Breakout

Requirements

• Linux or macOS.
• A graphics-capable terminal that supports the Kitty graphics protocol — Ghostty (primary), Kitty, or WezTerm. Without it the game exits with a clear message; there is no text-cell fallback.
• Run it directly in the terminal — tmux and other multiplexers answer the capability queries but do not display the image protocol, so the screen stays empty.
• A Rust toolchain to install with Cargo.

Install

Install the breakout command with Cargo, either straight from the repository or from a local checkout of the source.

From the repository

cargo install --git https://github.com/mikerayco/Breakout.git

From a local checkout

cargo install --path .

Launch

Once installed, start the game from any shell:

breakout

Useful flags: --level <file> to play one level standalone, --seed <n> for reproducible runs, --fps <30-144>, --scale <n>, --no-audio, --no-bloom, and --caps for a capability report.

Controls

The run

Each run takes you through 8 levels. After every level you're offered a few random perks — like a laser paddle, multiball, or a sticky paddle — and you pick one. Your choices stack up as you go, so every run plays differently.

Clearing the run earns persistent shards you can spend on unlocks, so progress carries over between runs. Under the hood the game renders at a silky 144 fps with particles, bloom, and screenshake, right inside your terminal.

Save data is a single JSON profile written atomically at run end — a corrupt profile is renamed aside and play continues.

Sound

All ten sound effects and the music bed are synthesized at build time and compiled into the binary — no audio assets are downloaded or bundled separately. Mute with M; the choice persists.