Brek'n'Bubble
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
NEW: Mac and PC version now available!
After the bold wizard had recovered the treasures from the vaults of the Seraphim and settled himself comfortably into his stylish, newly purchased, fantastic, magnificent, and enchanting castle, he soon grew bored. All the coins had been counted, all the diamonds polished, all the golden goblets, necklaces, and rings buffed to a brilliant shine. But what now?
Then he remembered his cousin, who more than 30 years earlier had tried to steal the treasures from an evil wizard named Brektwon and had failed miserably, as he had apparently not been quite the great wizard he believed himself to be. So then: surely there were still a few coins and pretty necklaces to be fetched as decoration for his dining hall…
Over the past decades, Brektwon had spread across an island and built numerous castles and catacombs in which he had left behind his little henchmen, all meant to drive away greedy visitors. He had transformed the glittering treasures into magical spheres, which were no less valuable than gold coins. He himself, however, had died and transformed his spirit in his private hall into a malevolent guardian that must be defeated if one wishes to claim a large slice of the treasure pie.
This is a merge between Block'n'Bubble and Brektwon. That means it's an action and logical puzzle game.
features:
- 50 stages
- 10 treasure rooms
- 5 different stage graphics
- save state
- high score table
- end boss
The screenshots and gameplay show the C64 version. However, the graphics on Mac and PC are almost identical, as is the gameplay.
Download contains:
.d64 file, Mac silicon/intel version, PC version and documentation in english and german.
Commodore 64 version:
- emulator (f.e. VICE) or original Commodore 64 needed to play
- Joystick (Port 2)
I suggest to play in emulator with joystick emulated by using keybindings to get the best control of the gameplay.
Mac:
- keyboard
- Mac apple silicon (ARM64) + macOS 26.0 or higher
- Mac intel (x86_64) + macOS 10.15 Catalina or higher
PC:
- keyboard
- Windows 10/11
Ubuntu/Linux:
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or newer, x86_64
- Other Linux distributions may work when their glibc and graphics/audio stack
are at least as new as Ubuntu 24.04
- read included requirements for packages
AI was used for:
- debugging
- technical support for macOS and Windows versions
- encoding of distribution files
No game code, graphics, or music/sound effects were created by the AI.
| Updated | 1 day ago |
| Status | Released |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Rating | Rated 3.3 out of 5 stars (3 total ratings) |
| Author | natthrafn |
| Genre | Platformer |
| Tags | 2D, 8-Bit, Commodore 64, Retro, Singleplayer |
| Average session | A few minutes |
| Inputs | Keyboard, Joystick |
| AI Disclosure | AI Assisted, Code |
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- bubbles movement change plus other changes2 days ago
- Ubuntu/lLinux version is now available for download11 days ago
- NEW: Mac and PC version now available!14 days ago
- bug fix screen line blinking16 days ago
- movement during the fall20 days ago
- treasure room algorithm change / char bug fix22 days ago
- documentation update25 days ago
Comments
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UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!
(ENGLISH BELOW) B'n'B hat ein wunderschönes Update erhalten (Eintrag hierzu findest du hier: https://natthrafn.itch.io/breknbubble/devlog/1519969/bubbles-movement-change-plu... ). Mein Dank geht deshalb direkt an natthrafn für diese schnelle Aktualisierung! Die Steuerung fühlt sich um EINIGES besser an! Immer noch nicht perfekt, aber ich kommen immerhin durch die Level, ohne dass ich einen innerlichen Wutanfall bekomme ;-). Auch die Gegner können nun nichtmehr zuwischen den Steinen diagonal durchdringen, was dem Ganzen eine bessere Planbarkeit und Dynamik verleiht. Auch wurde das "Stage" in "Level" umbenannt, ich bin voll und ganz begeistert! Ich denke, hier kann man nun ohne jegliche Einschränkung eine Kaufempfehlung aussprechen! Sehr gut! :-)
B'n'B has received a brilliant update (you can find the post about it here: https://natthrafn.itch.io/breknbubble/devlog/1519969/bubbles-movement-change-plu... ). So a big thank you goes to natthrafn for this quick update! The controls feel SO much better! Still not perfect, but at least I can get through the levels without having a mental meltdown ;-). The enemies can no longer pass diagonally between the stones either, which makes the whole thing more predictable and dynamic. The ‘Stage’ has also been renamed ‘Level’ – I’m absolutely thrilled! I think we can now wholeheartedly recommend buying this without any reservations! Very good! :-)
Thank you so much for the kind words! Looks like I can remove the beta status!
