A Newbie's Guide to Breakneck

Overview of gameplay, perks, currency, and other miscellanea to help you get on your way!

Gameplay overview

Note to Readers

There should be enough information in it to help a new person get started fairly quickly! I especially am happy to accept suggestions for how to improve this guide, as it's still a bit sparse in some areas.

As a note, PikPok has a slightly out of date guide[faq.pikpok.com] (it refers to using A and D keys on the computer, but that has since been augmented with the left and right arrow keys) that discusses gameplay mechanics, as well.

The Guide

The game comes with very little built-in documentation, so a lot of the game has to be learned "on the fly", although there are some Android/iOS-specific instructions out there. Consequently, this guide focuses primarily on the Windows PC version and assumes you are using the default keyboard controls:

Left Arrow - Move left
Right Arrow - Move right
Spacebar - Boost

Playing Breakneck is at once easy and super hard. How, you ask?

Well, it's easy because the controls are so simple: once the game starts you out on a level, you can only go forward. You can't brake, but you can go faster: that's what the boost is for.

But it is super hard too because of the obstacles the game can throw in your way! Especially if you've been mashing that boost button (and it's easy to get into the habit of just holding down the space bar as soon as you start traversing a level), you can be going so fast you just can't dodge something in time, or you've misjudged the distance to a ramp, or you've just had plain bad luck for whatever reason.

Take a look at these screenshots. The first is for a general overview and the second shows a specific aspect of gameplay that is pretty critical to your success.



This screenshot shows across the top that the Pursuit Ship is approaching (note the diamonds at the far left and right) but isn't yet so close that the ship is in danger of being lasered into oblivion. At the bottom, underneath the ship, the two orange bars show that its "boost" is at maximum. This means as soon as the space bar is held down, the ship will start accelerating and keep going faster until eventually the boost runs out. You get a bit of a "coast" after that before the ship will slow back to its normal speed.

TAKE NOTE: Normal speed will not be fast enough to stay ahead of the Pursuit Ship and it is this gameplay mechanic that makes the second screenshot so important.



Notice the lightning bolt going between the ship and the nearby container wall? This is how you charge your boost! Most importantly, any vertical surface that your ship can go near (rock, metal, etc) is a charging surface!

In fact, you can hold down space bar while you're charging, and as long as your ship is getting boost energy from the nearby wall, you get the benefits of a continuous boost for as long as your ship stays near that wall. But watch out for sudden twists and turns - you may end up crashing your ship unexpectedly.

Now, the first time your ship crashes, you'll be given an opportunity to resume from that level for ten purple currency units. I suggest that you take this if you can, because 10 of them is like 300 golden units which is often cheaper than saying "no" and then having to initiate a new run and spend ~600-2000 of the gold pieces on the perks you've selected.

The second time you crash, that's it. You have to go back and start from Zone 1 again!

Breakneck Currency Units

Let's get you oriented regarding the in-game currency units. Take a look at the screenshot below in the upper right-hand corner:



The golden pentagons ("coins") are the basic in-game currency you use to purchase "perks". You get charged each time you use perks, so make sure you've got enough or you'll find the perk(s) you can't afford have been removed from those you can use.

The blue badge-like currency units ("artifacts") are rather rare and also aren't used very much. Primarily you use them to unlock perk slots and to obtain a very cool ship skin, "Dasher" which has a built-in Charge Wings perk that comes in handy.

Finally, the purple triangle-like currency units ("shards") can be used to expand the effectiveness of pick-ups, and also can be exchanged for the gold coin units so you can replenish your supply and keep those perks working for you.

Breakneck Zones

There are eight zone "types" you'll face in this game. In what I think is generally easy to hard order (opinions may vary!), they are:

1. Wastelands
   
2. Invader Stronghold
   
3. Invader Outpost
   
4. Carbon Farm
   
5. Shipyards
   
6. Research Base
   
7. Sandspear Nest
   
8. Diamond Swarm

You will have to master different techniques for handling each one of these types, but in general you want to try to find the straightest possible path that also gives you the most boosting opportunities you can find. For example, in Invader Outpost, there are segments where you encounter multiple tall columns with only select exit points. These are hard to boost through because you can't slide along the columns to pick up much charge, and if you go too fast you'll smash into the back wall. So you need to either avoid them altogether or be aware of how to maneuver your ship to get lined up with an exit point.

