Hackshot

Hackshot (2024) is a puzzle game where you hack into devices to remove annoying adverts. You shoot balls modified with special properties that affect things like gravity, momentum, and bounciness, around a pinball-style stage to collect data and destroy viruses. It stands out for the surprising depth of these physics-altering mechanics and the mysterious story you piece together from the data you hack.

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After getting frustrated with pop-up ads, you install a pinball ad-blocker game to get rid of them. But as you use your pinball skills to deal with ads and viruses you discover data files and become entangled in a mysterious plot. You set about making your way to the top of the hacking world to piece together what's going on.

Play involves shooting balls around stages to collect data and defeat viruses by knocking them off the level. This starts by simply shooting the balls, you quickly begin unlocking modifications that change how your projectile behaves after it has been fired. For example, you can make them float instead of fall, make them heavier so they collide with more force, make them immune to spikes, and change the amount they bounce on impact. In this way, you perform trick shots to reach seemingly impossible areas and beat each level.

The result is a game that extends Angry-Birds-style play in more strategic directions. Careful use
of each ball modification enables you to approach challenges from multiple angles, rewarding ambition and creative experimentation. Being led by your own approaches rather than guided to the developer-intended pathways makes for a satisfying brain-tease, paired with an intriguing mystery to create an engaging game.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Hackshot 10 days ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 8 days ago.