🧱 Breakout

How to play Breakout

Breakout is the brick-busting paddle game that launched the entire genre. A ball ricochets between your paddle at the bottom and a wall of bricks at the top; every brick you hit disappears, the ball speeds up, and your job is to clear the wall without letting the ball fall past your paddle.

Controls

• ← → or A D — move paddle
• Space — launch the ball
• R — restart

Tips & strategy

• Aim with the paddle edges. Hitting near the edges sends the ball at a steeper angle; the center returns it flat. Use angle to dig into the corners.
• Bore a tunnel. Once you punch a column up to the top, the ball ricochets between the back wall and the ceiling and clears bricks for you. That's the optimal play.
• Mind the speed. The ball accelerates after specific bricks. Anticipate the jump rather than reacting.
• Edge shots beat center. Hitting near the side walls trades a difficult-to-read angle for full coverage of the row.

About Breakout

Breakout shipped in 1976 from Atari, designed by Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow, with a hardware prototype built by Steve Wozniak (with Steve Jobs subcontracting the gig). Apple's Wozniak got the brick logic running in four sleepless nights. Breakout is the direct ancestor of Arkanoid and every brick-buster since.

Frequently asked

How do I play Breakout? Press Space to launch the ball, then use the arrow keys to slide your paddle and keep the ball in play. Clear every brick to win the round.

Is Breakout free? Yes — no signup, no downloads, no installs.

Does the ball speed up? Yes — specific brick rows trigger a permanent speed-up to keep the round from getting easier as you clear it.

Does my high score save? Yes — your best Breakout score is stored locally in your browser.

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