How to Play Brick Breaker
Move the paddle along the bottom of the field and bounce the ball up into the wall of bricks. Normal bricks break in one hit, strong ones take two or three, metal never breaks and explosive bricks clear the eight cells around them. Break every breakable brick to clear the wall. Let the ball past the paddle and you lose it; lose your three lives and the game ends.
The rules, step by step
- 1Serve the ballEach wall starts with the ball on the paddle. Press Space, click the field or tap it to launch; the ball leaves at the angle its place on the paddle sets.
- 2Keep it off the floorMove the paddle under the ball with the mouse, a finger or the arrow keys. A ball that drops past the paddle is gone, and losing the last one in play costs a life.
- 3Aim with the paddleThe ball leaves straight up from the centre of the paddle and at up to 60 degrees either side from its ends, whatever direction it arrived from.
- 4Break every brick that can breakNormal bricks take one hit, strong bricks two and tough bricks three; an explosive brick clears the eight around it. Metal never breaks and never has to.
- 5Catch the capsulesSome bricks drop a capsule when they break. Catch it on the paddle for a wider paddle, extra balls, a slower ball, a sticky paddle, a laser or an extra life.
- 6Clear all twelve wallsA cleared wall pays 1,000 points times its number and the next one is a little faster. Clear the twelfth to win; run out of lives and the game is over.
Try it — the rules above, running
New game starts at level 1 of 12 with three lives. The paddle follows the mouse, a dragging finger, or the arrow keys (A and D work too), and Space, a click or a tap launches the ball. Where the ball lands on the paddle sets its angle. P or Esc pauses, and the board pauses itself when you switch tabs or scroll it out of view — a paused game is saved.
Your statistics
- Played
- 0
- Won
- 0
- Win rate
- 0%
- Streak
- 0
- Best streak
- 0
- Best time
- —
- Best score
- —
A game is recorded when it ends. It counts as a win when all 12 walls are cleared; the best score is kept whether you got that far or not.
The six capsules
- Wide paddle — the paddle grows by half for 20 seconds.
- Multi-ball — two more balls split off one in play.
- Slow ball — every ball drops to 70% speed for 12 seconds.
- Catch — the paddle holds the ball until you launch it for 20 seconds.
- Laser — the paddle fires a bolt from each end for 12 seconds.
- Extra life — one more life.
Keyboard
- ← → or A D
- Move the paddle
- Space or Enter
- Launch the ball, or let go of a caught one
- P or Esc
- Pause and resume
- N
- New game
- F
- Full screen
- ?
- This list
How do you start a game of Brick Breaker?
- 1Read the title cardEvery wall opens with its number, its name and one line on what is new. The ball sits on the paddle while it shows.
- 2Line up the serveThe dotted line above the ball shows the way it will leave. Move the paddle to where you want to launch from.
- 3LaunchPress Space or Enter, click the field, or tap it. From then on the ball keeps moving until it is lost or the wall is cleared.
- 4Pause when you need toP or Esc stops everything, and switching tabs or scrolling the board away pauses it for you. A paused game is saved.
Which controls move the paddle?
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Mouse | The paddle follows the pointer across the field; a click launches |
| Finger | Drag along the field and the paddle follows; a tap launches |
| Left and Right arrows, A and D | Move the paddle, slowly at first and faster as you hold the key |
| Space or Enter | Launch the ball, or let go of one the Catch power-up is holding |
| P or Esc | Pause and resume |
| N | A new game |
| F | Full screen |
A tap never moves the paddle — only a drag does — so with the Catch power-up running you can drag a held ball into position, lift your finger and tap to send it, and it leaves from exactly where you left it.
How do you clear a wall faster?
- Break a column, then aim up it. A ball above the wall stays there, breaking bricks from behind, until it finds a way back down.
- Use the paddle's ends. The centre returns the ball the way it came; the ends are how you reach a new part of the wall.
- Save the charges. An explosive brick hit when its neighbours are still standing clears nine cells at once.
- Play the capsules, not the other way round. Laser and Multi-ball clear walls fastest; Slow ball is for when the wall is fast and your nerves are not.
What happens between levels?
When the last breakable brick goes, the wall pays its bonus — 1,000 points times its number — and every power-up ends. The next wall is built, its title card shows, and the ball is served on the paddle again, 4.5% faster than before. Your lives and your score carry over; nothing else does.
How do you win more often?
- Get behind the wallOpen one column and put the ball through it. Above the bricks it bounces between the top rail and the back of the wall, breaking brick after brick without coming down — and every one of those climbs the combo towards ×8.
- Aim with the ends, not the middleThe centre of the paddle sends the ball straight back up the column it came down; the outer quarters send it across the wall at 45 to 60 degrees. Use the ends to reach the bricks the ball is not already hitting.
- Fire charges where they chainAn explosive brick clears the eight cells around it, and a charge caught in the blast goes off too. On Chain Reaction one hit at either end of the V fires all eleven, which is most of the wall.
- Use Catch for the hard shotsA caught ball waits on the paddle for up to three seconds, which is time to walk it under exactly the gap you want — the door of the Vault, the neck of the Hourglass — before you let it go.
- Never trade a ball for a capsuleA capsule is worth 100 points and a power-up; the ball is worth a life. Move for a capsule only while the ball is on its way up, and let it fall if reaching it would leave the paddle out of place.
Common questions about brick breaker
- Why did the ball go straight back up?
- It landed in the middle of the paddle. The centre always sends the ball straight up; to send it anywhere else, catch it further out towards one end.
- Do you have to break the metal bricks?
- No. Metal never breaks, and a wall is cleared as soon as every other brick is gone. The metal is there to bounce off and to aim around.
Ready to stop reading? Play brick breaker on the full board, with controls and statistics tailored to that game.