Block breakers: games like Breakout and Arkanoid

Block breaker is a term often used to describe a type of video game that involves breaking or destroying blocks or bricks within the game environment. These games are typically characterized by a paddle or platform at the bottom of the screen that the player controls, and a wall of blocks at the top of the screen that the player must eliminate. The player uses the paddle to bounce a ball or projectile into the blocks, and when the ball hits a block, it destroys or "breaks" the block.
One of the most iconic block breaker games is Breakout which was created by Atari and released in 1976. Arkanoid is another well-known block breaker game that was released in the 1980s.

Most popular block breaker games

Arkanoid

Arkanoid 2: The Revenge of Doh

DX-Ball 2

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Aquanoid

DOS1992remake

Aquanoid (1992) takes the classic Breakout formula and throws it underwater, because bricks are apparently much more intimidating when they're wet. You control a paddle, you bounce a ball, you try to pretend you're not just playing a glorified version of Pong with a marine biology twist. Bonus points for the soundtrack, which sounds like a Casio ke...

Arkanoid

DOS1988 Taito

Arkanoid is a classic arcade video game that was first released in 1986 by Taito. It is a breakout-style game, which means that the primary objective is to break a wall of bricks or blocks by bouncing a ball off a paddle at the bottom of the screen. The game takes its name and inspiration from Atari's Breakout, which was released in the 1970s. ...

Arkanoid 2: The Revenge of Doh

DOS1989 Taito

Doh is back, and he’s mad - presumably because no one understood what he was in the first place. Arkanoid 2 takes the original formula and dials everything up: more levels, more power-ups, more neon madness. It’s still paddle-meets-brick, but now with branching paths, weirder enemies, and a storyline that sounds like it was written on a...

Axet

DOS1994freeware

Few games from 1994 dared to ask the real question: “What if you gave an axe to someone with absolutely no training and dropped them into a dungeon with the reflexes of a sloth?” Axet did. This little-known DOS action-puzzler features a hero who swings like they’re underwater and puzzles that would stump a Mensa club. It’s e...

Bananoid

DOS1991freewareremake Banana Development

Is it Breakout? Is it Arkanoid? No — it’s Bananoid, the fruitiest bat-and-ball clone you never asked for. With bananas, monkeys, and psychedelic colors, it feels like someone laced Pong with banana peels and Saturday morning cartoons. It’s not original, but it sure is bananas.

Bunny Bricks

DOS1993 Silmarils

Dragons: A Challenge in Chivalry

DOS1986

DX-Ball 2

Windows XP/98/951998protected Longbow Digital Arts

DX-Ball 2 is a popular brick-breaking game that was first released in 1998 by Longbow Digital Arts. It serves as a sequel to the original DX-Ball, which was inspired by the classic arcade game Breakout and its successor Arkanoid. The core mechanics of DX-Ball 2 involve controlling a paddle at the bottom of the screen to bounce a ball upwards. ...