on the horizon and will offer gamers hours of unique gameplay.
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The Ball on Steam
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As a swashbuckling archaeologist, unlock the mystery of the ancient ruins that have been hidden for centuries and discover a mysterious artifact, a gold and metal shelled Ball.
The Ball is a 3d platformer, puzzle-platformer and first-person game
developed by Teotl Studios
and published by Tripwire Interactive.
Released on October 26th 2010 is available on Windows, Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
It has received 1,114 reviews of which 827 were positive and 287 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.1 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 9.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 0.77€ on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified The Ball into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows XP SP2, Vista, or Windows 7
- Processor: 2.0+ GHz or better (dual core recommended)
- Memory: 1 GB (2 GB recommended)
- Graphics: SM3 Compatible video card (GF6800 minimum - GF8800 or higher recommended)
- DirectX®: DirectX® 9
- Hard Drive: 1.5 GB
- Sound: DirectX® 9-compatible
Steam Price & Best Deals
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
An older first person puzzle game that looked decent for its age. The HDR setting was straight up easy to set up. I had it maxxed and never even saw a pixel out of place. I used the 3D reshade mod and my Meta headset. It was amazing. So far i am having a lot of fun figuring out what you can do with the gravity gun style weapon and this ball. Run little monkeys. Run
I'm gonna be honest right off the bat: I bought this game purely for the Portal DLC that was added during the "Potato Sack" ARG thing prior to Portal 2's release. I have played a bit of the campaign as I thought the aforementioned DLC would appear in the "Campaign" chapters after game completion... And I feel it's a good thing I didn't see the addon right off the bat because the portion of the campaign taught me the varying mechanics of The Ball instead of just throwing myself into the deep end. I like the lighting and the overall aesthetics of the game: the "ancient ruins" vibe is really great! Though my one complaint is that it's easy to miss parts of a chamber; there was one puzzle in Chapter 2 that I couldn't complete for like 15 minutes because I missed the corridor on the left of the chamber, even though it was lit well enough... The puzzle itself was pretty simple. This is not the only example, so maybe I wished some areas was more obvious on where to go. I like the re-occuring motif in the agme's soundtrack - really pleasing on the ears. I got mid-way through Chapter 2 where I randomly checked "Survival" and found the Portal DLC hiding there. The DLC is well made, and I like the puzzles in them: real brain teasers! And GLaDOS's dialogue made me chuckle. It was funky hear the default movement sounds from Source in a UE3 game. But this in itself I feel was worth the price of admission, how much that was whenever I bought this game years back (just now got around in playing it). So overall: fun game, good puzzles, and the main campaign's ones are pretty good from what I've seen! And because of the age of the game, barely is an inconvenience on the Steam Deck's APU! I'll probably play more of this game whenever I'm away. For £7 it's a no-brainer. even more so if it's on sale!
This was a pleasant little surprise. It's as if classic PC game Heretic and classic arcade game Marble Madness had a child. Mostly puzzles, but with a bit of combat thrown in as well. I'm definitely going to check out the other games by this studio (Unmechanical, The Solus Project). This game is proof that dozens of abilities aren't required to make a good game, as well as a callback to the days when level design was king. The keybind screen is only one page long, without even any scrolling, and that's enough. -- THE GOOD -- - Uncomplicated mechanics - Clever, interesting level design - Sound effects - Good, logical problems with rules that are consistent (for the most part) -- THE BAD -- - POV is oddly close to the ground, making it seem as though the crouch command is constantly being pressed - Not sure if this is to do with widescreen, but the display has a somewhat fisheye effect at times - A couple instances where I had to resort to a walkthrough because I didn't know the mechanics of this game supported certain actions. For example, the fact that the hammer device does nothing to pots or crates lying around the map heavily implies that it works only on the Ball or the blocks with glowing runes, but using it on a different type of target is required as the game proceeds. -- THE UGLY -- - No manual saves - autosave/checkpoint only - There's a lot of 'learn by dying' in the later levels
I took a gamble on The Ball, as I do not have the reflexes or hand-eye coordination for most fast paced shooting/dodging games. But there was something about its appearance and story which intrigued me, and because some reviews described it as not hard (for them a criticism, for me a ray of hope), I decided to take a chance. And, of course, I struggled, but with overall enjoyment and satisfaction as I slowly overcame the mixture of puzzles, combat and exploration in the Campaign part of the game. The Ball is an old game (2010), but there are some very helpful guides to updating its range of screen resolutions and refresh rates, which greatly improve the experience. There are a range of different achievements for game progress, destroying enemies, collecting story lore, and performing quirky actions (such as balancing & moving on the ball). Of course, in the end my gameplay weaknesses were ruthlessly exposed by even the most gentle of the Survival levels and I gave up on these without regret. But, given I paid an 80% discounted price of UK £1.39 and had over 30 hours of play time, I have no concerns about value - and entertainment - for money.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Ball is currently priced at 9.99€ on Steam.
No, The Ball is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 9.99€ on Steam.
Yes, The Ball received 827 positive votes out of a total of 1,114 achieving a rating of 7.13.
😊
The Ball was developed by Teotl Studios and published by Tripwire Interactive.
Yes, The Ball is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, The Ball is not playable on MacOS.
No, The Ball is not playable on Linux.
Yes, The Ball is playable on Steam Deck, though it might require a few minor tweaks. Make sure to check the Steam store page and community feedback on ProtonDB for exact compatibility details.
Yes, The Ball is playable on Steam Machine, though it might require a few minor tweaks. Make sure to check the Steam store page and community feedback on ProtonDB for exact compatibility details.
No, The Ball does not support VR.
The Ball is a single-player game.
No, The Ball does not currently offer any DLC.
No, The Ball does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
No, The Ball does not support Steam Remote Play.
Yes, The Ball is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Ball.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 19 September 2026 22:32 UTC |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 13 October 2026 23:15 UTC |
| Steam price | 26 October 2026 20:04 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 21 October 2026 18:10 UTC |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Ball, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Ball
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Ball concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Ball compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
2
Developer
Teotl Studios
Publisher
Tripwire Interactive
Release
26 Oct 2010
Platforms
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