How to play Brick Breaker
- Orange plays from the bottom end of the court (the left on a wide screen) and Purple from the top (the right). Each of you slides a paddle along your own end.
- Launch your ball. Each player's ball waits on their paddle. Tap your half of the screen to send it off, or it launches by itself after a moment. Move your paddle as you launch to send the ball that way.
- Break the wall. A ball that hits a brick breaks it and bounces back. The yellow bricks in the middle of the wall are tough: the first hit cracks them and the second breaks them.
- Keep every ball in play. If any ball gets past your paddle and off your end of the court, your rival scores a point. That includes your own ball when it bounces back off the wall, so watch it all the way.
- Break through. Once a gap goes all the way through the wall, a ball can fly out the other side and into your rival's end. Now they have two balls to keep in play at once.
- After each point play stops for a moment, the ball that went out goes back to its owner's paddle, and bricks grow back in the wall: usually at least six, and more until at least half the wall is there again. They grow in matching places on both sides, only where the matching brick on the other side has gone too, so the wall stays fair for both players.
- First to 7 points wins the match.
A ball takes the colour of the last player who hit it, so you can always see whose shot is coming. Your score is the big number in your half of the court.
Power-ups
Some bricks carry a white badge. Break one and a power-up comes loose. It falls towards the player who last hit that ball (the ball's colour shows who): slide your paddle under it to catch it.
| Power-up | Badge | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Wide paddle | A double arrow | Your paddle grows wider for 12 seconds. A blue bar along it shows how long is left. |
| Slow balls | A snail | Every ball in your half of the court moves more slowly for 9 seconds. Your half turns green while it lasts. |
| Extra ball | Three balls | A new ball shoots off your paddle straight away (up to five balls at once). It counts like any other ball, but once it goes out it's gone for good. |
The wall starts with four power-up bricks on each side, in matching places, and now and then a brick that grows back carries one too.
Aiming your shots
- Where the ball meets your paddle steers it. A hit in the middle sends the ball straight ahead; a hit near either end sends it off at a steep angle that way.
- Balls speed up. Every time a ball comes off a paddle it gets a little faster, up to a top speed. A ball that goes out starts slow again when it's launched.
- Dig a tunnel. Aim at the same part of the wall again and again to break a way through, rather than chipping at bricks all over.
- Steep angles bounce off the side walls. Use them to reach a gap at the other side of the wall, or to send the ball away from your rival's paddle.
Controls
| Device | Orange | Purple |
|---|---|---|
| Phone or tablet | Drag a finger in the bottom half. Tap to launch. | Drag a finger in the top half. Tap to launch. |
| Mouse (vs computer) | Move the mouse: your paddle follows it. Click to launch. | — |
| Keyboard | A D to move, Space to launch | ← → to move, Enter to launch |
On a wide screen, such as a tablet held sideways or a laptop, the court turns sideways: Orange plays from the left and Purple from the right, and the paddles move up and down. The keys still move your paddle the way they point on screen, so Orange uses W and S and Purple uses ↑ and ↓. Against the computer you can use either set of keys.
With 2 Players on a phone, hold it upright between you or lay it flat on a table. Each player drags in their own half, and both paddles move at the same time.
Computer levels
The computer plays by the same rules as you, with the same paddle and the same balls. It looks at the balls every so often and works out where each one will reach its end, bouncing off the walls and bricks, and its guess gets better as the ball comes closer. Its paddle never moves faster than a person's finger can (with the keys, your paddle moves a little slower than Expert's).
| Level | How the computer plays |
|---|---|
| Easy | A slow paddle, and it looks at the balls only about three times a second. It doesn't aim, and it misses plenty of balls, even its own. |
| Medium | Quicker, and it goes for power-ups falling its way. About half its shots are aimed: through a gap, at a power-up brick or at the thinnest part of the wall. |
| Hard | Faster again, and it aims every shot: through a gap in the wall if there is one, otherwise at power-up bricks and the thin parts of the wall. |
| Expert | Looks at the balls more than ten times a second, and its paddle is the fastest of the four. When it sends a ball through a gap, it aims away from your paddle. |
Tips to win
- Watch your own ball first. Most points are lost to a ball bouncing straight back off the wall. Line up under it before you look anywhere else.
- Stay near the middle. Between shots, slide back to the middle of your end, ready for a ball from either side.
- Break through in one place. A tunnel through the wall turns your ball into an attack. Two balls at once are hard for anyone to keep in play.
- Catch the power-ups. A wide paddle or a slow half makes defending much easier. An extra ball is a gamble: it can break through for you, but it's one more ball that can bounce back past your paddle.
- Mind the speed. A ball that has been hit many times is fast. After a long rally, play safe with the middle of your paddle.
- Use their tunnel. A gap works both ways: when your rival has broken through, send your own ball back through it. Gaps only fill in when bricks grow back after a point.
About brick breaker games
Games where a bat and ball break a wall of bricks first appeared in arcades in the 1970s and have been made ever since, for home computers, games consoles and phones. Most are played alone: you keep one ball in play and clear a wall at the top of the screen, level after level. Our Brick Breaker turns the idea into a duel. The wall stands in the middle, a player defends each end, and breaking the bricks is how you open a way through to your rival.
Questions
Can two people play Brick Breaker on one phone?
Yes. Choose 2 Players and hold the phone upright between you, or lay it flat on a table. Orange drags in the bottom half and Purple in the top half, and you both play at the same time. On a wide screen, such as a tablet held sideways or a laptop, the court turns sideways and you take the left and right halves.
What happens if I miss my own ball?
Your rival scores a point, just as if their ball had got past you. Your ball then comes back to your paddle, ready to launch again.
Why do bricks grow back?
So the wall stays in play all match. After every point bricks grow back, usually at least six and more until at least half the wall is there again, always in matching places on both sides. Breaking through never gets too easy, and there are always bricks to break.
What do the yellow bricks with dots do?
They're tough bricks. The first hit cracks them and the second breaks them, which makes the middle of the wall the hardest part to get through.
How do I get a power-up?
Break a brick with a white badge on it. The power-up falls towards the player who last hit that ball, so slide your paddle under it to catch it before it goes off your end.
How long is a match?
A match ends when one player has 7 points. Most matches take one to four minutes.
Is Brick Breaker free?
Yes. It's free in your browser, with no download, no sign-up and no ads during a game.
Updated 11 November 2026