About the Brick Game tank game
If you owned one of those chunky brick game 9999 in 1 handhelds, you remember the tank battle hiding between the falling blocks and the racing cars: a tiny tank made of nine LCD cells, enemy tanks crawling in from the top, and a beeper that squeaked with every shot. Brick Tanks brings that game back as a free tank game online that looks and plays like the real device.
Everything is drawn with bricks on a 10×20 grid, unlit cells glow faintly behind the action, and the side panel shows your score, high score, level and speed in seven-segment digits. A small 4×4 window keeps your remaining lives, just where the handheld showed the next piece. It is a pure retro tank game: discrete steps, single-brick bullets and walls you can shoot through one brick at a time.
How to play brick game tanks
- Choose New Game, then pick SPEED with ◀ ▶ and the starting LEVEL with ▲ ▼. Press fire to begin.
- Enemy tanks enter from the top corners and the middle. Line up with one and shoot it before it shoots you.
- The first press of a direction turns your tank; the next press moves it. Bullets break wall bricks.
- Destroy the number of tanks shown under LEFT to clear the level and earn a bonus. The next level adds walls and speed.
- You have four lives. After the last one, watch for a continue offer that gives you one more.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Phone / tablet | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn / move | ↑ ↓ ← → or W A S D | D-pad on the left | D-pad |
| Fire | Space, Enter or J | FIRE button (or tap the screen) | A |
| Pause | P / Esc | Pause button | Start |
| Mute | M | Speaker button | — |
Tips for a high score
Turn in place to aim
Rotating costs no movement, so you can face a new threat instantly. Stay put, swing the barrel and fire rather than driving into the line of fire.
Shoot their bullets
Two bullets that meet cancel each other out. When an enemy fires straight at you, answer with a shot of your own instead of trying to dodge.
Use walls as shields, then open them
Bricks stop enemy fire too. Keep one between you and the top of the field, and knock a single brick out when you want a firing window.
Raise SPEED when you are ready
Every kill is worth ten points per speed step, up to 100, and the level bonus grows with every level you clear. A careful run at speed 6 usually beats a reckless one at speed 10, because a lost life costs far more than a few slower kills.
Hardcore mode
Switch Difficulty to Hardcore in Options for the real test: one life, faster tanks that shoot more often, more of them at once and no continue. A HARD mark lights up on the LCD, and your scores go to a separate board on the leaderboards.
Want more handheld classics? Try Snake and Maze, or run with the dinosaur in Dino Run.
Brick Tanks FAQ
Is Brick Tanks free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download and no account. Signing in is optional and only used for the online leaderboards.
Is this the tank game from the 9999-in-1 brick game handhelds?
It is an original remake inspired by that game. The rules, graphics, sounds and code were written from scratch for NoInternet Arcade; no ROMs or original assets are used.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Open the page once while connected and your browser keeps the game. After that Brick Tanks loads and plays with no internet at all.
What do SPEED and LEVEL do?
SPEED makes enemy tanks move and shoot faster and raises the points per kill, up to 100. LEVEL picks the starting wall layout and how many tanks you must destroy. Both rise as you clear levels.
Why does my tank turn instead of moving?
Like on the handheld, the first press of a new direction only rotates the tank. Press or hold the same direction again to drive. Turning in place is the fastest way to aim.
Can I change the LCD colour?
Yes. Under Options you can switch between the classic grey-green screen, an amber backlight and a blue backlight.
How does Hardcore mode work?
Set Options > Difficulty to Hardcore. You get one life, enemies are faster, shoot more and come in bigger groups, and there is no continue. Hardcore scores go to their own leaderboard.
Last updated: · NoInternet Arcade
