Break It

Break It is a video game in the action genre developed by WSP-Software and published by WSP-Software originally released in 1995. It is currently playable on DOS.

Break It is a variant of Breakout for one or two players that more or less sticks to the original rules. The objective of each level is to clear the playing field of all destructible bricks with a ball that bounces on a paddle that the player moves horizontally at the bottom of the screen. If the ball falls off the screen, one point is subtracted from the number of 'lives' or 'tries' the player has (starting with five) and a new ball appears to continue playing.

The bricks range from those that break as soon as the ball hits them, to those that take more than one hit to break (changing color as they are hit), to completely indestructible obstacles. Some bricks drop bonuses that fall, and if the player 'catches' such a bonus with the shovel, they can gain a temporary advantage, including a weapon that can be fired from the shovel to destroy bricks, an increase in the size of the shovel, an extra life, and so on. However, certain bonuses have an adverse effect (reversing the left and right controls of the shovel, discoloring the playing field, or even taking away a life point). Typical of the genre, the game doesn't explain which bonuses do what, leaving the player to figure it out for themselves. Also, sometimes bricks drop surprise bonuses that look like question marks, the effect of which can only be discovered after picking them up.

What makes Break It different from many other similar games is that temporary bonuses cannot accumulate: each time a new bonus is collected, any current (dis)bonuses that are in effect will expire. So, for example, if the player gets an increase in palette size, but then picks up the missile weapon bonus, the palette will shrink to the original size. This may limit the player's resources, but it also allows to cancel any negative effects by choosing a new bonus.

Two users can play on the same screen, with their movement restricted to the left and right sides of the playing field. A joystick is required for the second player, as the first player's paddle can only be controlled with the mouse, not the keyboard.

Break It was distributed as shareware. Registered users received 100 additional levels and a level editor for the game.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.