Top Ten Free Games Brick Breaking Style

Top Ten Free Games Brick Breaking Style
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Brick Breaker Re-imagined

Since the original brick breaking game—Atari’s 1976 arcade release Breakout—that early concept has evolved to take on various new forms. It’s been known as Brickles, Arkanoid, and most recently as simply Brick Breaker, and every incarnation has had a few things in common—a ball, a paddle, and a bunch of bricks.

But that’s often where the similarities end. There are hundreds of free brick breaker games on the Internet these days, and while they all build on the same basic model many have expanded and refined that model into a new kind of experience. What follows are ten brick breaker games with some kind of twist, whether it’s a bunch of new items or a whole new way of playing the game.

Item Games

The original Breakout game was very simple—just a ball hitting some bricks. But Arkanoid and similar remakes introduced the use of items, which help you (make the paddle larger, slow down the ball), hurt you (make the paddle smaller, speed up the ball), or simply increase the challenge (add an extra ball). The following three games make excellent use of items and are built around a particular theme.

Fairy Treasure

This well-designed game has a fantasy theme and a huge number of different items, including all the standards as well as some unusual entries. There are blocks that serve as keys to unlock certain areas, fairies that will help you if you release them, and gargoyles that spit fire down at your paddle. Three-ball action is common, and there are unlockable balls that act in unusual ways. The only problem is that, at least at this source, you can only play the free trial. But the ten levels available have plenty of replay value.

Play Fairy Treasure.

Space Out!

Of all the games in this listing, this is one of the most difficult simply because the ball moves really fast. And it’s a good introduction to the Arkanoid-inspired brick breaker game, with a nice space theme and just enough items to keep things interesting without becoming overwhelming. There’s quite a bit of two and three-ball play, and the game mechanics are very smooth. A lot of the games on this list emphasize strategy, but this one is purely about reflexes.

Play Space Out!

Mortanoid

mortanoid

Looking for something a little darker than the standard brick breaker? In this bizarre and somewhat disturbing re-make your ball is a tiny skull, and the theme is reminiscent of a mad science lab. Bricks release potions that will help or hinder you, and radioactive spiders try to mess you up and steal your points. In addition you’ll get invisible bricks, two and three-ball play, and maybe a few nightmares.

Play Mortanoid.

Concept Games

These games are simpler, with few or no items, but break away from the traditional formula to invent a new type of brick breaking game with unique challenges.

Ionized

Ever wished you could control the ball in a break breaker game? Well now you can, in this simple but creative re-imagining. The paddle remains stationary at the bottom of the screen, and you control where the ball goes and how high it bounces. The levels are designed as puzzles, and the last few are especially difficult. This game is all about patience and long-term strategy.

Play Ionized.

Crabs Party

crabs

In this combination of brick breaker and Pong, you (as a red cartoon crab) have to protect your two rows of bricks from your opponent, who has his own rows to guard. You face off in a tiny rectangular field, each trying to win five matches out of a possible ten. There are a few items to help you out, and the opponents get progressively more difficult at each new level. It’s a very simple game, but well done and notable for its bizarre creativity.

Play Crabs Party.

Break Out

Initially, this version looks very much like your garden-variety brick breaker game, and in a way it is. No items, no power-ups: just a paddle and a ball and some bricks. But these bricks give off spinning fragments when you hit them, which come falling towards you where you can hit them again for more points. This adds two layers of challenge: trying to hit the falling bricks and trying to keep track of where your ball is amid the brick fragments. Add some unbreakable bricks, invisible bricks, moving bricks, and bricks that need to be hit more than once, and you’ll be wishing there were more than the few short levels this game offers.

Play Break Out.

360 BreakOut

360

This game is exactly what its name suggests—a brick breaker game in 360 degrees—and it’s one of the most challenging games on this list. Not only can’t you let the ball fall through to the floor, but you can’t let it touch the ceiling or sides either. Your paddle is curved and you can move it in a complete circle, though veterans of brick breaking games might have trouble remembering they now have that ability. There are very few items, but there are moving mechanisms mixed in with the bricks to cause you even more trouble.

Play 360 BreakOut.

Top Three

These free brick breaking games deserve a place at the top of the list because they combine a creative use of items with a unique concept.

Star Bearbrother

bearbrother

This arcade-style game is really a cross between Breakout, Tetris, and Space Invaders. Each level (there are regrettably only 5) comes in two stages. In the first stage, you try to hit bricks and items falling towards you. But you can’t let the bricks touch the paddle, or it will become temporarily immobile. In the second stage the bricks are arranged in the shape of a constellation (at the same time resembling an enemy ship from Space Invaders), and part of the constellation will every so often come down on you, trying to squash your paddle. It’s a well-done, creative game—only far too short.

Play Star Bearbrother.

Double Blaster

Thought controlling one paddle was hard enough? Well now you’ve got two, one on the bottom and one on the right side. You move the mouse up and down to control the one, and left and right to control the other. This game takes a good deal more hand-eye coordination than the average brick breaker, and the futuristic theme and good variety of items and brick-types rounds the game out nicely. The only possible downside is the overly perky cartoon girl who’s constantly cheering you on like some kind of sci-fi game show hostess.

Play Double Blaster.

Plastic Balls

plastic

Last but definitely not least, this game combines complexity and concept in an excellent brick breaker re-imagining. The playing field is circular, and at the middle is a portal that acts much like a black hole might, sucking the ball inward. Your paddle circles this hole, and your job is to keep the ball away from it and to hit the bricks arrayed at the edges of the playing field. There are plenty of items, some standard and some more unusual, and the level of difficulty is challenging but not impossible. This one tests your reflexes and strategy, and you get to play around with gravity in the process.

Play Plastic Balls.