About Brick Breaker

Brick Breaker (also known as Breakout) is a classic arcade game first popularised by Atari in 1976. A ball bounces around the screen, destroying bricks on impact. The player controls a paddle at the bottom to keep the ball in play.

Controls

Move paddle: move your mouse left or right, or use the left/right arrow keys.
Launch ball: click or press Space to serve the ball at the start of each life.

Scoring

Each brick is worth points based on its row position or color. Higher rows (further from the paddle) typically award more points. Breaking multiple bricks in quick succession or bouncing the ball into the top of the screen multiplies your score in many variants.

Tips

Aim for the sides and top: once the ball is bouncing above most of the bricks, it destroys them rapidly without needing the paddle.
Hit the ball with the paddle edge: the angle of reflection is influenced by where the ball hits the paddle, giving you directional control.
Don’t lose the ball: catching the ball near the edge of the paddle is riskier; try to center your paddle under the ball’s projected path.

Brick types

Standard bricks each require one hit to break. Harder bricks (often shown in darker or metallic colors) may require multiple hits and award more points. Indestructible bricks cannot be broken and must be navigated around. Some variants include special bricks that release power-ups - wider paddles, multi-ball, or a sticky paddle that lets you aim the next shot.

Ball physics

The ball obeys the angle-of-incidence equals angle-of-reflection rule when bouncing off bricks and the top and side walls. The paddle is different: hitting the ball with the center of the paddle produces a steep return angle; hitting it near the edges produces a shallower, more angled return. This gives you directional control - the wider you position the paddle relative to the ball, the more you can steer the trajectory.

Historical context

Breakout was created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (with significant engineering help from Wozniak) for Atari in 1976. It became one of the best-selling arcade cabinets of its era. Taito's Arkanoid (1986) expanded the formula with power-ups, multiple levels, and enemy ships, establishing the template that most modern variants follow. The game's DNA lives on in countless mobile and browser games, making it one of the most enduring arcade concepts ever created.