My main priority is that the player enjoys the game! That's why I'm always trying to improve things wherever possible. Even my testers sometimes overlook details that someone else might notice or find annoying. Like I said, you get used to some details over time, and if you test daily, even the most awful controls become a breeze.
My next game will be an RPG. At least there won't be any annoying controls, but I'm sure there will be other things that come straight from hell, hahaha.
(ENGLISH BELOW) Leider habe ich hier etwas Kritik anzubringen, aber auch Gutes:
* Die Steuerung kommt leider direkt aus der Hölle. Steuerung ist schwammig, Eingaben mit dem Feuerknopf haben eine Verzögerung, so das aus "Setzte einen Stein" eine "Bewege dich nach XYZ" wird. Gerade bei zeitkritischen Dingen, wie z.B. das "Einsperren von herrumfliegenden Gegner", kann dies schnell Nerven kosten und frustierend sein, jeglich "Das muss so sein, weil HART!" mal hier irgnoriert. Auch den Tipp (den ich leider erst nach dem Kauf des Spieles gelesen habe), man solle doch anstatt des Joysticks, Keybindings verwenden und mit der Tastatur spielen, nimmt nicht nur das "Klassische Spielegefühl" weg, sondern bringt überhaupt nichts, wegen der so oder so schwammigen Steuerung und der Verzögerung. Die positiven Auswirkungen sind hier eher maginal.
* Weiterhin finde ich es eher suboptimal, dass Gegner diagonal Steinblöcke durchqueren können. Ansich könnte man sich darauf einrichten, jedoch gilt hier wohl leider nicht die Regelung für die Monster "Eintrittswinkel gleich Austrittswinkel", sondern diese können einfach mal Spontan die Orientierung ändern, so dass man keine Chance hat, sich auf Bewegungsmuster einzustellen und clever einen Schritt vorzuplanen (z.B. "Moster mit Blöcken einsperren").
* Positiv zu bewerten sind:
* Soundeffekte
* Grafik richtig toll
* Highscore wird gespeichert (mit LANGEN Namen!)
* Der Levelfortschritt wird mitgespeichert (anstatt Passwörter o.Ä.)
* Das Spielprinzip ist schnell zu erlernen
* Es wurde keine KI/LLM verwendet (riesen Bonus!)
* Der Preis ist völlig OK!
* Handbuch in zwei Sprachen
* Erhätlich auf mehreren Plattformen, in einem Kauf
* Mein Vorschlag/Wunsch:
Unbedingt die Steuerung richten. Hier sollte man sich UNBEDINGT an spielen wie "Solomon's Key" oder "Spherical" orientieren(!).
ENGLISH COMMENT:
Unfortunately, I have some criticisms to make here, but there are positives too:
* The controls are, sadly, a nightmare. They’re unresponsive, and there’s a delay when pressing the fire button, so that ‘place a stone’ turns into ‘move to XYZ’. Especially with time-sensitive tasks, such as ‘trapping flying enemies’, this can quickly get on your nerves and be frustrating – so let’s ignore any claims that ‘it has to be this way because it’s HARD!’ Even the tip (which I unfortunately only read after buying the game) that you should use keybindings and play with the keyboard instead of the joystick not only takes away the ‘classic gaming feel’, but achieves absolutely nothing, due to the controls being imprecise anyway and the lag. The positive effects here are rather marginal.
* Furthermore, I find it rather suboptimal that enemies can pass through stone blocks diagonally. In theory, you could adapt to this, but unfortunately the rule for monsters that ‘the angle of entry equals the angle of exit’ doesn’t seem to apply here; instead, they can simply change direction on the spur of the moment, so you have no chance to adjust to their movement patterns and plan your next move cleverly (e.g. ‘trap monsters with blocks’).
* The positives are:
* Sound effects
* Really great graphics
* High scores are saved (even with LONG names!)
* Progress through the levels is saved (instead of passwords or similar)
* The gameplay is easy to pick up
* No AI/LLM was used (huge bonus!)
* The price is absolutely fine!
* Manual in two languages
* Available on multiple platforms, in a single purchase
* My suggestion/request:
The controls absolutely must be sorted out. Here, you should DEFINITELY take your cue from games like ‘Solomon's Key’ or ‘Spherical’ (!).
