According to itseieio’s TikTok bio, they “make dumb games”, but I’d argue that putting a brick-breaker into Google Calendar is galaxy brain stuff. As they explain in a video, they spent two weeks polishing the game, adding color-coded explosions as you smash your scheduled standups into smithereens, as well as that authentic-looking trail behind the ball. But the most important part of all is that, yes, you really can decline your weekly townhall or Thursday afternoon “quick chat” by slapping it with a ball.
When you finish a round of BreakTime, which really is a clever name, you’re asked if you actually do want to decline all those one-on-ones you just broke. So no, you don’t have to skip that stakeholder meeting because of a videogame if you don’t want to. But every time a round finishes and the popup appears, you’ll be tempted. Why not go hardcore mode and ditch those conference calls? They could probably have been emails anyway.
The original Breakout is an arcade classic developed by Steve Wozniak and released in 1976. Sequels like Super Breakout as well as clones like Arkanoid, Off the Wall, and Wizorb followed years later, and while “brick-breaker” and “block-breaker” emerged as names for the genre, something about “Breakout clone” feels right in a way that, say, calling FPSes Doom clones doesn’t.
You can get BreakTime from the Chrome web store if you want to try it out for yourself. Use the arrow keys to control the bat, and if you do decide to decline all your meetings, good luck explaining why to your boss.