qomp2 is an arcade puzzle game developed by Graphite Lab and published by Atari. This sequel is the successor to qomp, which was originally released in 2021. I never played the first game, so qomp2 is my introduction to this Pong redesign.

In this game, you play as Pong, the ball, trying to break free between the two paddles. Although implied, there is no dialogue or straight story to follow. The game begins with Pong bouncing back and forth between two paddles, immediately entering the mechanical board. The controls are pretty easy — hold down ZR to charge Pong and drop it on the board. The A button changes the direction of the Pong, moving up or down. However, you have to hit the wall if you want to turn. Although the controls are quite easy, that doesn’t mean the game is simple.

Each level is like a maze with light puzzles to solve and other obstacles to bypass so you can get out and move on to the next stage. These can include rotating levers, spikes, breakable walls, wind tunnel, water and more. It took me a while to figure out the mechanics to overcome some of these obstacles. For example, when in water, Pong moves slowly and sinks. If you want the ball to move slightly faster and upwards, you have to make it “swim” by pressing the A button. qomp2 does a great job of personalizing a ball.

However, the puzzles aren’t necessarily the hard part. It’s the movement. Two buttons are easy to remember, but the game is all about using corners to manipulate where you want Pong to go. This means you may be stuck in a room for a while as you get the right angle to put the ball in a certain spot. It wasn’t always easy. geometry is not my strong suit. Honestly, if it weren’t for the accessibility options, I probably would have stopped the rage.

I turned off fish eye and screen shake because I found them too annoying when playing the game. Other accessibility options included hints (which I turned on, though I never noticed what the hints were) and raycast. I turned it on since it will show you where your ball is headed. This helped me understand the angles and decide where I wanted the ball to go.

Only when I got really stuck on a level did I go back through the options in a desperate attempt to see if anything else would help. I’m glad I did because there was another option: invincibility. By default, it was disabled. I don’t recall seeing this option before, so I wonder if the game did it on purpose to ensure you try to play the game first, which is clever. I activated invincibility. Certainly, nothing in the levels hurt me. I could get through the place I was stuck in, only having to worry about my angles and movement. I toggled the option on and off depending on when I was actually stuck. I admit there was one level in World Three where I had it all over the level. Otherwise I would have been there for many years.

Sounds like qomp2 is a long game. It is, and it isn’t. There are a total of 30 levels, but they are relatively short. A few times, I accidentally found a shortcut towards the end that allowed me to skip the entire level. There are no timers and checkpoints appear frequently in the levels. You’ll die a lot, but it’s not unforgivable. The game also auto-saves between levels. So you can easily pick up and play this title whenever you want. There is a collectible in each level, adding a bit of replayability if you don’t collect them all the first time.

After a few levels, you’ll face boss fights, which are cleverly done. For example, the first boss is a big paddle that you have to step on a few times to kill it. Bosses become more in-depth and unique the deeper you go into the game.

Overall, qomp2 is a simple game, but it will make you think. You should always be one step ahead to ensure the ball goes where you need it. It’s challenging but not unforgiving, allowing you to retry levels as many times as you can. Or, for a more relaxed experience, go through the entire game invincible.