Every so often, a game comes along that delivers an unthinkable — borderline ungodly — fusion of genres and ideas that makes absolutely no sense on paper, but is too fascinating to pass up once witnessed in action.

Such is the case with PinKeep, an indie title by developer Okomotive that combines a deckbuilder and a roguelike (okay, that’s not too crazy) and jumbles those ideas together within the confines of a pinball machine (I just did a spit-take all over my keyboard).

Reminiscent of Yoku’s Island Express, dropping a popular genre into the restrictions of a traditional game of pinball sets PinKeep apart. Within this medieval-themed title, the player is tasked with protecting a kingdom from intruders.

The primary method for doing so comes from flipping the ball in your enemies’ direction. From there, the deck-building aspect of the game kicks in, allowing you to strategically construct various aspects of your pinball machine to give yourself the best chance of a successful run, lest the cutthroat back-to-the-start conventions of a roguelike reset your game upon death.

PinKeep’s free demo is available for PC on the game’s Steam page. The full release is planned for later in 2026.

Here are some more details from the developer:

PinKeep is a pinball deckbuilding roguelite – use the ball and flippers to collect resources and defeat your enemies! Place buildings from your deck on the playfield to defend your Keep. Create powerful synergies to eradicate the hordes of attacking Knights!

Features

• Master the Flippers – Use your flippers to collect resources and damage the enemies that swarm your keep. Master your ball control to hit shield bearers from behind, deliver resources to traders or take full advantage of the structures you built. Flick the ball precisely where you want it to go with a Force Push.
• Draw and Build – Draw structures from your deck and place them on the playing field to improve your defenses and give yourself advantages – you’re going to need them! Place villages that provide passive income, warrior outposts that attack knights for you, additional flippers to handle your ball and much more!
• Expand and Upgrade – In between fights, spend your spare coin to acquire new cards to add to your deck for the run, or upgrade your stats (Melee, Ranged, Development, Population, Alchemy, Ball Damage) to improve your buildings’ effects.
• Choose your Path – Select your next challenge, head to a workshop for repairs, or trigger a story event. You might even learn something about how your motley band of Kneblins got into this mess to begin with… and what strange environment they’re now finding themselves in. If you proceed far enough, you can take it up with the big bad of the area and move on to the next region!
• Create Synergies and Production Chains – Cultivate powerful synergies in your deck over time: Whether you collect iron with your ball, deliver it to a blacksmith and upgrade other buildings’ melee capacities, build arrow makers to buff your gates and arrow towers or place resin storage and fire pits for explosive interactions, clever combinations will lead you to victory!