BRKÖUT Reviews

For a couple bucks, this game is worth it. However my biggest gripe is it's lack of physics that even exist in the most rudimentary of Breakout clones from 30+ years ago. The ball drops, and where it hits on your paddle has no effect on where it will travel. It's very random and sometimes VERY frustrating, especially when you are down to your last few pixels. Momentum of the paddle also has no effect. You'll have a few blocks to go on left field, but no matter how you hit the ball or how hard, it travels to the right. Since your paddle only has limited hits, you know you'll get a game over. I play the game with the mouse, and although you see the cursor you can't click on any menu items and are forced to use the keyboard. I love the crazy "plot" screens that appear, but having to restart to the main menu EVERY TIME YOU GET A NEW ONE gets old very fast. I want to keep coming back, but as the game gets harder you realize more and more how flawed it is. I'm enjoying the story, and a few parts even had my jaw wide open, but having to grind through the stages becomes a chore. I really wish the main gameplay was fixed, then this game would easily be worth a purchase. Otherwise you'll likely be like me and only play a few minutes of time before getting frustrated and shut it off. Time to go play Arkanoid instead.

Classic Gameplay, catchy music, and unorthodox storytelling. An engaging gaming experience that is well worth the price!

Although the psychological horror elements of this game are excellent the gameplay fails in many aspects.

I found this game to be quite a lot of fun. I recommend it for someone looking for something cool and interesting to play.

Great game! The soundtrack was amazing, and playing though it was very intriguing! I'd check it out if you've got a few bucks to spend, worth every penny!

4/10 The core idea behind BRKÖUT is kind of fascinating - the old-school Arkanoid gameplay hiding a deeper meta-level tale. I thought that the twist on brick breaking was a cool idea, that the bricks you break must be caught to maintain a "paddle," and that whiffing too many times can actually break your "paddle" and lead to a loss. However, for this to work, the physics of ball movement must be reliable. The game mitigates the bad physics in one way by allowing for infinite balls and allowing for you to move out of frame on the left and right to re-emerge on the other side, but I think that perhaps more should be done. On a few occasions, the ball bounced back up out of the corner after I missed it with my paddle. Often, the ball would bounce off of my paddle, hit the side wall, and then bounce back downwards again (?). On one occasion I had to restart a level, because the ball bounced off of my paddle and hit the side wall, then went downwards at a slight angle and hit the other wall, then bounced back upwards again (?) and hit the spot it had come from, looping infinitely. If the physics can't be fixed, perhaps there could be a bottom row of bricks on your paddle that cannot be broken? I pushed through these physics to learn more about what was going on behind the scenes, losing levels multiple times with only two blocks left because I couldn't get the ball to move at the angles I wanted. Eventually, I began to complete these short "key" levels (which can be seen at around 35 seconds into the trailer). These were less interesting than the Arkanoid-style levels, but I completed about 10 of them before being sent to a blank white screen. When I hit my space bar on the blank screen, I could hear the text noises that you hear on the message screens following the Arkanoid-style levels, but my screen remained white with nothing on it. I couldn't return to the menu by hitting Esc, so I alt-F4'd to leave. When I started the game again, I was sent back to before I did any of the "key" levels, so I went ahead and asked for a refund. BRKÖUT has a neat concept, and I've always had a soft spot for Arkanoid, but there are just too many problems here for a recommendation.

What begins as a deceptively simple and delightfully hectic take on the classic brickbreaker gameplay slowly becomes an engaging, bizarre, and sometimes disturbing story told through glitches and system errors. The core gameplay mechanic is quite enjoyable, even though it slightly lacks challenge - but that's alright, because where the game really shines is the tale it tells (I won't divulge any details). But by far, my favorite part of this game is the soundtrack. A great mix of driving chiptune tracks, dark and sludgy guitar riffs, and more, that all really add a lot to their respective parts of the game. Overall, well worth my few bucks and the hour and half or so it took to complete.

This is much more than an arcade game. It's an arcade game in the Twilight Zone. If you like the unexpected and macabre, this is for you. The breakout portion requires you to unlearn your "chase the ball" skills, and apply some strategy. And then... weirdness. Hold on, keep going, and be rewarded. And you might want to break out your Atari 2600 again.

One of the most unique games I have ever played. Just finished a few minutes ago and I have to say they story and music were the strongest parts. This game takes a simple and well known gameplay element from the original Breakout and kicks it up like 10 notches by adding amazing music and sound effects, a story full of psychological horror and just feels addicting and satisfying to play throughout. You can never tell what is going to come next; a minigame, a key story element or maybe just another round of Breakout with new and unexpected rules. Oh yeah, and making me close the game and edit system files in order to continue...wasn't expecting that at all! For $2.99, this game is well worth the price even with only 2-3 hours of playtime to complete.

DÖ YÖU LIKE GAMES THAT ÖFFER AN INTRIGUING STÖRY AND AN ABUNDANCE ÖF UMLAUTS IN UNDER FÖUR HÖURS? Then this is the game for you! Beautifully simple gameplay as a vehicle for a story that was not only captivating, but unique. The narrative is complex and at points disturbing, and without spoiling anything, very meta. The soundtrack also creates the perfect atmosphere throughout, and coupled with the art style, it provides the perfect ambience. I LÖVE THE CÖLÖRS. Overall for a solid 2+ hours of content, it is well worth the price. Hell, you couldn't even buy a movie ticket for this cheap!