Show HN: Breakout with a roguelite/vampire survivor twist
34 comments
·February 26, 2025zeroq
Amazing! Well executed idea and great example that less is more. :)
Consider: (a) locking mouse (b) hiding cursor (c) fullscreen mode
Here's an example if you don't want to search docs: https://mdn.github.io/dom-examples/pointer-lock/
As other mentioned UI needs a few more iterations, but it's ok. I don't think you need to track coins during the run as you don't spend them to buy upgrades - which is not obvious and may require a change in how you communicate things - but on the other hand it's yet another thing tickle your lizard brain and generate additional dopamine boost. A life counter is a must.
Take a look at Electron or Tauri.
This is enough to put it on Steam. In current state it's a very solid freebie, and with some additional work you could charge an entry tier indie fee.
sphars
Nice, I like the perk system. Played a few rounds. Quick thoughts:
At first I didn't know that the coins were coins, it just looked like brick particles for visual effect. Maybe having a current coin counter or visual difference would've helped.
Speaking of coins, there's a couple times when the ball and coins were too similar in color, making it hard to find the ball amid a mass of falling coins. Maybe this is by design, but some contrast between coin color and the ball would help.
lecarore
Both valid points. I colored the coins for two reasons : they are pretty and the perk "coins stain bricks" means that if a red coin hits a blue brick, that brick becomes blue (which helps with other perks like "picky eater" and "color pierce"). I think there could be a short text that changes once you perform the action, so "click to start", "catch the ball", "catch the coins for score", and "clear all bricks", then it would be gone once you finish the first level.
airstrike
The game is great and clearly a lot of thought has gone into polishing! Congrats
FWIW it also took me a couple of levels to even realize how I was getting coins. A yellow glow around the coins or some shiny effect + clinky sounds would go a long way. The -2 +2 etc. callout numbers could also last longer on the page and just grow in size as they fade out? They were also quite hard to spot
Willingham
I rather enjoyed that I got to make the discovery that the particles were coins, moreover, I enjoyed dropping STRAIGHT into the game without having to read anything or press any buttons. Lastly, this worked flawlessly on my iPhone, bravo to the work you did to make that happen!
xnx
Yes. Coins should all be gold and spin on edge (so they don't present as just circles). Colored halo or trail can match the origin brick color.
vessenes
I had this same thought; maybe just CSS to make them glow / glint a little? Or make the edges golden? I agree there could be a bit of juice on the coins. Or possibly the noise could be a little more clink/coinish.
Y_Y
Fun game!
A couple of small translation issues I spotted: "Keep pressing here to play" should really mean "tap repeatedly", I think you should put something like "Press and hold here to play"; the other was one of the upgrade descriptions said something like "slower the ball" which I'd write as maybe "slow down the ball".
GistNoesis
There is an issue with mouse control (I'm playing with a mouse pad but the problem should occur with a regular mouse too): When you move the mouse fast it gets out of the control area and then small movement don't respond anymore until the mouse gets back into the control area which usually results in an overshoot.
It makes the game feels unresponsive when you lose control of the pad because of this. It also breaks immersion because you must know where your pointer is instead of being the pad.
Couldn't play more than a few levels because of this.
FlyingAvatar
Love the concept.
My $0.02 of feedback: The number of lives being inside the puck as a number is distracting and makes the game look less evolved than it actually is.
I would prefer a visual indicator on the side of the game play area.
FlyingAvatar
I realize now this is a streak counter not a number of lives, which I think is even less intuitive.
Having lives, coins and streak counters outside the play area I think would be better.
Apreche
This is actually a good game idea. If you keep working on it and polishing it, it could be a hit.
somenameforme
Very fun. But I don't understand why the UI got much worse between V1 and the latest version? You had tool tips, audio, better visuals, and everything in V1.
Anyhow, great job.
beej71
Fun! I really like the idea that you can have a simple game with simple graphics that's really compelling.
jtxt
Very fun! Works great on iPhone. Neat that I can stop by just lifting my finger to take a breather. Fun multipliers! More to discover!
samiv
Hi, cool and congrats on making a game! I also have a breakout clone in the works but with the twist that I'm doing my own complete 2D game engine for the game.
- The particle effects when the block is broken is a bit disturbing and distracts from the gaming experience since they make it harder to see the ball. And since this is just a visual maybe you want to fade them out or something.
- The size of the blocks seems out of whack with respect to the paddle and ball
- The little effect when the ball hits the paddle is a neat idea!
Here's what I have myself:
https://ensisoft.com/demos/break/game.html
Made with this engine
GordonS
Just tried your version on Firefox on Android, but it seems to go into a reload loop (I keep seeing the Detenator loading page), then the device becomes unresponsive and Firefox crashes.
samiv
Ah, web dev, always a pleasure.
xnx
Agree on all counts.
Blocks can explode in place, but shouldn't rain as much (or any) debris that gets mixed in with ball and coins.
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ww520
This is pretty fun. I enjoyed it.
Here's an issue. The mouse freezes a bit at 3rd level, leading to missing the ball. Not sure if it's GC issue or input handling.
koinedad
I like the idea, makes it much more engaging. Some things were a little confusing like the coins concept. Also sometimes the ball trajectory is a little wonky, not sure if that’s just me. Nice work!
Hi HN ! This is an open source project I've been working on for a while. It's actually the third breakout-like game I've built. I really like the simplicity of the concept, having just one input (the puck horizontal position) and a simple gameplay that gives a low skill floor.
My girlfriend and I played a lot of the excellent LBreakoutHD, an open source breakout game that follows the traditional formula of having multiple lives, scoring points by breaking bricks and catching the good upgrades that spawn randomly and fall down, while avoiding bad upgrades.
She liked this game because it is non-violent, and doesn't make her sick like the first person 3D games. There are some issues though, it gets boring to break the last bricks, it's a bit unfair or slow sometimes, and the run length is too long with 30 something levels to clear for a high score.
I wanted to make a clone that would be fix those issues. I first tried to introduce more strategy by making the upgrades visible from the start, instead of them appearing randomly. You'd then strategize what to break first to earn more points. That first version is playable (https://breakout-v1.lecaro.me/) but a bit too complex.
I then wanted to simplify the gameplay, but make the game multiplayer in split screen (https://breakout-v2.lecaro.me/). Instead of bonus and malus, each brick drops some coins, and you need to catch them with the puck. This worked pretty well. You can play with the keyboard (A/D and LEFT/RIGHT keys) or mouse or both. The bomb explosions will blow coins around, including the coins of other players, and if you lose your ball, then a gap opens between your screen and the guy next to you, to give him a chance to lend you his ball. You can play using your phone as a controller by scanning the QR code, but make sure everyone is on the same Wi-Fi and that the the firewalls are down.
For my last version (https://breakout.lecaro.me/) is focused on the game feel and juice. It is about breaking bricks and catching coins, like the v2, but you can now pick upgrades at the end of each level. Your score unlocks more upgrades and levels that are added to the pool for the next runs. There are currently 31 upgrades and 91 levels to unlock.
Please have a try and tell me what you think. The game should run well on Firefox, safari and chrome on mobile and pc. It is available in F-Droid and on the play store, The source code is on GitLab. All links are in the game menu.