Four Decades and Still Rocking

When you think of brick breaker games, you probably don’t picture your parents (or even their parents) playing them, but that’s how old they actually are. Well, that’s when they first started, at least. Breakout hit the arcade halls in 1976, just a few years after Pong rocked the gaming scene. In Breakout, the core gameplay mechanics of all great brick breaker games were born. You’ve got a paddle and a bunch of bricks to break. Slide the paddle around to bounce the ball toward the bricks. Bounce the ball off the sidewalls and the roof of the level to knock more bricks out quickly. Whatever you do, don’t let that ball get past your paddle! That’s all that Breakout was, but boy, has the industry upgraded things since then. How could you make such a popular, but simple game even better, you ask? Get a load of these…

Behold the New Wave of Brick Breaker Games!

You didn’t really think that this genre stood frozen in place for 44+ years, did you? On the contrary, as soon as Breakout hit the PC in the early 80s, the brick-breaking genre “exploded!” Like other classic game genres, developers have had a field day with this beloved title, doing much more than simply re-hashing the graphics or adding a gameplay gimmick here and there. They’ve totally overhauled the entire unblocked brick-breaking experience, pixel by pixel, and the best part is, they kept the essence of the game alive. In all of these new-age, browser-based brick breakers, the heart is still there. That heart being the core elements of the gameplay: break bricks, earn points, and don’t miss the ball. What exactly did the developers do to make these titles worthy of over-privileged, modern gamers like ourselves? For starters, you’re going to find yourself journeying through stylish levels you’ve never seen before!

Awesome Leveling Systems

Way back in the days of _Breakout,_there wasn’t exactly a ton to look at when it came to level design. There was only one level, in fact, and it was just a white rectangle set on top of a stark black background. Needless to say, modern developers used this as an opportunity for improvement. First and foremost, modern brick breakers will generally incorporate a leveling system. They’ll have you journey through a series of beautifully designed levels, each harder than the one before it. In some cases, you can see all the levels from your starting map (and unlock them as you go), and in other cases, you just have to play your way through to see how far your path goes. We especially love brick breakers that take you through multiple kinds of environments. We would encourage you to take a look around and soak everything in, but there might be a timer!

Power-Ups and Trick Blocks

Ah, this is by far our favorite part of browser-based brick breakers, and we’re not alone in that opinion. The possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to power-ups and trick blocks, and trust us, developers have taken advantage of all this potential. Some power-ups will make your paddle larger, some will give you a ball multiplier, and others will even increase your paddle speed. These are just three among dozens upon dozens of possible power-ups, which, by the way, fall from broken bricks! What, you didn’t think they would be free, did you? You have to catch them! Without letting the ball slip by you, of course. Finally, they aren’t really “trick blocks” so much as just really tough blocks. The more you level up in some of these games, the more hits each brick requires to break. Better bring that power-up game with you!

Who Knows What’s Next?

We keep talking about the evolution of unblocked brick breaker games like it’s coming to an end, but just imagine what the future has in store! Now, you can get access to our free, unblocked brick breakers on all kinds of devices, but what will this genre look like in ten years, or even twenty? We could all be playing an uber-realistic simulation of brick breaker, for all we know. Even if that’s a little ambitious, we’re definitely going to see tons of new online gameplay features, power-ups, and much more. It’s fun to dream, bor now, we’ll settle for the dozens – if not hundreds – of brick breaker games that have been taking the Internet by storm for years. Speaking of, it’s time to take a look at some of our favorite hits in this beautiful little corner of the gaming industry.

Take These as a Taste

Feel like you’re getting in on the action about forty years too late? Don’t worry, there’s no need to sift through every game in the brick breaker archives – we’ll point you in the direction of the genre’s greatest hits so you can get caught up in the best way possible. Speaking of, we find that this Block Breaking game serves as a phenomenal introduction to this genre because it combines a perfect blend of old-school and new-school elements. Slide the paddle around, angle your shots perfectly, and crack those bricks open like eggs without running out of balls. Of course, there are plenty of fun twists involved, but why spoil the fun? We’ll let you figure it out. Finally, if all of these classic titles give you a hankering for arcade games, then here’s an entire category of arcade classics for you to enjoy. Ready for a “smashing” bit of fun first? Then let’s get to busting blocks in these brick breaking games!