Brick Breaker Rules

About

Brick Breaker is an arcade ball-shooter inspired by the mobile classic BBTAN. Fire volleys of balls into a grid of blocks, watch them bounce and ricochet, and clear as much as possible before the next row pushes down. A roguelike upgrade system lets you build a unique run each time — stacking permanent abilities that combine in powerful ways.

The Basics

Each round a new row of blocks slides down from the top. Balls bounce off walls and the top, dealing damage to every block they hit. When all balls reach the bottom they are recalled and the round ends. The grid then shifts down by one row and a new row appears at the top.

Scoring

Each block destroyed earns points equal to its hit points, multiplied by a combo counter that grows with every kill in the same volley — chain as many as possible for huge scores. Fully clearing the board earns a Clear Bonus: your round total is doubled.

Powerups

Some cells contain a powerup instead of a block. Touch it with any ball to activate it.

Extra Ball — Adds +1 ball to your volleys.

Deflect — Sends the hitting ball in a random upward direction. Stays on the board and can be triggered multiple times per round.

Laser (horizontal) — Fires a laser across the entire row, damaging every block in its path. Removed after the volley ends.

Laser (vertical) — Fires a laser up and down the entire column. Removed after the volley ends.

Upgrades

After Round 5, and every 10 rounds after that (15, 25, 35 …), choose one of three offered upgrades. Each upgrade can be stacked multiple times to grow stronger. Some upgrades unlock a more powerful capstone when the base upgrade is nearly maxed. A few carry a one-time penalty on first pick, noted in the card. Your build is capped at 6 different upgrade types — choose wisely. You can skip if nothing suits your build. When all upgrades are fully maxed, you earn Mastery Rewards instead.

Aim

• 🎯 Sharp Eye (3 stacks) — Extends the aim preview line for more precise shots.

Damage Modifiers

• 🔥 Power Shot (5 stacks) — Every Nth ball deals 2× damage. More stacks = more frequent power shots.
  • 💥 Overdrive — Every ball deals 4× damage.
• ⚓ Dead Weight (3 stacks) — Blocks that are about to end the game take 2×–5× damage.
• ⚡ Momentum (3 stacks) — Each kill adds flat damage to subsequent hits that round. Rewards chaining kills.
• 🔆 Laser Power (3 stacks) — Laser powerups deal 2×, 3×, then 4× damage.
  • 🔱 Overcharge — Lasers deal 4× damage, collect powerups, and automatically fire through every cell where a block is destroyed.

Splash & Area Damage

• 💥 Splash (3 stacks) — Ball impacts radiate splash damage to nearby blocks. Each stack increases the radius.
  • 🌊 Shockwave — Ball impacts create a massive explosion in all directions.
• 💣 Explosion (3 stacks) — Destroyed blocks deal damage to all adjacent blocks. Great for chain reactions.
  • ⭐ Supernova — Every destroyed block blasts 100% of your ball count as damage to every block on the board.
• ☢ Volatile (1 stack) — Each block hit has a 20% chance to explode and chain to adjacent blocks.

Ball Behaviour

• 👻 Ghost (3 stacks) — Penalty: lose 10% of balls. Every 4th (then 3rd) ball phases through the first section of blocks it enters.
  • 🌙 Specter — Penalty: lose 40% of balls. Every ball is a ghost ball.
• ↩ Persistence (3 stacks) — Balls bounce back up 1–3 extra times before being recalled.
• ✨ Splinter (3 stacks) — Each destroyed block fires 1–3 extra balls in random upward directions.
  • 👁 Poltergeist (requires Specter) — Splinter balls are ghost balls.
  • 🌟 Overdrive Shards (requires Overdrive) — Splinter balls are 4× power shots.

Powerup Synergies

• 🎁 Bounty (3 stacks) — Destroyed blocks have an 8%–24% chance to drop a random laser or deflect powerup.
• ✣ Scattershot (3 stacks) — Deflect powerups fire 1–3 extra temporary balls when triggered.
  • ✹ Chaos Engine — Scattershot balls are randomly normal, ghost, or power-shot balls.

Recall & Risk

• ⬇ Tactical Recall (1 stack) — Recalling banks all active and unfired balls, adding them to your next volley.
• 🎯 Marksman (1 stack) — Penalty: loss line moves up. Balls launch higher and every ball aims at your pointer as it fires. Move your cursor to redirect the entire volley mid-flight. During the volley, touch and drag to redirect balls mid-flight.

Mastery Rewards

Once every upgrade is fully maxed, choose between:

• ⚪ +1 Ball — Adds +1 ball to your volleys.
• ×2 2× Score — All points in the next round are doubled.

Tips

• Aim for tight gaps between blocks — balls bounce back and forth for many extra hits.
• Combo multiplier is the biggest score driver. Any upgrade that chains kills (Momentum, Explosion, Splinter) is extremely valuable.
• Lasers are precision tools — align them with a dense row for massive burst damage. Overcharge turns every kill into an automatic laser sweep.
• Ghost and Specter let balls skip the front rows to hit high-hit-point blocks at the top.
• With Marksman, sweep your cursor slowly side to side while the volley fires to fan balls across the whole grid.
• With Marksman, touch and drag slowly side to side during the volley to fan balls across the whole grid.
• Dead Weight makes blocks that are about to end the game dramatically fragile — always prioritise clearing them.

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