How to play

Aim, fire every ball you have, and break all the bricks on the stage before your shots run out. Then do it again on the next stage, and the next star.

The basics

• Aim: touch the board and drag. A dotted line shows where the first ball goes. Let go to fire.
• Balls: one shot fires all your balls in a stream. The number by the launcher (for example ×24) is how many. It grows level by level, from 24 at level 1 to 244 at level 350, and +balls rings add more.
• Bricks: the number on a brick is how many hits it needs. Clear every brick to finish the stage.
• Where you shoot from: the next shot starts where your first ball landed, so a ball that comes back to one side moves your launcher there.
• Stages: each level has several stages (3 at the start, up to 22 late in the game). Your shots are shared across all of them, and stages you've cleared stay cleared.

Your first level, step by step

The top bar while you play

Pause: the ⏸ button at the top left stops the game and opens Resume, Restart level, Settings and Back to map. In a live race or duel the clock can't stop, so the game keeps running behind it.

Gems appear in the top bar once you find your first gem.

Aiming: angles that work

A good shot does most of its work above the bricks, where balls bounce between the bricks and the top wall many times.

• Get balls above the wall. Look for a gap or a thin spot and aim through it. Once balls are on top they bounce down onto the bricks from above, hitting each one again and again.
• Use the side walls. A shallow angle at a side wall sends balls into the corners and along the top of the wall, places you can't aim at directly.
• Avoid shooting straight up into a solid wall. Steep shots into a full row bounce straight back to you and waste most of the shot.
• Go for special bricks. A bomb, laser or rocket clears many bricks with a single hit, and bombs set off other bombs. See Special bricks.
• Fly through rings early. +balls rings add balls for the rest of the level, so every later shot is bigger.
• Work around hazards. Each hazard has its own best approach, listed on the Hazards page. Some, like the slingshot planet, wormhole and pulsar, can help you and add assist points.
• Aim quickly once you've decided. Fast aiming earns up to 60% extra points, though a good angle is worth more than a fast one.

Long shots speed up

A shot that's still going after 8 seconds runs at 2× speed, after 16 seconds at 4×, after 24 seconds at 8× and after 32 seconds at 12×; a badge at the top shows the speed (⏩ ×2 to ⏩ ×12). After 60 seconds the shot ends and the balls come home. The next shot starts at normal speed.

Shots and stars

🎖 Master (level 151+): every level from 151 that you finish with 3 stars puts +1 free shot in your bank and adds to the 🎖 number next to your name on the leaderboards. From level 151 your aim line also shows one more bounce, so you can plan bank shots.

🏆 Galaxy Champion: finish level 350 to win ◆ 500 gems and 3 free shots, and a 🏆 next to your name on every leaderboard.

Stars unlock star chests full of gems and new ball styles. Collect all 1,050 for a perfect run. You can replay any level you've reached to improve your stars and score.

Continue later: leave a level for the map and come back within 6 hours to carry on from the same stage, shots and points.

Next: how your score is worked out, shot boosts and hidden paths, and where everything is on the map and in Settings.