What it is
An arcade game with one control. Balloons drift up out of the bottom of the screen, and you tap them before they get away.
That is the whole of it for about ten seconds. Then the sky starts sending things that do not want to be tapped -a skull balloon that punishes a careless finger, an armoured one that will not go on the first hit, a black hole that drags everything near it off course.
There is no story, no map and nothing to unlock. There is a score, a best score, and the question of how long you can keep up.
How to play
- Tap a balloon. It pops. That is the entire control scheme.
- Do not tap the skulls. The grey balloon with the crossbones is the one to let go past.
- Watch the stack. The column of balloons down the left is what you have left to lose. Let too many escape and the run is over.
- Read the ring. The circle in the top corner is the level you are on, and it fills as you go.
- Keep up. Every level brings a tougher balloon, and after the tenth the spawn rate itself starts tightening.
A look at it
What is in it
- Ten levels, then no ceilingEach level introduces a tougher balloon. Past the tenth the game stops adding new kinds and starts tightening the spawn rate instead, so a good run ends when you do.
- Balloons that fight backSkulls to leave alone, armoured shells that take more than one hit, spiked ones that scatter nails when they go, and hearts if you are lucky.
- Black holesThey open in the middle of a run and pull everything near them off course -including the balloon you were about to tap.
- A sky that changesDay, dusk, a moonlit night with meteors, and a red warning sky when things are about to go badly.
- Achievements and leaderboardsThrough Google Play Games, if you want them. Signing in is optional and nothing in the game is gated behind it.
- One controlTap. There is nothing to learn, which is rather the point.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes, and there is nothing to buy -no in-app purchases and no premium tier. A full-screen ad appears between runs. It never appears during one, so no ad has ever cost anybody a game.
What are the skull balloons for?
To be left alone. They rise like any other balloon and they are the one thing on screen that punishes the reflex the rest of the game trains into you.
Does it get harder, or just longer?
Harder. Each of the ten levels brings a tougher balloon into the mix, and past level ten the spawn rate keeps tightening in steps, down to a floor that is still humanly playable. It stops being a test of aim and becomes a test of triage.
Do I have to sign in to anything?
No. Google Play Games is offered for achievements and leaderboards, and it is entirely optional -the game is complete if you never touch it. Nothing else asks for an account.
Does it work offline?
The game itself does. Ads and leaderboards need a connection; popping balloons does not.
What does it need to run?
Android 7.0 or newer. The game asks for no permissions beyond network access, which is there for the ads and for Play Games.
Privacy, briefly
Your best score and your sound settings live on your own phone. There is no server of ours to send anything to. Two Google services are involved -AdMob for the ad between runs, and Play Games if you choose to sign in. The full policy explains exactly what each of them receives.