The 2020 Blinks Summer Games are now on Sale Check it out and read more about Battle Balloons and the designer, David Page below
The Game
You are the captain of a hot air balloon fleet, trying to pop your opponent's Crown Balloon to emerge from battle victorious. Navigate the skies of random chance and rely on strategic trickery to pop your opponent before you yourself are popped.
The goal of the game is to pop the balloon/Blink your opponent designated as the “Crown” before they pop the balloon/Blink you designated as your “Crown.” Players take turns single clicking their opponent's balloons to reduce their health and eventually pop them. Watch out for any Trap balloons! These are Blinks that will cause you to lose immediately if you pop them. The catch is, the location of each player’s respective Crown and TrapBust balloons will only be known to them. It’s a game of hidden information and bluffing! Two players recommended, but can easily accommodate more!
David says:
Battle Balloons gameplay has Stratego vibes in that you hide a Trap (find and lose) and/or a Crown (find to win) from your opponent and players take turns attacking or fortifying. The strategy lies in predicting how your opponent will play and avoiding giving away what you're thinking. Imagine the carnival game where you throw darts at balloons, but instead of popping on the 1st hit, balloons take between 2-6 hits to pop. In addition, some balloons are instant winners and some are losers.
The reason I enjoy Battle Balloons and think others will too, is because it plays to the uniqueness of Blinks by providing structure but allowing players to be very creative with the rules and setup.
What is the Origin Story of your game?
Battle Balloons was originally a simple interactive environment I came up with when learning how to develop AR apps. Once I heard about Blinks, I immediately wanted to make a game that incorporated the 3 main communication methods in meaningful ways (LEDs, clicking, rearranging). Since I already had a theme and simple working gameplay created, I ran with the idea by converting to the new platform & adding Blinks-style features.
What do you like best about Blinks & developing games on Blinks?
I love that Blinks are tactile. Seems like most entertainment is delivered via screens these days, so it's a nice change of pace to handle physical, responsive objects. My favorite aspects are that Blinks are social by nature and allow adaptable gameplay. Even the Blinks themselves "socialize" the game to each other before playing. The best description of Blinks I've heard is comparing them to a deck of cards with more interesting features built in - there's not a strict right or wrong way to play as long as everyone agrees on the parameters.
This makes developing for them fun because there's not a lot of restrictions once you understand the mechanics of how they work.
About David
In Chicago, I live with my fiancé in a tiny apartment.
By day, I'm a consultant in the cybersecurity department.
By night, I tinker with Blinks and other tech toys.
I love playing games, maybe making some noise!
Connect with David
Instagram: @pagetonydavid
Twitter: @intraspire
