Breakout

Breakout is the original brick breaker. A ball bounces around a walled arena, you slide a paddle along the bottom to keep it in play, and every brick it touches disappears. Clear the wall to advance; drop the ball three times and the run is over.

The part that turns it from reflex into skill is the paddle. Where the ball hits changes where it goes: strike it near the centre and it comes off almost vertically, catch it near an edge and it fires away at up to sixty degrees. You are not just keeping the ball alive, you are aiming it.

Levels add a row of bricks each time up to seven, and the ball gets about ten percent faster with each one. From level three the top row takes two hits instead of one, outlined in white so you can see what is coming. Clearing a wall is worth a hundred bonus points on top of the bricks.

1. Press Start. The ball sits on your paddle waiting — launch it when you are ready.
2. Keep the ball in play by moving the paddle. Bricks are worth 10 points multiplied by the current level, so the same brick is worth more later on.
3. You have three lives. Losing the ball costs one and resets it onto the paddle; the bricks you have already cleared stay cleared.
4. Clear every brick to advance. The next wall is taller, the ball is faster, and from level three the top row needs two hits.
5. The run ends when your last life is gone. Your best score is saved in your browser.

Desktop: move the paddle with the ← → arrow keys or A and D. Moving the mouse across the board also moves the paddle directly, which is more precise once the ball speeds up. Space launches a waiting ball, and pauses the game once the ball is in play.

Mobile and tablet: drag anywhere on the board to slide the paddle — you do not need to touch the paddle itself. Tapping launches a waiting ball.

The angle is the control that matters. The ball leaves the paddle based on how far from the centre it lands: dead centre sends it almost straight up, the outer edge sends it out at around sixty degrees. Steering with the paddle rather than just blocking with it is the whole skill of the game.

• Hit with the edge on purpose. Catching the ball off-centre is how you reach bricks in the corners. Centring every return leaves you stuck clearing the middle.
• Dig a channel up one side. Clear a vertical gap at the edge and the ball will get above the wall and ricochet along the top, taking out a whole row for free. It is the single highest-value play in Breakout.
• Track the ball, not the paddle. Watch where the ball is heading and put the paddle there early. Chasing it is what loses lives once the speed climbs.
• Take the two-hit bricks early. From level three they sit in the top row and are much harder to reach once the easy bricks below them are gone.
• Use the launch pause. The ball waits on your paddle indefinitely after a life is lost. Read the board and pick a starting position before you fire.