(ENGLISH BELOW) Kleiner Nachtrag:
Wie es scheint, existiert die Eingabeverzögerung auch bereits schon im Auswahlmenü. Weiterhin heißen die "Level" im Auswahlmenü "Stage", anstatt "Level"... Was stimmt nun? ;-)
ENGLISH:
A quick update:
It seems the input delay is already present in the selection menu. Also, the “Levels” in the selection menu are labelled “Stage” instead of “Level”... So which is correct? ;-)
The controls don’t come straight from hell — maybe they took a detour through hell. That might be true. But the controls in https://natthrafn.itch.io/blocknbubble come straight from hell. You really have to experience that 😉
Because I’ve been testing the game constantly, I’m so used to it that it doesn’t really feel sluggish to me. I’ve tweaked it a bit, and maybe it plays better now. Version 4.0 is now available for download. Give that one a try. It may also help to change the game speed with the G key. That might help.
I don’t actually own a joystick, so this is basically a blind flight for me. However, since many C64 players prefer using a joystick, I added that feature. Personally, I moved on from joysticks more than 30 years ago… but it was a tough withdrawal back then hahaha
The bubbles’ movement is now deterministic and no longer randomly bouncing around. I didn’t really mind either way. In general, I actually think the game turned out far too easy… you can almost play through it in one go.
The Mac/Win/Linux version in particular has become quite easy. But maybe that’s because I’m used to playing with the keyboard.
Stages and/or levels is confusing, that’s true. I hadn’t really noticed it. It has now been changed to “Level” throughout.
Thanks a lot as well for the positive criticism!
Try to have some fun with the game anyway and let me know if it's more playable for you now.
P.S. your gameplay looks not too bad!
This looks really cool!
Maybe you'd be interesting in having it on our ZZAP! 64 coverdisk as a way to distribute a demo of the game? Please drop me a mail, would love to touch base: simmonsdavidau@gmail.com
Great game with tricky challenges. I like the ability to solve in various ways.
THANK YOU
I purchased v3.6 and started playing using Denise64 on my Win11 laptop. After completing each level, I pressed Q to access the scoreboard and then save my progress to my virtual D64.
After a few days I found you made available v3.7. I replaced the 3.6 prg file with the 3.7 prg into a copy of my v3.6 game disk (using DirMaster). The scoreboard and my game progress were recognized. Yay !!! The 0 key replaces the Q key !!
And now I am stuck on Level 18.....
I'm glad you like the game and that everything is working as it should with the updates and also on other emulators.
Stuck on level 18? What's the problem? I hope it's not too hard?
Thanks for the reply. I cannot figure out how to access the key in Level 18 (C64).
look at the picture above. The wizard is on the right side. You have to set stones on the left side like on the picture that the wizard can walk out off the screen to catch the key on the right side.
Thank You again. I tried stepping into the fire and making a stone on the left. Wow !!
Flying jumps aren't needed. I added flying jumps after the game was already finished. Every level can be solved without but some levels are much easier now. good luck!
Very good, I have to play more someday. I added it to my video along with other games released in April.
Great! I'm glad you're showing my game in your video!
Very nice artwork and game - well done! 👍🏻
Thank you so much!!!
Was ein schöner Platformer! Da gibt es einiges zu rätseln. Schön bunt und mit einer Menge Stages und Levels. Meine absolute Empfehlung!
Auf meinem YouTube Kanal habe ich es im Rahmen der C64 Spielzeit vorgestellt. Schaut doch mal vorbei:
Danke für das tolle Video! Freut mich, dass es dir gefällt!
Da war der Andira aber mal richtig schnell :-D. Weiter so! :-)
Andira ist schon auf Zack!
Danke!
So mögen wir ihn :-D.
Vielen Dank für das Feedback. Ein richtig tolles Spiel, dass meiner Meinung nach mehr Aufmerksamkeit bekommen sollte.
Very nice puzzle game and and a worthy successor to games like "Solomon's Key" or "Spherical". The graphics could perhaps have been a bit more modern, but the gameplay is definitely solid. Our German-language review can be found at 00:02:20. English subtitles are also available. Subscription to our YouTube and Twitch channel is welcome. 🙂
Thanks for adding my game to your video! As usual a great video.
A small tip: you can also place a stone in the bottom left and bottom right corners. This is explained in the instructions. It's much easier that way, of course. 😉
Cool game! I always liked Solomon's Key :-)
Thanks! Glad you like it!
This looks cool, my budget is a bit strained this month but I am gonna pick this up eventually!
Thanks! I'm sure you'll like it!
Great game!
Thank you so much! Great video!
very good
Thanks!
Dang! When itch.io sent me an email, I thought the game is already out. At least the screenshots look good 😊
It's almost finished! Only hardcore game testing to do!