Alleyway
Alleyway is a 1989 video game developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is a Breakout clone and one of the launch titles developed and released for the system. The game was released alongside the Game Boy, first in Japan in 1989, in North America later that year, and in Europe in 1990. It was later re-released for the Virtual Console on the Nintendo 3DS in June 2011, and on the Nintendo Switch Online service in May 2024.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
Your like matters. Every heart nudges this game's GamingPickz Score and where it ranks (a small 5% of the score), so the lists get better for everyone.
- Released
- 1989
- Developer
- Nintendo Research & Development 1
- Platforms
- 1 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 21 April 1989 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Nintendo Research & Development 1 |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Platforms | Game Boy |
| Genres | Breakout clone |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q2601198, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is Alleyway? How long to beat it
Total play time for Alleyway is about 3.2 hours to do everything, and around 2 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 2h | 45 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 3.2h | 7 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 3.2h | 13 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where Alleyway sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Alleyway lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 42ahead of 3% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 25ahead of 69% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about Alleyway
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
Loading reviews…
Did it run on your PC?
Tell other players how it ran on your machine. One tap, from your saved PC if you have one.
Get the weekly rundown
One email a week: what moved in the rankings, what launched, and what dropped in price. No more than that, and unsubscribing takes one click.
We send the weekly email and nothing else. Your address is never sold, shared or used to build a profile, and it is not readable by anyone visiting this site. See our privacy policy.
Common questions about Alleyway
What platforms is Alleyway on?
Alleyway is available on Game Boy. It first released in 1989.
Who made Alleyway?
Alleyway was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 and published by Nintendo.
How long does it take to beat Alleyway?
about 2 hours for the main story, 3.2 hours with the main extras, 3.2 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.