Shatter is a hidden gem. Based on the classic Breakout arcade game, Shatter is modernized with new graphics, new mechanics, and new music all wrapped in a nice package.

Breakout is one of my favorite brain-numbing games. The controls are simple, just move the paddle left to right. The mechanics are also simple, don’t let the bouncing ball miss the paddle and destroy all of the bricks. I’ve played a few modernized versions of Breakout that keep the same simplicity, but adds various things to make the game more interesting, like falling objects to catch to get a bonus or change the paddle size.

Shatter has similar updates, but as seems to be the interest among indie games, it incorporates the use of gravity. There is a space theme to this game. The left mouse button sucks things to the paddle while the right mouse button pushes things away. The gravity mechanic means the ball becomes maneuverable and those hard to reach blocks can suddenly be reached..or can they? One of the new interesting mechanics is the different types of bricks or blocks. Some of these blocks require multiple hits, nothing new. Some have a gravity field that either pulls or pushes. Some are bombs. Some are stationary and some are susceptible to moving via force, similar to how objects in space move either by a rocket or force being transferred to it from another object.

Falling blocks are a hazard to your paddle and while you don’t lose a life if your paddle is knocked off of the field by a block, you can lose a life if your paddle isn’t back on the field to catch the ball. There is a shielding mechanism to protect your paddle as you move back and forth. This mechanism uses energy which you gain whenever you successfully catch the ball and little blue “s”‘s when breaking bricks. Sucking in those s’s becomes quite useful, but hazardous as some of the moving bricks may be sucked along with them. There is a bar that lets you know how much energy you have. When you have max energy, you can unleash a barrage of lasers, destroying multiple bricks at a time. This depletes your energy back to zero.

One last mechanism that I haven’t had the chance to try is sending out multiple balls at once. I’m already busy with one. One caveat of this that I’ve noticed is the 1-ups that are given out encourages play with multiple balls in the field at once. Once you lose a ball, you’ll get a 1-up within the next set of blocks you destroy until you have 3 possible balls in play at once or 3 lives total.

Those are just the basics. In story mode, there is an anomaly with your ball which sets off a whole chain of adventures. Each “link” (my term as I’m not sure what else to call it because there isn’t any other cutscenes between the links to tie them together) in the story is essentially a set of 7-10 breakout maps with the last map being a boss battle. I have 3 more links to go through but so far, I have been generally pleased with the boss battles. I have been tempted to look up strategies for a couple, but managed to figure out how to get past them through luck mostly. The hardest boss I’ve encountered so far is one that involves flipping him upside down using your gravity field.

The graphics in the game are pleasant to look at. The color scheme is bright and colorful as well as unified – there are no colors used that seem out of place. The bricks are easily differentiated and not difficult to learn, but I have seen a tendency to forget that some bricks may not be stationary and it would be in my best interest to not hit the stationary bricks first as they are the ones holding up the non-stationary ones. The 2D maps are augmented by a 3D background. As you complete one map in a link and move to the next, it travels along the 3D background. I can’t really tell if there is a purpose to that particular choice and it’s just going past my head or if it’s just aesthetic. Either way, the 3D graphics are another reminder of its modernization.

The audio is somewhere in between the relaxing soundtracks of ambient games (ala Eufloria) and the more traditional upbeat soundtracks (e.g., Scoregasm). I’ve enjoyed most of the tracks I’ve heard so far. A different track plays for each link, connecting the set of maps in a link together, similar to the 3D background (perhaps this is its function?). One of the tracks I haven’t enjoyed so much is one that has what I’m assuming are Japanese vocals. I didn’t listen too closely and I wasn’t able to pick out any English words when I wasn’t busy dodging flying bricks and catching the ball.

Much like Scoregasm, this game would be a permanent addition to simple games to have on the computer to while away the time. I’ve found completing one map is enough for one session and sometimes more than enough as I want to just put it down or start wondering when I’ll hit the boss so I can do something else. Its repeatability is an attribute to its arcade origins and another reason to have it on the permanent games list. There are multiple other modes of play, including co-op, timed, endless, and what I assume are boss battles one after another (I haven’t unlocked it yet).

I don’t see myself being “addicted” to it in the sense that it becomes an all-consuming passion as MMOs have a tendency to do. Its simplicity makes it easy to put down as you need to (unless you’re unlocking the various parts of the game for the first time). For the traditional arcade gamers and those who have a lot of time to kill, it is not difficult to play for long sessions as each session will be different given all of the mechanics I have described above, even on the same map.

As I mentioned in the beginning and I’ll state again, this game felt like a hidden gem. I would have never found it if not for the Humble Bundle I bought mainly for Dustforce and a Steam-free version of Torchlight. Give it a shot if you like Breakout and/or if you’re looking for a new game to escape boredom, fill in a few minutes between tasks, or simply procrastinate.