Line #100 Main/BreakingOut


1	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Breakout}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/breakout.jpg]]]]
2
3	A subgenre of {{Action Game}}s, often referred to as "''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' clones" or "''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'' clones". In Japan, "Block Kuzushi" is the common name for the genre.
4
5	In their simplest forms, you control a paddle at the bottom of the screen, which you use to bounce a ball to destroy blocks. If the ball is not bounced back, it goes off the bottom edge of the screen and the player loses a life. Powerups and enemies are common in these games, though they were absent from the original ''Breakout''.
6
7	[[UnexpectedGameplayChange Callbacks to classic arcade games often include segments like these.]]
8
9	Not to be confused with Music/TheProtomen song with the same trope name. Or BreakoutCharacter as these games don't typically feature much of a story.
10	----
11	!!Examples:
12
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:Action Adventure]]
16	* In ''VideoGame/OverlordRaisingHell'', you get to play ''Breakout'' with a rolling, morbidly obese halfling... as soon as you finish taking him through the mini-golf course.
17	* A ''Breakout''-like minigame in ''VideoGame/ThreeDDotGameHeroes'' is called "Blockout". Your hero's shield is the paddle, but you can use his/her sword to help propel the ball faster.
18	[[/folder]]
19
20	[[folder:Action Game]]
21	* ''[[http://www.break-quest.com/ Break Quest]]'' actually has a physics engine, so objects can bounce and spin in reaction to being hit as well as many other effects such as teathered or sprung objects, allowing for a '''lot''' of variety in it's level design.
22	* ''VideoGame/{{Warlords}}''
23	* ''VideoGame/{{Aliens Go Home Run}}''
24	* Exidy's ''TV Pinball'' (1975), the UrExample.
25	* ''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'', the TropeMaker
26	* ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'', the TropeCodifier
27	* [[OtherNintendoSystems Color TV Game Block Kusure/Breaker]]
28	* ''[[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters Bachelorette Party]]'' and ''[[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters Bachelor Party.]]''
29	* iPods come with a ''Breakout'' game -- possibly as a callback to Apple's very first personal computers that also came with ''Breakout''.
30	** Indeed much like the Platform/MacOS easter egg below, these mainly came about because of Steve Jobs' love of ''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' so legend goes. For the latter day scroll-wheel color iPods, Apple even made their own clone with a few circle based tweaks called Vortex.
31	* An EasterEgg in Platform/MacOS 7.5 allows you to play a version of this, with the developers' names printed on the blocks.
32	* ''VideoGame/{{Shatter}}''.
33	* ''Magic Orbz''.
34	* ''Krypton Egg''.
35	* The unlicensed NES games ''Dudes with Attitude'' and ''Trolls on Treasure Island''.
36	* ''Super Puzzle World 3'' (A ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'') hack has this for the first castle, complete with a Reznor edit to look like Pac Man. You can see it at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjp3_x50MV4 this video]]
37	* The Platform/Commodore64 had ''Krakout'', remembered fondly for its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8sET07lKzA addictive gameplay and incredible music]], and not so fondly for [[NintendoHard the most dastardly]] ArchEnemy in video game history. On later levels, an [[NotSoHarmlessVillain unassuming]] [[HappyFunBall blue ball]] would appear (behind walls of bricks, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCWNvqFZeFk see video]] from 8:40) which tried to match your ball's height on the screen. [[spoiler:If you allowed them to touch, the blue ball would swallow your ball whole, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath digest it]], and [[BeatingADeadPlayer spit its dessicated corpse]] back at you. Even if you manage to intercept the mangled remains with your paddle, it just flies past. This creature from the darkest pits of the lowest hells was named The Cannibal.]] Somehow, losing the ball off the side of the screen was no longer the worst thing that could happen.
38	* ''VideoGame/BadOmen'' (a.k.a. ''Devilish'') for the Platform/SegaGenesis.
39	* The Platform/{{Macintosh}} was host to several {{Freeware}} and {{Shareware}} twists on the game:
40	** ''Brickles'' had the option of up to four simultaneous paddles, meaning that the ball could never touch any side of the screen.
41	** ''Shatterball'' took the concept into 3D.
42	** ''Block Buster'' combined ''Breakout'' with ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}''.
43	** ''Un-Breakout'' placed the bricks below the paddle, and asked you to defend instead of break them.
44	** ''Diamonds'' and its spinoff ''Diamonds for Kids'' had no paddle and only direct control of the ball's horizontal motion, but it could only destroy bricks of the same color it was. The ''VideoGame/{{Action52}}'' Platform/SegaGenesis ripoff ''Bonkers'' copied this concept.
