Ball Roster

The player begins with an old ball. The ball shop carries 5 ball items and Pluck (cursor gear).

Economy

Each hit banks 1 soul immediately and increments the burst counter. On consolidation, the burst counter releases as a burst, scaled by the ball's release multiplier. The burst counter resets on miss; already-banked soul from hits is safe.

Balls are not unique. Duplicates work identically to the first copy. All duplicates cost 2× per copy. First rotation is a mix of standard balls like tennis, baseball, golf.

Ball	Base cost
Old ball	Free
Tennis ball	10
Goop	80
Comeback	100
Cadence	100
Cheater	120
Pluck	60

Pluck is unique, one purchase.

Ball upgrade model

Each ball levels up by accumulating consolidations across all rallies. A consolidation is one tier completion.

Parameter	Default	Description
hits_to_consolidation	10	Paddle hits to fill a tier band (global)
consolidations_to_l2	5	Consolidations before L2 unlocks (per ball)
consolidations_to_l3	10	Cumulative total needed for L3 (per ball)
consolidation_release_multiplier	1.0	Soul release = accumulated × multiplier (per ball)

hits_to_consolidation is one global number. consolidations_to_l2 and consolidations_to_l3 are per-ball tunable; stronger balls gate behind higher counts. consolidation_release_multiplier tunes the release reward independently. Five consolidations per level is the starter default. Each ball tracks accumulated_soul as a runtime counter, reset on consolidation release or miss.

Stock refresh

Button on the ball shop. Re-rolls which balls are available in the shop. Introduced after the shop is cleared. First refresh is free; subsequent refreshes scale with the base cost of the balls currently in rotation.

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Old ball

Role: ball Default starter. No effects.

Standard ball (tennis, baseball, golf etc)

Role: ball

Soul burst amount is random per ball.

• L1: baseline rally. Hit, miss, consolidate.
• L2: bonus soul on consolidation.
• L3: bigger consolidation soul burst.

Most balls grant some consolidation soul.

Goop

Role: ball Zach found it under the floorboards.

• L1: at consolidation splits in two. Collide to merge for a soul burst.
• L2: each consolidation splits one more.
• L3: only the original merges; the rest fold into it.

Not merging before consolidation is a missed bonus, no penalty.

Comeback

Role: ball Worn felt ball from an old toybox.

• L1: balls curve toward where you reach.
• L2: once per consolidation, a ball that would miss semicircles around you. One save per consolidation. More balls on court means more chances to miss; the save is a safety net, not a guarantee.
• L3: save shared with partner; can be spent on their miss or yours. You don't choose which. Two players, one save; more court pressure thins it further.

Cheater

Role: ball Shifting weights inside, doesn't fly true.

L	Trigger	Frequency	Reward
L1	Wobble, random interval. Small lateral nudge off straight line	Most hits	Small bonus per hit
L2	Lurch, every 3-5 hits. Lateral physics push	~1 in 4 hits	Medium bonus per hit
L3	Mad dash, every 15s	3s burst	Large soul burst

Cadence

Role: ball

L	Trigger	Frequency	Reward
L1	Steady speed rhythm, rises and falls	~half of hits	Base bonus per hit
L2	Rhythm is erratic	Most hits	Increased bonus per hit
L3	Surge, every 15s	5s activation	Large soul burst on hits during surge

Sister to Cheater. Both teach reading an unpredictable ball: Cheater through spatial deception, Cadence through tempo deception.

Pluck

Role: cursor gear Zach's glove, worn by the cursor.

graph TD
    capacity["Capacity: pick, release all; 1 ball, upgrades to 5"]
    capacity --> throw["Throw (speed by flick, upgrades to faster)"]
    capacity --> choose["Choose (pick which to release)"]
    throw --> juggle["Juggle"]
    choose --> juggle

Loading

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Mechanic coverage

Item	Mechanic
Tennis ball	Rally loop (hit, miss, consolidate)
Goop	Multi-ball management, merging
Comeback	Positioning shapes ball path
Cheater	Reading the ball in flight, unpredictability
Cadence	Reading tempo, rhythm disruption
Pluck	Manual ball handling

Removed

Helmet, Friendship bracelet; old starter equipment. Move to future shop. Magnetism repurposed into Comeback. Cadence repurposed from equipment into ball.