This game is great and tickles a bunch of childhood itches, all while making it your own and coming down with smooth graphics, gameplay and turning it into a fun roguelike.
That said, I'm terrible at the game, and while it's fun to play regardless, my skill issues have unearthed a rather frustrating part of the game loop: the game goes swimmingly while the centre protective bumper is active, usually lasting till act 4, though I've made act 6 with good resets. But as soon as they run out, I lose one ball after the next, throwing 10 balls away within a single act and losing.
This feels incredibly frustrating and lopsided. Extra balls don't even matter at my skill level, and getting multiball is a debuff since its chaotic nature kills the bumper faster relative to the progress you're making. I really only have 1 life and it's the protective bumper.
So for the sake of us worse players, I'd advocate for making the protective bumper have significantly fewer HP but resetting every time you get a new ball.
This more gradual loss would really help give (at least me) a better measure of where we are, make the game less dependant on a bumper reset, and also give a more rewarding feedback for keeping a ball going for longer. Plus of course no more losing 5 balls within 20 seconds.
Thank you for hearing me out, and of course for letting us play such an awesome demo. Good luck with your Steam release!