How to play Breakout
- Press Launch (or Space, or tap the board) to serve the ball.
- Move the paddle with your mouse, by dragging a finger across the board, or with the left and right arrow keys.
- Every brick you hit disappears and scores points. Clear all forty to advance to a faster level.
- If the ball drops below the paddle you lose a life. Three lost balls end the game.
Scoring
- Each brick is worth 10 points multiplied by the current level.
- The best score is stored in your browser only.
Tips
- Where the ball hits the paddle decides its angle: the centre sends it straight up, the edges send it sideways. Use the edges to reach stubborn corner bricks.
- Open a channel on one side and let the ball bounce behind the wall; it will clear several rows on its own.
- Watch the ball, not the paddle. Your hand follows your eyes.
- On higher levels, small paddle movements are safer than sweeping ones.
About Breakout
Breakout was released by Atari in 1976, designed by Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow with early hardware work by Steve Wozniak. It evolved Pong's paddle into a single-player challenge and inspired Arkanoid and countless brick-breaker games.
This version is drawn on an HTML canvas with real ball physics: speed increases per level, the paddle angle system rewards precise hits, and everything runs in your browser.
Scores and preferences for this game are stored only in your browser's local storage. Nothing is sent to a server and no account is needed. Browse all games.