Arkanoid is a block breaker video game. Its plot involves the starship Arkanoid being attacked by a mysterious entity from space named DOH. A small paddle-shaped craft, the Vaus, is ejected from the Arkanoid.
In Arkanoid, players maneuver a paddle-shaped craft named the Vaus along the bottom of the screen.
The player controls the “Vaus”, a space vessel that acts as the game’s “paddle” which prevents a ball from falling from the playing field, and attempts to bounce the ball against a number of bricks. The ball striking a brick causes the brick to disappear.
When all the bricks are gone, the player advances to the next level, where another pattern of bricks appears. There are power-up capsules to assist the player (expand the Vaus, multiply the number of balls, equip a laser cannon, break directly to the next level, extra Vaus, etc.), but the gameplay remains the same.
On the final stage the player takes on the game’s boss, “DOH”. Once this point is reached, the player no longer has the option to continue after running out of lives, making this segment more difficult.
The game is over regardless of the outcome.