In general as the Zone Number increases the level will become more complex. So Zone 1 of a Shipyard might be one ramp plus a good long straightaway to the approx. 10000 meter mark, but Zone 4 of a Shipyard type will be filled with ramps and pathways and you need to be more careful.

Also note that the Steam version connects to a game server and so will obtain a new set of levels about every 24 hours. This means that Zone 1 one time might be a Wastelands type, and then the next, a Shipyards type.

That said, you will never see a Wastelands, Shipyards or Research Base above about Zone #8, and if you're lucky the level setup for the 24-hour period you're racing in will not have either the Diamond Swarm or the Sandspear Nest, and you'll get Carbon Farm, Invader Stronghold, and Invader Outpost in an ongoing round-robin cycle. These levels tend to have nice straightaways and the Charge Wings perk is especially handy with Invader Outpost.

Zone Strategies

Wastelands

Depending on the exact level number, you may find yourself largely traversing long narrow straightaways which are great to boost along, or you may find yourself dealing with a hodgepodge of rocky obstacles that force you to weave and dodge past them.

Try, if you can, to spot where you can jump into the air. Some ramps are very obvious; others are almost unnoticeable. Either way, these ramps will let you bypass considerable segments of the level, especially if you have Charge Wings.

On the whole, however, this level is not terribly difficult to traverse, and with a Fast Charge powerup you can get some really nice boosting power built up if you find a nice long rocky wall to go alongside of.

Invader Stronghold

This can potentially be even easier than Wastelands; for the most part the challenge you face is if you end up in a wide-open area with no walls to race beside, and you lack boost. Otherwise use Charge Wings to sail through the air, and cleverly stay alongside of the numerous vertical walls to get that boost up and keep it up.

Invader Outpost

Can be challenging! As noted elsewhere in this guide there are some sections where you have to travel past a dense collection of pillared columns which you may have to deftly weave your way past to line up with an exit point.

Counterbalancing thus are numerous opportunities for air boosting (again, Charge Wings is really handy!) as well as getting to race past vertical constructions for boosting.

Carbon Farm

Parts of this can be easy and other parts of this can be frustrating. Two notable parts are, first, segments with multiple square pillars which force you to race on an angle rather than straight through. Second, there are tall walls with only narrow holes in them which you must try to line-up with "on the fly", which is not easy to do when the pursuer vessel is getting close to you!

On the other hand, there are some really excellent long walls you can race along to get boost, as well as quite a few places where you can race up a ramp and fly through the air for a considerable distance.

Shipyards

The devil is really in the details for these levels. The main problem is there are numerous dead-ends you need to be careful of; you'll be doing a fair bit of jinking and swerving to keep from smashing into something. However, some levels have multiple ramps which, if you time your jumps just right, will let you leapfrog nearly all the way to the end while barely touching ground.

Research Base

The main obstacle you face here is that the terrain is quite varied and rugged. As such, you'll find yourself facing falling tall rocks, large bulding clusters you need to cleverly weave your way through, and ramps which, if you time them wrong, can lead to you ignominiously crashing into something.

However there is a kind of easter egg: if you know you're coming up on a Research Base level, send your vessel going off to the left or the right as you hit the finish line of the previous level (but without boost!) and keep your finger down on the left or right direction key as the Research Base level opens.

If you do, you can veer off far to the left or the right and enter sections of this level which are almost impossible to reach any other way.

Sandspear Nest

This level is truly difficult; the main hazard you face is that large "spears" abruptly erupt out of the ground just as you're about to traverse a section of the map. As a result you need to be very keen at spotting the eruption patterns and be able to dodge the spears quickly!

The difficulty is, as you can imagine, that you cannot boost continuously through this level without virtually guaranteeing you will lose control and smash into something.

This is where the Aerodynamic Perk will be invaluable: use short concentrated boosts, and let your vessel coast as you maneuver through the obstacles on this level. You'll be able to keep ahead of the Pursuer Vessel, but also be able to keep control of your own ship until you can hit the final stretch where no further spears erupt. You can do a last-ditch boost here.

