Brick 64

Brick 64 is a homebrew game by Allie, released on 23 August 2020. It is something like a Breakout/Alleyway clone, but in a bottom-up 3D perspective.

You can get the ROM from its download page by using the password breakoutthebricks. You can also have a look at the source code for the game on Github and compile it yourself using the N64 SDK.

About Brick 64

The gameplay is very straightforward if you have some experience playing games like Breakout or Alleyway. The objective is to destroy all the bricks on the screen by strategically bouncing a ball at them back and forth. Unlike these other game however, the paddle strikes the ball in the opposite direction of where it was stuck which can be a little bit unintuitive.

There are blocks of several different colours, each one representing the amount of health points that that specific block has. Looking through the code, it does seem like it is possible to destroy several blocks of the same colour in a sort of “chain reaction”, but I’m not sure if that’s the case or if multiple blocks are destroyed by the ball just rebounding.

The game itself is very forgiving. There is no penalty for missing the ball, it just reappears back in the centre of the board. There also isn’t a time limit so you can take as long as you like. The most challenging part really is getting those last few bricks that are tucked away in the corner, they give me “bouncing DVD logo” vibes.

There isn’t really much to say about Brick 64 that isn’t in the game itself. It was developed over the course of 3-4 weeks using the official SDK. There does seem to be an indication that there were multiple levels in the game, but it seems to have been cut out.

Conclusion and review

Brick 64 is a very simple game, but in the style of an arcade game, it makes for an exciting short burst of fun. It’s unfortunate that it’s an incomplete game since it would really benefit from some audio, a level system and a readjustment in difficulty (slower ball, but add a life counter).

I do recommend it though, it only lasts a few minutes so there’s no reason to not give it a go.