Brick Break for Windows

Although it features little to set it apart from the slew of breakout-style games on the scene, Brick Break for Windows provides more of a challenge than you might initially think. This game's concept is the same as virtually all others in its class: you repeatedly deflect a ball against a wall of bricks to destroy them all and advance to the next level. At first, we found this program laughably simple, as the first level had only a dozen bricks and the second only a few more. However, as we got deeper into the game and finally made a blunder, we discovered the board resets each time you lose a ball, meaning you have to be perfect if you want to keep going. Brick Break for Windows' graphics are nothing to write home about, but the realistic sound effects somewhat make up for this. The game's feature set also is rather small, although the ability to choose from two design themes is a bonus. Seasoned Arkanoid players likely will blow through the demo's 10-level trial in no time, but newbies may find it a good way to train their hand-eye coordination.