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Deadly Balloons app icon: a grinning pink balloon above a small fighter ship

Deadly Balloons Bullet Hell

Weave through balloon fire with one thumb, stack wild abilities, and topple huge bosses.

GET IT ONGoogle Play Download on theApp Store

Free, no sign-up, and the core game plays offline. Try the dodge teaser on this page.

A boss fight in Deadly Balloons: the crowned boss Donald hovers at the top with its health bar while the player's ship dodges red aim lines near the bottom, with a Flame Turret and the Dash and Bomb buttons on screen

How long can you last?

A small teaser made for this page. You can't shoot back here, so it is pure dodging against balloons from the game's roster.

As in the game, every shooter shows its aim line before it fires. One hit ends the run.

Time 00.00

Best --.--

Wave 1

Dodge everything

Stay alive as long as you can.

Mouse
Point where you want to fly.
Touch
Drag anywhere. The ship moves with your finger, never under it.
Keys
←↑→↓ or WASD to move, P to pause.

What's coming at you

  • Shooter locks on, draws its aim line, then fires once.
  • Stinger fires twice as often as the Shooter.
  • Shotgun braces, then looses a three-shot spread.
  • Charger takes aim, then dashes across the field.
  • Gnat is tiny and quick, and never comes alone.
  • Rexyrex, the mid-boss, marks where it will land, blinks there and slams a ring.

Your best time is kept in this browser only.

Flight training in Deadly Balloons: under a blue-to-peach sky, the ship fires a column of shots upward while a hint reads Drag anywhere to move, with the Dash and Bomb buttons at the lower right

Dodge, grab, clear, draft

Your fighter fires on its own. You steer, and every run turns on the same four moves.

  1. Dodge

    Slide your thumb anywhere to fly. Chasers hunt you down, and splitters multiply when popped.

  2. Grab

    Power-ups drop onto the field. Fly through one and its ability goes off on the spot.

  3. Clear

    Pop the wave. Dash and Bomb are your only buttons, for the moments when dodging isn't enough.

  4. Draft

    Every third wave the shop deals four upgrade cards. Keep one, and the next wave comes in.

When a run ends, a freeze-frame death cam shows exactly what got you.

Stack wild abilities

Fifty-six abilities in eleven families, and most of your firepower comes from them. Shop cards raise a whole family a tier, up to three, and every pickup from that family hits harder for the rest of the run.

Don't like the hand the shop dealt? You get one reroll per visit, unlocked by an optional ad.

Arcane

Black Hole

Pulls every enemy toward it, then explodes.

Pick any ability below to read its line from the in-game Wiki.

The in-game Wiki's Abilities tab: Frost abilities such as Frost Nova, Freeze, Crystal Spikes, Ice Turret and Frost Ribbon, then Fire abilities such as Meteor Shower, Inferno and Phoenix Strike

Frost

Fire

Electric

Arcane

Toxic

Missiles

Blast

Beam

Allies

Constructs

Empower

Four campaigns, real endings

Each campaign has its own world, enemy roster and bosses, and clearing one unlocks the next. Every run builds to a boss and a victory screen.

Every boss has a signature move, and every boss fights in a rhythm. Between bursts it powers down and glows green. That lull is your window.

  1. Candy Clouds

    10 stages, 1 boss. Opens once you finish How to Play.

    A pastel sky of cotton-candy clouds and gentle sweets that never shoot.

    • Gumdrop King Final boss

      360 HP

      Gumdrop Bounce. Hops, lands, and pops a slow ring of big candy bullets.

  2. Balloon Uprising

    13 stages, 2 bosses. Opens once you clear Candy Clouds.

    A clear sky that darkens into a twilight carnival as the waves climb.

    • Rexyrex Mid-boss

      500 HP

      Blink. Marks where it will reappear, vanishes, lands there and slams a shock ring.

    • Donald Final boss

      1,600 HP

      Decree. Two guard orbs shield it first. Break them, and it marks strike circles that detonate into bullet bursts.

  3. The Swarm

    16 stages, 2 bosses. Opens once you clear Balloon Uprising.

    A murky hive drifting with acid-green spores, where Hives keep birthing Gnats.

    • Brood Mother Mid-boss

      700 HP

      Spore Burst. A wide, slow cloud of spores that denies a whole arc of the arena.

    • Swarm Overlord Final boss

      2,100 HP

      Bullet Storm. A curtain across the whole arena with one safe lane. Watch the telegraph for the gap.

  4. Galactic Gauntlet

    20 stages, 3 bosses. Opens once you clear The Swarm.

    Black, starry space and a mechanical fleet of Interceptors, Strafers, Cruisers and Sentinels.

    • Carrier Mid-boss

      700 HP

      Drone Bay. Keeps launching Interceptors into the fight while you chip at its hull.

    • Interdictor Mid-boss

      850 HP

      Gravity Well. A circle of bolts collapses toward where you stood, always with one open wedge.

    • Dreadnought Final boss

      2,560 HP

      Arc Barrage. A sweeping arm of plasma bolts with gaps, on top of the fastest volleys in the game.

The in-game Wiki's Enemies tab, listing the core balloons: Blue, Red, Green, Black, Yellow, Charger, Grower, Gold, Pulse, Shooter, Shotgun and Splitter

The Wiki has a page for every enemy and boss, with numbers, quirks and a live in-engine preview.

The Achievements screen: career stats for fastest clear, total kills, bosses slain, deepest wave, total runs and deaths, then locked trophies for each campaign, Galaxy Conqueror and Speed Demon

Badges and best times

Twenty-two badges track your clears, the enemies you've spotted, the abilities you've wielded and your kills. High Scores keeps your fastest clear of every campaign, and the online leaderboards put it next to everyone else's.

Campaigns

  • Clear each campaign
  • Galaxy Conqueror clear all four
  • Speed Demon a clear under 4:00
  • Blur a clear under 2:30

Collection

  • Spot 10 foes, then 20
  • Complete the Bestiary
  • Wield 15 abilities, then 30
  • Complete the Arsenal

Mastery

  • 1,000, 10,000 and 50,000 kills
  • Slay a boss, then 10, then 25
  • Untouchable a flawless clear
  • Flawless x3
  • Centurion 100 runs

Privacy, plainly

  • No account and no sign-up. Progress and settings are saved on your device.
  • Online leaderboards use an anonymous ID and a nickname you choose. Nicknames and best times are public, and a profanity filter checks names.
  • The game uses Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics. The only ad is the optional one behind the shop reroll, and it never interrupts a run.

Read the full privacy policy

Pop in, dodge hard

Deadly Balloons is free on Android and iPhone.

GET IT ONGoogle Play Download on theApp Store

The desktop original Deadly Balloons 2, a game for the hardcore balloon poppers, built for the desktop.