Pachinko Roguelike 'Splat Pachinko' Set for Steam Release This Year
The game's solo developer, Fabio Taurisano, handles design, programming, art, animation, and music alone, a fact that shapes both its chaotic pitch and its production scale.
Key Facts
- 'Splat Pachinko' is scheduled for release on PC via Steam in the latter half of 2026.
- The game features over 100 types of eyeballs and over 70 types of mutations.
- Players control 7 unique characters, each with a different playstyle.
- The demo version was released on Steam in March 2026 and received an update on August 18, 2026.
- The game is developed entirely by Fabio Taurisano, who handles design, programming, pixel art, animation, and music.
Reporting from 2 sources: Automaton, Game Spark.
Publisher Stratos Gaming announced on August 18 that the pachinko-style roguelike 'Splat Pachinko' will launch on PC via Steam in the latter half of this year. The game, developed by Fabio Taurisano, casts players as a giant-eyed alien chasing a kidnapped lover across space, firing eyeballs instead of balls from left to right across a board studded with pins. Each pin hit adds points, and when the eyeball lands on an enemy planet, the total becomes attack power; destroying the planet clears the stage. Enemies can attack directly or place special pins that help or harm the player. Clearing stages offers a random selection of eyeballs with special effects, such as splitting or growing with each bounce. Elite and boss enemies grant mutations, passive skills that add damage, destroy enemy pins, or provide shields. The game includes over 100 eyeball types and over 70 mutations, with shops and events between stages. Seven unique characters each have distinct playstyles, and reuniting each with a lost lover unlocks powerful mutations. The demo, available since March, received an update tied to Steam's Pin & Peg Fest sale, which runs until August 21. The full release is scheduled for late 2026, with Japanese display supported.
- Stratos Gaming is based in Italy, and the game is credited to Stupidi Pixel, the studio behind the project.
- The studio's stated motto is, "Without ridiculous ideas, no fun games are born," which the developer cites as the origin of the giant-eyeball premise.
- The Steam store page frames the story with lines like, "Found something rarer than a supernova-love," and describes a quest that may involve destroying half the galaxy.
- Enemy-placed pins can either help the player or cause damage, and a full HP depletion restarts the run from the beginning.
- Eyeball effects include splitting with a set probability, growing with each pin bounce, and high base attack power that fades after a limited number of bounces.
- Mutations unlocked from elite and boss fights can add damage after a bounce count, destroy nearby pins when striking an enemy pin, or grant a shield when the enemy resets the board.
- The demo has supported Japanese display since its March release, and the updated version is available during the Steam Pin & Peg Fest, which ends at 2:00 AM on August 21.
- Repeated play unlocks new eyeballs, mutations, and alien characters, and the store page highlights procedurally changing boards, planets, bosses, and "close encounters of the third kind."
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.