45	** The ''[=BeeBop=]'' trilogy by Daniel Clav offered a slightly more puzzle-oriented take on this genre. Some levels had internal walls that would disappear when all the immediately accessible bricks were removed. The deadly lasers that usually appeared underneath the paddle would sometimes appear above the bricks or even on the side.
46	* Website/FunOrb has "Brick-À-Brac".
47	* The ''VideoGame/PuttPutt'' series spin-off ''Putt-Putt and Pep's Balloon-o-Rama'', which has you bouncing Pep into the air to pop all the balloons before moving onto the next level.
48	* ''VideoGame/{{Wizorb}}'', an Xbox Indie and PC game with some RPGElements.
49	* ''Videogame/AlphaBounce'', another clone with RPG elements, and JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE, is an [[http://www.alphabounce.com online version]]. It has been ported to Platform/DSiWare, with some changes and further elaboration.
50	* The vanilla DS had an Eidos release called ''Nervous Brickdown'', which presented ten different flavors of ''Breakout''-style gameplay in various settings, each one controlling slightly differently.
51	* The ''VideoGame/{{Ricochet}}'' series, beginning with ''Xtreme'', then ''Lost Worlds'' and ''Infinity''. The latter two are known for their complex {{Level Editor}}s.
52	* Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''VideoGame/PuchiCarat'' combines basic ball-and-paddle gameplay with a few ''Puzzle Bobble''-like twists.
53	* ''DX Ball'' and ''DX Ball 2''.
54	* ''Alleyway'' for the Platform/GameBoy, developed by none other than Nintendo themselves.
55	* ''VideoGame/HoshizoraBlock''
56	* ''VideoGame/ThunderAndLightning''
57	* ''Titan'' by Creator/TitusSoftware attempts to break out of the mold by giving the paddle complete two-dimensional freedom of movement.
58	* Creator/{{Activision}}'s ''{{VideoGame/Oink}}!'' for the Atari 2600 reverses this, as you try to stop the Big Bad Wolf from using his breath to knock holes in your wall big enough to come after your [[Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs three little pigs]].
59	* ''VideoGame/{{Jardinains}}'' and its sequel are Breakout clones with nains that throw junk at your paddle and generally want to make your life miserable. You can knock them off their bricks and bounce them with your paddle to get powerups if you want revenge.
60	* Creator/{{Exidy}}'s arcade game ''VideoGame/{{Circus}}'' (and its Platform/{{Atari 2600}} adaptation ''Circus Atari''), in which you bounce around a pair of acrobats to pop three rows of balloons in the air.
61	* The black-and-white Platform/AtariST game ''Bolo'' (not to be confused with several SimilarlyNamedWorks) gives the player full control over two axes of paddle movement. However, it also has some blocks which release enemies that kill the ball on contact.
62	* ''Woody Pop'' is Creator/{{Sega}}'s take on ''Arkanoid'', complete with a similar powerup system. It was originally released [[NoExportForYou in Japan only]] for the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and later ported to the UsefulNotes/GameGear in all regions.
63	* ''VideoGame/KirbysBlockBall'' is breakout but with Kirby!
64	* The ''[[VideoGame/BricksOfSeries Bricks Of]]'' series, in which brick-breaking comes in underwater, Egyptian or medieval flavour.
65	* ''[[https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/581874 Missilebreak Outvaders]] combines it with VideoGame/SpaceInvaders and VideoGame/MissileCommand.
66	* ''Blast Thru''.
67	* ''VideoGame/{{Hyperballoid}}'' is breaking shapes (not just bricks) with a ball that bounces off a paddle.
68	* ''Thro' The Wall'', on the Horizons demo tape that came with the Platform/ZXSpectrum and thus the first game many owners of the Spectrum ever played.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Fighting Game]]
72	* The various DLC for ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Battle of Aces'' contain a minigame called Bind Breaker, where you use the ball to destroy the blocks that make up the characters' Barrier Jackets, stripping them down to bathing suits. Not for the more conservative of fans.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Pinball]]
76	* In Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/TheShadow'' pinball, there's a mini-playfield in the upper-left corner called The Battlefield, which plays like this. When activated, the pinball rolls around the field, and the player moves a bat left and right with the flipper buttons to make it hit various targets.
77	* The Wispy Woods bonus stage in ''VideoGame/KirbysPinballLand'' is a simple ''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' clone.
78	* ''VideoGame/CrueBall'' has a hidden game where you play ''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' using a flying Flipper Sled against exploding skeletons.
