# Vertical Brick Pong

> A vertical brick breaking Pong experiment generated with Grok and refined as a browser arcade game.

- Canonical page: [https://www.sergiopesch.com/projects/vertical-brick-pong](https://www.sergiopesch.com/projects/vertical-brick-pong)
- Content type: project
- Published: 2025-02-21
- Content updated: 2026-07-13
- Repository created: 2025-02-21
- Repository updated: 2025-02-21
- Author: [Sergio Peschiera](https://www.sergiopesch.com/about)
- Topics: JavaScript, HTML Canvas, Browser games, Grok
- Source code: [https://github.com/sergiopesch/verticalbrick-pong-game](https://github.com/sergiopesch/verticalbrick-pong-game)

## Content

![Vertical Pong](/images/verticalpong.gif)

Vertical pong. Frustration included.

***

## The Experiment

I wanted to test how quickly Grok 3 could create a working game. The answer: faster than I expected.

Vertical Brick Pong is a modern twist on the classic: rotated 90 degrees with brick breaking elements added.

## What I Built

A simple arcade game where:
* Paddle moves up/down (not left/right)
* Ball destroys bricks on the opposite side
* Progressive difficulty
* High score tracking

**Stack:** JavaScript, HTML5 Canvas

## Key Learnings

**1. LLMs are genuinely good at games**

Clear rules + visual output = great LLM use case. The AI understood game mechanics quickly and produced working code.

**2. Orientation changes everything**

Same mechanics, different angle. It feels like a new game. Vertical pong requires different reflexes than horizontal.

**3. Polish is quick wins**

Sound effects, particle explosions, screen shake. Added in an hour, made the game 10x more satisfying.

***

## Agent Quick Start

```
# Vertical Brick Pong

Classic pong, rotated. Break bricks, set high scores.

## Mechanics
* Vertical paddle movement
* Ball physics with angle reflection
* Brick destruction
* Score tracking

## Stack
Vanilla JavaScript, HTML5 Canvas

## Generated With
Grok 3 (with human refinement)

```

## Provenance and freshness

This is a first party account by the project author. Page content was last updated on 2026-07-13. The linked repository last changed on 2025-02-21. Linked repositories and live services may change independently.

### Primary sources

- [Source code](https://github.com/sergiopesch/verticalbrick-pong-game)