Block Buster
Smash colorful bricks with a power ball. Multi-hit bricks, power-ups, and speed boosts!
How to play
- Hold ◀ or ▶ (or arrow keys) to move the purple paddle.
- Click Launch or press Space to release the orange ball.
- Bricks showing a number (e.g. 2) require that many hits to destroy.
- Clear all bricks to advance to the next level — speed increases!
- Score multiplies by your current level, so later levels score big.
Break all bricks to advance levels! Red/orange bricks need 2 hits. Speed increases each level. Use ◀/▶ to control your paddle.
How it works
Block Buster is a brick-breaker arcade game. A ball bounces around the screen, and you control a paddle at the bottom to keep it in play while it smashes through rows of colored bricks. Multi-hit bricks require more than one strike to break and change color as they take damage.
Move the paddle left and right with arrow keys or by dragging on touchscreens. The angle at which the ball hits the paddle affects its rebound direction — hitting near the edge sends the ball at a sharper angle, while center hits bounce it straight up.
Power-ups fall from broken bricks and include wide paddle, multi-ball, speed boost, and laser fire. Speed boosts increase your score multiplier but make the ball harder to track.
Worked example
Clear the first level efficiently
- Position the paddle centrally and launch the ball upward.
- Aim for the top rows first — clearing upper bricks lets the ball bounce longer without your intervention.
- When a power-up drops, move the paddle to catch it if it is beneficial (wide paddle, multi-ball).
- Avoid speed boosts early on if you are finding it hard to keep control.
- On the final few bricks, use edge hits to angle the ball precisely.
Level cleared with no lives lost; bonus points awarded for remaining lives.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Hitting the ball only with the center of the paddle, which limits your ability to direct it toward remaining bricks in corners.
- Catching every power-up regardless of type — a speed boost late in a hard level can cause you to lose a life.
- Letting the last few bricks survive in unreachable corners; use sharp-angle shots off the side walls to reach them.
Key terms
- Multi-hit brick
- A brick that requires more than one ball strike to break; it changes color or cracks to show remaining durability.
- Power-up
- An item released by a broken brick that falls to the paddle; catching it activates a temporary effect such as a wider paddle or extra balls.
- Ball angle
- The direction the ball rebounds after hitting the paddle; controlled by which part of the paddle face the ball strikes.
Frequently asked questions
- How is this different from Breakout?
- Block Buster features multi-hit bricks (shown with HP numbers), multiple levels with increasing speed, and a points multiplier per level.
- How do I launch the ball?
- Click the Launch button or press Space to release the ball from the paddle.