What Antonball Deluxe is
Antonball Deluxe is a retro arcade package from Summitsphere built around brick-breaking with platforming thrown in. You play as Anton, a little red man and Boiler City's top exterminator, who after a long night at Brulo's Casino ends up in the sewers and decides the fastest way home is to smash straight through every wall in the way. That's the main game: 30 stages of brick-smashing as you climb from the sewers up into the city. The ball does the breaking while you handle the jumps, so it plays like a tight platformer that happens to have breakout mechanics stapled to it.
The package also contains PUNCHBALL, where Anton's building-mate Annie enters the Punchball Tourney at Brulo's Casino for a lifetime supply of Ballble Tea. Here you slam enemies with the Punchball and kick them off the stage instead of clearing walls. Between the two of them there are 69 levels, and 21 characters unlock as you go.
Playing it with friends
VS. ANTONBALL is the competitive mode: each team has its own brick wall and the goal is to break the other team's wall first. You can play 1v1, 2v2, or 2v1. Power-ups show up during matches and behave differently depending on the arena, and you can pick some of them up and throw them, which adds a bit of chaos to an already messy fight.
The game supports online co-op and online PvP, plus Remote Play Together for playing over a connection. Local multiplayer works with a gamepad required for that setup. Online leaderboards exist for Antonball and Punchball if you want something to chase after the group sessions end.
Before you start
Antonball Deluxe bundles three separate games, so pick the one that fits the mood: Antonball for the single-player brick-breaking run, Punchball for Annie's arena brawling, or VS. Antonball when the group wants to fight each other. The whole thing is pixel art with a fully original retro soundtrack, and it's tagged family friendly, so it's an easy pick for a mixed group. Expect fast rounds and short stages rather than long drawn-out sessions, and expect the competitive mode to get scrappy once power-ups and throwable items enter the picture.