Balls 'n Walls

Over a hundred levels of pure brick breaking fun! Simply bounce your ball back with your paddle to break down the wall. Collect bonus items to upgrade your paddle and try to find an exit in each level to progress through the game.

Goal of the game

The goal of the game is to break down a wall of bricks by hitting the bricks with your ball. When the ball hits a brick, the brick will be removed from the play field if it is a normal brick.

The ball bounces around in the play field and should be bounced back into the play field with your paddle, located at the bottom of the play field. You lose a life if a ball exits the play field at the bottom.

A level in Balls 'n Walls can be bigger than the play field. When a ball hits the top of the play field in a big level, the entire level scrolls down a bit, revealing more bricks.

Each level has one or more exit bricks. If a ball hits an exit brick the current level will end and you will advance to the next level. Different exits may lead to different levels. In some levels the exits aren't immediately visible when the level starts. After finishing the last level, the game ends.

Collectable items

Sometimes when a brick is removed from the play field a collectable item is dropped. These items can be collected by catching them with the paddle. There are three types of collectables:

	Bonus Pill	When a pill is collected the next bonus item will be highlighted.
	Score Coin	Collect these coins to increase your score.
	Letters	Collect the complete word EXTRA to receive an extra life.

Next to the play field all the available bonus items are displayed. When you collect a bonus pill, the first bonus item is highlighted (starting from the bottom). With each additional pill collected the next bonus item is highlighted.

Use the right mouse button or press B to activate the highlighted bonus item. After this a little time bar appears below the bonus item to indicate how long it will remain active. When a bonus item is activated, all the collected bonus pills are used so you have to start collecting pills from scratch.

The following bonus items are available:

	Force Field	A force field is activated above the paddle. Balls will be bounced back by it, but coins, bonus pills, and letters will fall through.
	Power ball	All balls in the play field are upgraded to a power ball. Power balls will remove normal bricks without bouncing back.
	Cannon	A cannon is added to the paddle. Use the space bar or the left mouse button to fire bullets at the bricks. When this bonus item is activated while it was still active, a second canon is added to the paddle.
	Shadow	A shadow is added to the paddle. This shadow acts in the same way as the paddle itself so it can bounce balls back and collect coins, bonus pills, and letters.
	Sticky Paddle	The balls stick to the paddle. Press space or the left mouse button to release the ball(s).
	Paddle Width	The paddle grows a little bit wider. This bonus can be activated up to four times in a row.

Some bonus items can be activated multiple times in a row. For instance the paddle width bonus can be activated four times in a row. Each time it is activated while it still active, the paddle grows wider and wider. When the time bar below the paddle width bonus item runs out of time, only one paddle width bonus is lost and the time bar will start counting down again until all paddle width bonusses are lost.

Bricks

The following bricks appear in the game:

	Normal Brick	These bricks are removed from the play field when a ball or a bullet hits them.
	Multiple Hit Brick	These bricks are removed from the play field when they are hit 1..4 times with a ball or a bullet.
	Mystery Block	These bricks can be removed from the play field by hitting them multiple times with a ball or a bullet.
	Ball Color Brick	When a ball touches one of these bricks it turns into the color of the brick.
	Lock Brick	These bricks can only be removed from the play field by hitting them with a ball that has the same color.
	Direction Brick	These bricks can only be removed if a ball hits it at the side the arrow is pointing at.
	Scroll Brick	When a ball or bullet hits a scroll brick the entire level scrolls down a little bit.
	Ball Split Brick	When a ball hits a split brick it splits into two balls.
	Speed Up/Speed Down Brick	When a ball hits a speed up or speed down brick its speed is respectively increased or decreased.
	Block Brick	Bricks of this type can't be removed from the play field.
	Exit Brick	When a ball hits an exit brick the current level is completed and the game progresses to the next level.

Controls

The paddle can be controlled with the mouse or the cursor keys.

When using the mouse to control the paddle, simply position the mouse pointer inside the game at the position that you want the paddle to be. Be careful not to move outside the game unintentionally as you will lose control of the paddle if the mouse pointer moves outside the game.

Use the left mouse button to release balls that are sticking to the paddle and to fire bullets when a cannon is activated. Use the right mouse button to activate the highlighted bonus item.

When using the keyboard to control the paddle, use the left and right cursor keys to move the paddle in those directions. The paddle moves slower if the down cursor key is hold down in combination with the left or right cursor key.

During the game you can use the following keys:

R	This ends the current game and starts a new one.
S	This starts or stops the sound.
P	This pauses the game.
B	This activates the highlighted bonus item.
Space	This releases balls that are sticking to the paddle and fires bullets when a cannon is activated.

Score

You can score points by removing bricks from the play field, killing enemies, bouncing balls back, or catching collectables. The dropping coins are the best way to earn points fast. At the end of each level a number of bonus coins are awarded. The number of coins awarded depends on the percentage of bricks removed from that level.

Levels

Each level has one of more exit bricks. When a ball hits an exit brick, the level will end and you will advance to the next level. Different exits may lead to different levels. So try to use different exits each time you play Balls 'n Walls and explore over hundred levels.