Kill the Brickman turns the brick-breaker inside out with turn-based roguelite deck-building

Brick-breakers don’t go turn-based-until now

Kill the Brickman caught my eye because it’s doing something gloriously weird: taking the reflex-heavy comfort food of Arkanoid-style brick-breaking and slowing it down into a turn-based, deck-driven roguelite. It’s out now on PC (Steam) and Xbox for €4.99, developed by Doonutsaur and published by poncle-the same crew that turned a $5 experiment into Vampire Survivors, one of the most influential indie hits of the last decade. It even got a moment during the Xbox Showcase at Gamescom, which is unusual visibility for a micro-priced oddball. The question is simple: is this clever mashup actually fun, or just a pitch meeting gone too far?

Key Takeaways

• Turn-based brick-breaking works because it leans into planning and ricochet math over twitch reflexes.
• Deck-building and relic synergies promise real run variety at a very friendly price point.
• poncle’s track record suggests strong post-launch support, but content depth will be the make-or-break.
• Controller aiming and readability could be pain points compared to mouse play on PC.

Breaking down the announcement

On paper, Kill the Brickman sounds like a dare: a turn-based brick-breaker where you line up shots from a revolver, bounce bullets through clusters of bricks, and take out square-headed enemies (“Brickmen”) with different behaviors. Each shot is a turn, enemies respond, and you build a deck of abilities, modifiers, and relics that stack into broken combos if you’re paying attention. There are optional objectives mid-run, plus elite enemies and boss encounters that force you to rethink your angles rather than just spam shots.

It’s basically Peglin’s pachinko-brained tactics meeting Breakout’s geometry, then filtered through roguelite pacing. The result trades adrenaline for intention. If you’ve ever paused a shmup to imagine the “perfect” route, this scratches that itch-one carefully calculated bank shot at a time.

Why this matters now

We’re in a moment where small games with big hooks are outpacing bloated AAAs for mindshare. The Balatro boom proved there’s hunger for systems-driven, repeatable runs that feel different every time—especially at low prices and with fast updates. poncle practically wrote that playbook with Vampire Survivors: micro ticket price, fat post-launch support, zero fluff. Kill the Brickman slots into that space with a pitch that’s instantly legible and surprisingly fresh. A €4.99 entry fee is the impulse-buy sweet spot; if the first hour sings, it earns a permanent spot in your “just-one-more-run” rotation.

There’s also genuine novelty here. Brick-breakers have flirted with power-ups and light progression forever, but moving to turn-based changes the entire fantasy. You’re not fighting your own reaction time—you’re solving a ricochet puzzle under pressure, manipulating angles, pierce, rebounds, and area damage while keeping enemy patterns in mind. That design shift opens the door to synergies that traditional brick-breakers could never support.

The gamer’s perspective: where the fun lives

The hook that sold me is the synergy hunting. A revolver that pierces after two bounces? Pair it with relics that add explosion on final hit and a card that spawns extra targets for chain reactions. Suddenly you’re orchestrating room clears with a single shot, the same serotonin spike you get when a Slay the Spire deck finally “clicks.” The optional objectives—think bonus challenges mid-floor—are the right kind of pressure to push risk-reward experiments without punishing you into restarting.

Presentation-wise, it leans into arcade retro with a knowingly dumb sense of humor about the blocky foes. It’s not trying to win art awards—it’s going for readable, crunchy feedback. If poncle’s involved, expect repeated balance passes that turn “kinda busted” builds into playgrounds rather than problems. That was the secret sauce for Vampire Survivors: delight in excess without breaking the toy.

Potential friction points

Turn-based pacing won’t be for every brick-breaker fan. If you come for kinetic rally saves and clutch paddle flicks, the deliberate tempo might feel sedate. The counterpoint is precision: taking time to plan a murderous ricochet volley can be just as satisfying, but it’s a different flavor.

Controller versus mouse is another concern. Lining up bank shots and predicting multi-bounce arcs tends to feel better with a cursor. On Xbox, the aim assist and stick sensitivity will need to be dialed carefully; tiny angle adjustments matter a lot when a run lives or dies by geometry. UI clarity is also critical in deck-driven games—if relic interactions aren’t explained cleanly, early runs will feel like guessing.

The last question is content density. The pitch mentions a spread of elites, bosses, and “hundreds” of modifiers, but we’ve all been burned by roguelites with shallow pools that repeat too fast. At €4.99, I’m more forgiving, yet the loop still needs new toys to keep discovery alive across a dozen hours.

What I’m watching post-launch

Three things will determine whether Kill the Brickman graduates from curious experiment to cult staple:

• Build diversity that supports wildly different playstyles—pierce and ricochet abuse, explosion chains, status stacking, precision sniping, etc.
• Readable, satisfying feedback on every shot—clear bounce previews, damage shorthand, and quick turn resolution.
• A steady drip of patches and challenges. poncle knows how to stoke a meta; if Doonutsaur iterates fast, the community will meet them halfway with busted builds and speedrun tech.

Bottom line: this is exactly the kind of €4.99 gamble I like. It’s weird, it’s focused, and it understands that “one more run” lives or dies on surprising synergies and snappy iteration. If you vibed with Peglin’s brainy bounce puzzles or the deck dopamine of Balatro, Kill the Brickman belongs on your radar.

TL;DR

Kill the Brickman turns brick-breaking into a turn-based, deck-fueled tactics game—and it works because it leans into planning over panic. At €4.99 on Steam and Xbox, the idea is strong; now it needs depth, clean UX, and smart balance to stick.