Keeping the balloon up in Balloon Words, Games by Zaweba

A hot-air balloon hangs over a duck pond, and the only thing keeping it in the air is your spelling. Balloon Words is a guess-the-word game in the Puzzles collection of Games by Zaweba. A hidden word sits on screen as a row of blanks with its category shown above it, and you pick letters one at a time until you have filled it in or the balloon comes down.

It is the same idea as the old pencil and paper guessing game, but with a much kinder picture, which makes it a good one for children as well as adults.

How the balloon sinks

Every letter you pick is either in the word or it is not. A right letter fills in every place it appears. A wrong letter uses a burst of burner gas, and the balloon sinks a little lower. After seven misses the balloon lands in the duck pond and the game ends.

The good news is that the gas comes back. Each word you guess refills it, so a sinking balloon can be saved by getting the current word right. You can click the letters on screen, or simply type A to Z on the keyboard, which is quicker once you are into a run.

Streaks and scoring

Balloon Words rewards keeping going. Words in a row multiply your score, up to five times, so the real prize is a long unbroken streak rather than any single word. That changes how you should play. A cautious guess that keeps the run alive is often worth more than a bold one that risks the pond.

Your best score is kept for you, so there is always a target to chase next time.

Choosing letters well

Start with the category. It narrows the field enormously, and it is easy to forget to read it once you are focused on the blanks. A word about animals and a word about kitchens call for quite different guesses.

Next, think about the common letters in English. Vowels are a sensible early guess, and so are frequent consonants. Once a few letters are in, look at the shape of the word: its length, where the gaps fall, and which letters often sit together. A blank after a Q, a double letter, or a common ending can give the game away.

Be more careful as the balloon gets lower. When you have only a miss or two left, guess the letter you are surest of, not the one that would be most useful if it happened to be right. And when you think you know the word, fill it in: the refill of gas is your reward for committing.

Balloon Words and its neighbours

Balloon Words is one of the gentler games on the Puzzles shelf, which also has number puzzles such as Number Place and Merge Tiles, logic grids such as Hidden Mines and Picture Grid, and pattern games such as Gem Swap. Balloon Words is the one to pick when you want words rather than numbers, and a quick, relaxed few minutes rather than a long think.

Games by Zaweba works entirely offline with no adverts or accounts, so it is a safe one to leave open for a young speller. Press Esc to pause at any point and F1 to have the rules explained.