Brick Break

A wall of bricks, a paddle, and a ball that speeds up as it hits things. Clear every brick but the gold ones, which never break, to finish the round; round 33, the last, is a boss. Miss the ball and you lose it. Colored bricks are worth more the higher up the wall they sit, where the ball is hardest to steer.

The One Rule the Ball Obeys

Off a wall or a brick the ball follows the reflection rule: the angle it arrives at equals the angle it leaves at, measured from the surface. That is the same rule light obeys at a mirror and sound obeys at a hard wall, and it is what lets you plan two or three bounces ahead instead of reacting. The game bends it only to stop a ball circling forever. The paddle is the one surface that breaks it. Where the ball lands along its width changes the outgoing angle, which is what turns a geometry exercise into a game - you are not reflecting the ball, you are choosing a boundary condition for it.

How to play

• The mouse or arrow keys move the paddle; Space or a click launches.
• The paddle's ends send the ball out wide, its middle sends it up steeply.
• Opening a channel up the side lets the ball run along the top and clear rows unattended.
• Falling capsules bring lasers, a wider or sticky paddle, three balls, a slower ball, an extra life or a way to the next round.

Read more: Waves