Last updated: March 2026
What Is Breakout?
Breakout is the legendary arcade game originally created by Atari in 1976, designed by Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow, with a prototype famously built by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The concept is elegantly simple: bounce a ball off a paddle to smash through rows of bricks. It spawned an entire genre of “brick breaker” games, including the iconic Arkanoid.
This free online version captures everything that makes Breakout great while adding modern features: 20 levels with unique patterns, five different power-ups, a combo scoring system, and smooth 60fps visuals with particle effects and neon ball trails. The game scales perfectly to any screen size and supports mouse, touch, and keyboard controls.
No download, no signup, no ads — just pure arcade gameplay right in your browser. Your high scores are saved locally so you can track your progress and try to beat your personal best.
How to Play
Control the paddle to keep the ball in play. Move your mouse, drag on a touchscreen, or use the arrow keys. Click, tap, or press spacebar to launch the ball from the paddle. Where the ball hits the paddle determines the angle of reflection — edges send it at sharp angles, the center reflects it upward.
Break all the bricks in each level to progress. Green bricks shatter in one hit, yellow bricks in one hit for more points, orange bricks crack after the first hit and break on the second, and red bricks take three hits with visible damage stages. Destroying every 5th brick drops a power-up capsule.
Catch power-ups with your paddle to activate them. Wide Paddle gives you more coverage, Multi-Ball creates chaos with 3 balls, Slow Ball makes things manageable, Extra Life gives you another chance, and Laser lets you shoot bricks directly by clicking or tapping.
Key Features
20 handcrafted levels progress from beginner-friendly to seriously challenging. The first five levels teach the basics with simple rows. Levels 6-10 introduce creative patterns and tougher bricks. Levels 11-15 feature complex layouts like spirals and borders. Levels 16-20 are dense, fast-paced gauntlets for skilled players.
Combo scoring rewards precise play. Hit bricks consecutively without the ball touching the paddle to build a multiplier up to 4x. Combined with the level-clear bonuses (100 normally, 500 for a perfect clear), high scores require both skill and strategy.
Visual polish makes every moment satisfying. Bricks explode in colorful particle bursts, the ball leaves a glowing neon trail, and the metallic paddle shines with a gradient finish. All rendered at 60fps on HTML5 Canvas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many levels does this Breakout game have?
There are 20 levels with increasing difficulty. Early levels feature simple rows of green and yellow bricks, while later levels introduce complex patterns (diamonds, spirals, X-shapes) and tougher orange and red bricks that require multiple hits to destroy.
What power-ups are available?
Five power-ups drop from every 5th brick: Wide Paddle (green, 15s), Multi-Ball (red, splits into 3), Slow Ball (blue, -40% speed for 10s), Extra Life (yellow, +1 life), and Laser (purple, shoot bricks for 10s). Catch them with your paddle to activate.
Does this work on mobile and tablet?
Yes, the game is fully responsive and touch-optimized. Drag your finger to move the paddle and tap to launch the ball or fire lasers. The canvas scales to your screen width for comfortable play on any device.
How does scoring work?
Green bricks are worth 10 points, yellow 20, orange 30, and red 50. A combo multiplier (up to 4x) rewards consecutive brick hits without the ball touching the paddle. Clearing a level earns 100 bonus points, or 500 if you clear it without losing a life.
Is this the same as Arkanoid?
Brick Breaker is inspired by both Atari's Breakout (1976) and Taito's Arkanoid (1986). Like Arkanoid, our version includes power-ups, multi-hit bricks, and varied level designs that go beyond the original Breakout's simple rows.