79	* The ''VideoGame/PinballDeluxe'' table ''BRIX'' is a hybrid of Breakout and pinball, using destroyable bricks instead of pins.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Platform Game]]
83	* ''VideoGame/LyleInCubeSector'' has you fight a boss in this manner.
84	* In ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', there is a room where you must do this to open the path to the next room. Missing the ball--in this case Delicious Fruit--doesn't kill you, but it removes a block of the ground that you are standing on, revealing deadly spikes. Once you've cleared a path to the exit, you must then dodge the ball as you make your way out of the room, or else it will kill you.
85	* In ''VideoGame/{{Vexx}}'', one mini-game in Tempest Peak Manor, the fourth world, has you playing ''Breakout''. ...On a GIANT-screen TV. ...Controlling the joystick by standing on it.
86	* ''Videogame/JackieChansActionKungFu'', a NES title, ''inverted'' this trope. One of the minigames had a ball-spitting face trying to destroy a block wall Jackie was standing on. The player had to deflect the balls by punching and kicking them, to avoid the complete destruction of the wall.
87	* The paint brushes lines from ''Videogame/KirbyCanvasCurse'' take on properties that allow for an imitation of ''Breakout'' when pitted against Kracko and Kracko Jr.
88	* ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' has some levels like this, made by the community in the LevelEditor. Of course, the big draw here isn't that it's a ''Breakout'' clone, it's that it's a ''Breakout'' clone ''made with the in-game tools.''
89	* The Atari Jaguar, PC, iOS and Android versions of ''VideoGame/Rayman1'' feature a ''Breakout'' clone in the form of a hidden mini game called ''Ray Breakout.'' Instead of breaking bricks, you hit plums, and instead of controlling a paddle, you control Rayman.
90	* ''VideoGame/AntonballDeluxe'': ''Antonball'' is a game of ''Breakout'' set in a ''VideoGame/MarioBros''-style arena. In addition to the usual brick-breaking, Anton uses other platforming skills to dodge and attack stage hazards that can harm him just as much as missing the ball. The mode ''Vs. Antonball'' pits up to four players against each other to break the other side's bricks first.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Rhythm Game]]
94	* ''[[VideoGame/BitTrip BIT.TRIP BEAT]]'' uses it for a level boss.
95	** ''BIT.TRIP FLUX'' combines it with Pong for another boss.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Role Playing Game]]
99	* One level of ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' contains this as a minigame.
100	* Bowser's special move using his koopa minions in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' is a breakout minigame.
101	** The Luiginary Wall attack in VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam is a breakout style mini game, with the version used in Battle Broque Madame (the second mini game test section) being one with power ups, a score up to 999 and various other things.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Shoot Em Up]]
105	* ''VideoGame/TouhouReiidenHighlyResponsiveToPrayers'' plays like a very strange hybrid of ''Breakout'' and a {{danmaku}} shoot 'em up. For one thing, the ball can safely touch the floor (it just resets your score gain), but touching it directly will kill Reimu. She need to perform actions like swinging her ''gohei'' or throwing talismans to actually swat the ball away. Next, some levels have indestructictible turrets that shoot at you, and at higher difficulties even the blocks shoot bullets when destroyed. Finally, every 5 levels there's a BossBattle where Reimu needs to direct the ball to hit them while dodging all the bullets they shoot.
106	* The MCP Cone sequence in the ''VideoGame/{{TRON}}'' arcade game is ''Breakout'' done as a shoot-em-up.
107	** ''Squeeze Box'' for the Platform/Atari2600 has this play mechanic for the entire game.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Sports Game]]
111	* The BonusDungeon of ''VideoGame/ZanyGolf'' includes a ''Breakout'' scenario.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Others]]
115	* The programming puzzle site ''Website/AdventOfCode'' has puzzle [[https://adventofcode.com/2019/day/13 2019-13]] where you must use the Intcode interpreter (built as part of previous puzzles) to simulate a Breakout style game and automate it so you break all the blocks.
116	* FMV game ''Snow Job'' features a ''Breakout'' minigame that entails gradually uncovering [[{{Fanservice}} a picture of a scantily-clad lady]], as well as loud sound effects.
117	* ''VideoGame/IdleBreakout'' is a hybrid of IdleGame and breaking blocks, also on a far grander scale since with tens or even hundreds of balls bouncing around.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Non-Video Game Examples]]
121	* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in the ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' comic [[https://xkcd.com/347/ Archway]]. Cueball hits a brick archway with a ball, and the brick falls on his head.
122	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BreakingOut