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Combo Breaker

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Author Comments

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Explode all blocks with this fun and fast pacing game inspired by Breakout/Arkanoid.

Desktop Version: https://tumati.itch.io/combobreaker


Controls

A, D - Move

Space - launch the ball

Mouse Left - Bullet time

Mouse Right - Activate Special

Shift + Mouse Scroll - Change Special

Esc - pause


How to Play

Start using Spacebar to launch the ball. Use the mouse to point the direction where the ball will bounce. 

Destroy blocks to charge special bar. When charged, use mouse right click to use the special. Next time the ball touches the charged paddle it will activate the special.

Use mouse left click to use bullet time to slowdown time and catch the ball (costs special power).

Destroy many blocks before the ball touches the paddle again to count as combo points.

Use combo points to buy upgrades.


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Right mouse button is a terrible choice for webgames as on many browsers you accidentally end up closing the tab or opening a new tab. Right mouse click, and ideally left mouse click, should have an alternative available on the keyboard.

The motion of the paddle is slow, which other people have pointed out, but I'd also say it feels both jerky and slippy, which detracts from the experience.

tumati responds:

Thanks for your feedback.

You've got some interesting ideas here, but the I don't think most players are ever going to be able to interact with them. There's the fore issue of the paddle moving much more slowly than the ball meaning that a high level of mastery is required just for basic play, but also you don't start with any specials, making it very difficult to get a high enough combo to actually unlock any specials

tumati responds:

You're right. I will try to make it easier. Thanks so much for your feedback.

The paddle moves so slowly in which it is very difficult to try to navigate and line up under the fast-moving ball, which could ricochet very quickly at steep angle and makes it impossible to reach. You would get a lot of Game Over screen with this before anything remotely interesting happens. And once anything interesting happens, the game become quite interesting to play with the power-ups and bullet-time mechanic.

I believe the problem lies in the conjunction of slow-moving paddle and the bullet-time gauge in which it takes a while to build up the meter in order to use it effectively. Increasing the speed for paddle would remove large degree of frustration and difficulty and having the gauge being used more efficiently with one block hit equal one-half second of bullet-time instead of waiting to use it after 3 or 4 block hits. This way, the player would be in better position to avoid getting game over and you would reward the player's effort by keeping them invested in this game.

tumati responds:

Thanks for the great feedback and for spending your time playing and analyzing so deeply. It's very hard to find people to playtest and, after some time developing, the game feels easier than it really is.

Credits & Info

Views
523
Votes
66
Score
3.17 / 5.00

Uploaded
Nov 23, 2021
2:10 PM EST