Brick Game Handheld Games You Can Still Play Today
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The Brick Game handhelds, those cheap plastic consoles with “9999 in 1” printed on the box, are still fun to play today, and you have three ways to do it: buy one of the reproductions that are still sold, play a browser remake, or recreate the feel with games that share their LCD style. For the tank battle, Brick Tanks is a free remake that runs in any browser and works offline. This guide explains what was actually on those devices, what made them feel the way they did, and where each classic lives on today.
What was the Brick Game?
From the 1990s onward, small LCD handhelds were sold in markets, toy shops and station kiosks around the world. Depending on where you grew up, you might know them as Brick Game, as “the Tetris” (after the falling-block game that sold the device), or simply by the number on the box: 999 in 1, 9999 in 1, sometimes even more.
They all shared the same basic design:
- A 10 by 20 grid of square LCD cells, each one either dark or empty. Every game was drawn with those bricks.
- A small side panel with seven-segment digits for SCORE, HI-SCORE, LEVEL and SPEED, plus a tiny 4 by 4 window (in the falling-block game it showed the next piece).
- A D-pad and one big rotate or fire button, plus start, pause and sound buttons.
- A piezo beeper that squeaked through every move.
- A battery that lasted for weeks.
The truth about “9999 games”
There were never 9999 different games. A typical device had a handful of real games, and the giant number came from multiplying them by every combination of SPEED, LEVEL and small rule variants. A box that promised thousands of games usually held somewhere between a handful and a couple of dozen distinct ones.
The exact set changed from model to model, but these were the usual suspects:
| Game | How it worked |
|---|---|
| Falling blocks | The famous one: rotate and drop pieces, clear full rows |
| Tank battle | Drive a 3×3 tank, shoot enemy tanks rolling in from the top |
| Racing | Steer left and right to dodge oncoming brick cars |
| Snake | Eat, grow, do not hit yourself |
| Shooter | Fire at a descending wall of bricks before it reaches you |
| Breakout-style | Bounce a single-brick ball into a wall of bricks |
Choosing SPEED and LEVEL before every game was part of the ritual. LEVEL often changed the layout or the starting fill, and SPEED made everything faster and paid more points. Brick Tanks keeps that ritual.
Why these games still work
Brick games were limited by hardware that could only show 200 dots, and those limits made the games good:
- Everything moves in steps. There is no smooth animation to hide behind. You can see and count exactly where everything is.
- Every rule is visible. A bullet is one brick. A tank is three by three. Nothing surprises you.
- Short sessions. A run lasts a few minutes, ideal for the bus or a break.
- Difficulty is a dial. SPEED and LEVEL let you pick your challenge in seconds.
Option 1: a reproduction handheld
The devices never really disappeared. Reproductions of the classic brick handhelds are still made and sold cheaply, often with the same games and the same beeps. If you want the real buttons and the real battery life, that is the most authentic route. Quality varies, so look for one with a reasonably responsive D-pad.
Option 2: Brick Tanks in your browser
If the tank battle was your favorite, Brick Tanks is our original remake of it. It is not an emulator and it uses no original code or ROMs: the rules, graphics and sounds were written from scratch to look and play like the handheld.
What carries over from the original:
- The 10×20 brick field, with unlit cells glowing faintly behind the action, just like a real LCD.
- The side panel with score, high score, level and speed in seven-segment digits, and your lives in the little 4×4 window.
- The turn-first rule. The first press of a new direction only turns your tank; the next press drives. Turning in place is the fastest way to aim.
- SPEED and LEVEL from 1 to 10, chosen on the start screen with ◀ ▶ and ▲ ▼.
- Single-brick bullets and walls you shoot through one brick at a time.
- Three LCD colors under Options: the classic grey-green, an amber backlight and a blue backlight.
How a game goes: enemy tanks enter from the top corners and the middle, and you destroy the number shown under LEFT to clear the level. Level 1 asks for 10 kills, each level after that asks for two more, up to 30. Each kill is worth 10 points times your effective speed, up to 100, and clearing a level adds a bonus of 50 times the level number, up to 500. You have four lives on Normal; Hardcore gives you one, with faster, more aggressive enemies.
For tactics, such as shooting enemy bullets out of the air and using walls as shields, see our Brick Tanks guide.
Option 3: other LCD-style games
We do not have a falling-block game on NoInternet Arcade. For that one, the official versions of the game are easy to find. But a couple of our games share the handheld spirit:
- Pixel Snake has a PALETTE option that turns the field into a monochrome green LCD screen. It is not on a brick grid, but it plays like the phone and handheld snakes of the same era. Our article on playing snake like on the old Nokia phones shows the classic setup.
- Maze Muncher is a maze chase in the style of the arcade classics, with four spooks that each hunt you differently. Not a brick game, but the same “one more try” loop.
Tips for playing brick games on a phone
- Use the round D-pad. In Brick Tanks the four arrows sit around a FIRE button, close to how the handheld felt. Tapping the screen also fires.
- Hold the phone upright. Brick Tanks is a portrait game, so it fits a phone held the same way you held the handheld.
- Install it. Added to your home screen, the game opens fullscreen and works offline, so it becomes a pocket handheld of its own. Our install guide explains how.
FAQ
How many games were really on a 9999-in-1 Brick Game?
Usually a handful of real games. The big number counted every combination of speed, level and small rule variants as a separate game.
Is Brick Tanks the same as the handheld tank game?
It is a remake inspired by it, built from scratch. It keeps the brick grid, the turn-first controls, SPEED and LEVEL, and the LCD look, but it is not a copy of any device’s code.
Can I play Brick Tanks offline?
Yes. Open the page once while you are online, and the game is saved in your browser. After that it starts without a connection.
Does it work with a keyboard?
Yes. Arrows or W A S D turn and move, Space, Enter or J fires, P or Esc pauses and M mutes. A gamepad works too.
Why does my tank only turn when I press a direction?
That is the handheld’s rule: the first press of a new direction rotates the tank, and the next press moves it. It feels odd for a minute, then it becomes your fastest way to aim.