About Pop Balloons

A calm, free interactive game for a quiet moment: colorful balloons drift up through a sky that slowly changes from sunrise to moonlit night.

How to play

There is nothing to win and no timer. Click or tap a balloon to pop it, or press the first letter shown on it (for Na, press N) on your keyboard. Each pop plays a soft piano note and shows the name of what was on the balloon. You can also pop the soap bubbles that float up from the bottom of the screen. Hover over a balloon with your mouse and it will shine.

When the page opens, the sound is off. Use the speaker button in the top-left corner to turn it on or off. A short guided tour appears when you arrive and shows you the main buttons. You can skip it at any time, and you can play it again from the Tour link at the bottom of the screen.

Customize your balloons

Use the sliders button next to the speaker, or the Customize link at the bottom of the screen, to choose what appears on the balloons. There are three choices:

• Elements: each balloon shows the chemical symbol of an element, such as H, Na or Cl. When you pop it, you see the full name, such as Hydrogen, Sodium or Chlorine.
• Country flags: each balloon is patterned like the flag of a country. When you pop it, you see the name of the country.
• Custom: type your own balloons, one per line, as a label and a name separated by a comma, for example ♥, Love. The label shows on the balloon and the name shows when it pops.

Press Apply and the balloons already on the screen change straight away. Your choice is not saved, so the game starts with elements again the next time you visit.

What you will see

The page starts with just balloons under a rising sun. As you stay, more of the world appears, one thing at a time:

• Bubbles, clouds and blowing leaves
• Birds, parrots, peacocks, butterflies, dragonflies, bees and ladybirds
• Kites, parachutes, airplanes pulling banners and helicopters
• Rain followed by a rainbow
• Fireworks that spell out kind words in the sky, and rockets
• At night: the moon, twinkling stars, shooting stars, fireflies and satellites

Kind words

Every so often a crumpled scrap of paper blows across the screen, smooths out and sticks to the page for a few seconds so you can read the short, positive quote written on it. Banners on the airplanes and helicopters carry encouraging messages too. The idea is to leave you feeling a little lighter than when you arrived.

Why it exists

Pop Balloons was made as a gentle, screen-friendly way to take a break. It runs in your web browser on phones, tablets and computers, and it needs no account and no download. Everything you see, including the flags, is drawn by your browser as you play.

Free to play

The game is free. To help cover the cost of running the site, it may show advertisements. Please read our Privacy Policy to see how ads and your information are handled.

Get in touch

Questions, ideas or feedback are always welcome. Go back to the game and use the Contact link at the bottom of the screen to send us a message.