About Breakout
Breakout is the classic brick breaker arcade game: bounce a ball off your paddle, smash a wall of bricks and don't let the ball slip past you. Our free Breakout game online keeps the simple idea that made the original a hit and adds the extras fans of Arkanoid love — falling power-ups, tough multi-hit bricks, explosive blocks and 24 hand-designed levels.
Every level is a new puzzle in disguise. Pyramids, space invaders, fortresses behind steel walls, chain-reaction bomb rows and a golden finale all ask you to aim differently. Chain several bricks together without touching the paddle and your combo bonus climbs; clear a level without losing a life for a big Flawless bonus.
It plays smoothly in any browser with a mouse, keyboard or touch screen, and your best Classic score goes on the global leaderboard. Levels you've reached unlock for practice, so you can go back and master the tricky ones.
How to play Breakout
- 1
Launch the ball
Each life starts with the ball resting on your paddle. Click, tap or press Space to launch it. Where the ball sits on the paddle when you launch sets its starting angle.
- 2
Aim with the paddle
The ball always bounces up, but the angle depends on where it hits the paddle. Hit it in the middle to send it nearly straight up; catch it near an edge to send it off at a steep angle toward the side walls.
- 3
Break the bricks
Colored glass bricks break in one hit. Silver needs two and gold needs three — watch for the cracks. Steel bricks never break, so bounce around them. Blast bricks explode and take their neighbors with them.
- 4
Grab the power-ups
Broken bricks sometimes drop a capsule. Move under it to catch it before it falls off the screen. Active power-ups and their remaining time appear at the top of the playfield.
- 5
Clear the level, keep your lives
When every breakable brick is gone you move on to the next level, and the ball gets a little faster. Miss the ball with no others in play and you lose a life. Lose all your lives and the game is over.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Mouse | Move the paddle (it follows the cursor) |
| Click, Space or ↑ | Launch the ball |
| ← / → or A / D | Move the paddle with the keyboard |
| Drag | Touch: drag anywhere on the playfield to slide the paddle |
| Tap | Touch: launch the ball |
| P or Esc | Pause and resume |
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Breakout tips and strategy
Use the paddle edges on purpose
Steep angles are how you reach bricks in the corners and slip through gaps in steel walls. Practice nudging the paddle so the ball lands just off-center.
Break through to the top
Open a hole in the wall and aim the ball through it. Once it's trapped above the bricks it bounces between the ceiling and the back row, clearing bricks and building a huge combo without you doing a thing.
Save the catch power-up for tricky shots
With Catch active the ball sticks to the paddle. Slide to exactly the right spot and launch — perfect for threading a single gap in a steel wall.
Stay under the lowest ball
During multi-ball it's tempting to chase them all. Always protect the ball that's closest to the bottom; the others will come back to you.
Hunt blast bricks early
A blast brick destroys all eight bricks around it, and blasts next to each other set off chain reactions. Hitting them early can clear a third of a level in one go.
Don't risk a life for a capsule
A power-up is worth 100 points and a nice boost, but a lost life costs you the Flawless bonus and a chance to go further. If a capsule and the ball are far apart, follow the ball.
Let the laser do the hard work
The laser fires automatically from both ends of the paddle. Park under a column of silver or gold bricks and let it chip away while you keep the ball in play.
Power-ups
Capsules drop from broken bricks at random — silver and gold bricks drop them more often.
- M — Multi-ball: splits every ball in play into three.
- W — Wide paddle: a much wider paddle for 15 seconds.
- C — Catch: the ball sticks to the paddle so you can aim each launch (15 seconds).
- L — Laser: twin lasers fire automatically from the paddle for 12 seconds.
- S — Slow ball: the ball slows down to about two-thirds speed for 10 seconds.
- + — Extra life: one more life, up to a maximum of six.
How scoring works
Glass bricks are worth 50 points, blast bricks 80, silver 100 and gold 200, and every hit that cracks a silver or gold brick earns 25 more. Break several bricks in a row without the ball touching the paddle and each brick earns a combo bonus of 20 points for every brick before it in the chain (up to +380), shown as COMBO ×N at the top of the screen.
Catching a power-up is worth 100 points. Clearing a level earns 500 + 100 × the level number, plus 1,000 more if you didn't lose a life on that level. After the 24th level the layouts repeat at a faster speed, so there's no ceiling on your score.
From Breakout to Arkanoid
Atari released the original Breakout arcade game in 1976. It was conceived by Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow as a single-player spin on Pong, and an early prototype was built by Steve Wozniak with help from Steve Jobs. Players knocked out eight rows of bricks with a ball and paddle — and the ball sped up as they broke through to the back rows.
A decade later, Taito's Arkanoid (1986) reinvented the formula with designed levels, indestructible and multi-hit bricks, and power-up capsules such as the laser and the multi-ball. Almost every brick breaker since, including this one, builds on those two games.
More classic arcade games
Enjoy paddle games? Try the original bat-and-ball duel in Pong, defend the planet in Space Invaders, or blast rocks in Asteroids. For something calmer, stack falling blocks in Tetris. You'll find them all in our arcade games collection.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Breakout game free to play?
Yes, completely. It runs in your browser on computers, tablets and phones with no download or sign-up, and your high score is saved on your device.
What's the difference between Breakout and Arkanoid?
Breakout (1976) is the original: one wall of bricks, a ball and a paddle. Arkanoid (1986) added designed levels, special bricks and falling power-ups. Our brick breaker combines both — classic controls with Arkanoid-style power-ups and level designs.
How do you control the angle of the ball?
The angle depends on where the ball hits the paddle. A hit in the center sends it almost straight up, while hits toward the edges send it off at up to about 60 degrees. The ball's speed and the paddle's movement don't change the angle, so it's all about positioning.
How many levels are there?
There are 24 hand-designed levels. After level 24 they repeat in a new loop with a faster ball, so a great run can keep going well beyond the finale.
Can I play brick breaker on my phone?
Yes. Drag anywhere on the playfield to slide the paddle — it moves relative to your finger, so your thumb never hides the ball — and tap to launch.
Why won't some bricks break?
Gray steel bricks with rivets are indestructible, and the level is complete without them. Silver and gold bricks do break but need two and three hits; they show cracks as they weaken.
Can I start from a later level?
Yes. Every level you reach unlocks in the practice picker on the start screen. Practice runs are great for learning a tough layout, but only games started from level 1 count for the leaderboard.