Diamond Swarm

This level is even worse than the Sandspear Nest, because diamonds will crash down to the ground from the sky, and they can fall in a way that is extremely deceptive: you will think you have a safe run ahead, only to find you've suddenly hit a spot where two diamonds touch, crashing your ship when you least expect it.

Again, boosting is a problem: the Pursuer Scrambler powerup is virtually a necessity here, as is the use of concentrated short burts. The only saving grace of this level is that there are generally stretches of diamonds you can race alongside and power your boost up, and there is, as with Sandspear, a final stretch where no diamonds will fall. You can do a last-ditch boost there, too.

Perks and Mission Rewards

The screenshot attached shows what perks I've put on my ship, and the setup you see here is probably the best to use. The perks themselves have tooltips that are self-explanatory for the most part. Also note that here is where you can exchange currencies to make sure you have enough money to use your perk(s). Some may be free for a limited number of uses, which can come from Mission rewards (see below).



When you start out you'll only get one Perk slot and you'll need to activate more by using those rare blue currency units. This is where those Missions you see here can come in handy, as well:



As you pass Missions, you'll get currency and rewards, and most critically, one of the stages rewards you with those rare blue currency units ("artifacts").

Now, when you're just starting out, these are the perks I suggest that you use:

1. XP boost
   
2. Fast Coins
   
3. More Pick-Ups

These won't cost too much per run, and will let you accumulate experience (you get a small reward each time you level up), currency, and most importantly, in-game supplements ("pick-ups") that can allow you to gather more coins as you travel, or get infinite boost for a short time, etc.

Later on, as you open up Perk slots you can begin changing the allotment of your perks to focus more on making your ship go faster, farther, and get the best boost it can. The problem is, as you can see from the "Total Cost" in the upper right of the central rectangle, is that they can get quite expensive. In fact, with only the free Charge Wings I get from the Dasher, the total cost is 2050 per run. That's a lot of currency exchanging!

Pick-Ups

When you start out, you won't get very many pick-ups. I believe you start out getting the Coin Magnet and Unlimited Boost. The others you see here will unlock as you level up in the game.



Boosting these pick-ups can really help you out, especially the Unlimited Boost, but be warned: it gets expensive to do this!

In general I find the Unlimited Boost and Fast Charging to be the most useful. The Pursuer Scrambler turns out to be a very valuable aid in the higher levels, because the Pursuer ship approaches you faster and faster, and this pickup will prevent it from "seeing" you for a while. It used to show "static" in the pursuer distance bar to indicate that the pursuer could not see you, but now there is no indication at all except the purple life bar above your ship counting down to timeout.

The Coin Magnet will mostly be useful to you early on, since you can use it to rapidly gather coins even if you don't directly pass through them, and with Fast Coins you can really accumulate money quickly!

[Faberge]

Wow, cool! My best score was about 550k, I have already completed this game by now. Again, many thanks, your guide was a great help!

[Eye of Newt]

HI Faberge - Unfortunately very little is known about the pursuer dynamic except that qualitatively, I can tell you it takes less time from the start of a level to the time the pursuer ship appears on your radar, and the faster that ship will approach you as well. To this end having "pre-charged" and a good run of luck with Pursuer Scrambler Pick-Ups can get you a million meters. I know because I've done it. :)

[Faberge]

This guide is nice, but it lacks the mechanics behind Persuer’s time & distance. Should I boost when I lead, does it carry to next round etc.

[cld]

Great tips and very useful guide overall, cheers man ^^

[BardzBeast]

Could you add a section providing a summary of the perks and whether they are worth it, how to best use them. e.g. the extra charging range to me felt like it didn't do much. and im not sure about the extra time skill either? I don't think your lead from the pursuer carries from zone to zone, he always starts the same distance behind you.

[Eye of Newt]

Thanks for the note about some aspects of usage of the Pursuer Scrambler pickup! I"ve edited the relevant section. :)

[peabody]

Hey Eye of Newt, great overview. I don't think the pursuer scrambler has a bug, it's just a visual clue that they can no longer track you, that their vision is scrambled. The tracking diamond stops dead, but still goes backward if you boost, giving you valuable seconds of breathing space. I use this and the unlimited boost the most, both maxed out they last for 10-12 seconds - a huge advantage. Sorry if all this is obvious, cheers!