Ben: 5
Although the Bejeweled-inspired sub genre can get tired, Balloon Bros. has enough of a hook to justify its creation. Popping balloons (complete with a morbidly comical pre-demise expression of horror on their inflated faces) causes the balloons below them to rise up, hopefully creating chains and combos. The gameplay does get a little tedious after a while, even with consistently new game mechanics being added throughout the game’s progression. The graphics are pretty under whelming, but the simplicity is also probably good for this kind of gameplay. Unfortunately, a lot of the challenge boils down to staring at the game field, trying to find a cluster of three balloons to pop.

Andrew: 7
I can scarcely believe there are still people out there making match-three puzzle games. However, as snooze inducing as the genre itself can be, if you’re into that sort of thing, Balloon Brothers is a pretty decent one. The circus themed soundtrack is highly entertaining, and most importantly, the feedback for matching balloons is quite well implemented. It also packs a surprising amount of personality, and seeing the little faces on the balloons turn to horror just as you’re about to pop them never really gets less funny.

Peter: 6
You’ve probably played a game where you line up three or more blocks of a similar color before. If you want to do it some more, go ahead and try Balloon Brothers. Balloon Brothers introduces a rotating board and puzzle pieces that rise instead of fall. If you pop a balloon, and the one below it doesn’t resolve a line when it rises, one of the other balloons turns into a skull. Skull balloons can only be popped by bomb balloons, which are rewards for lining up four balloons. If you accidentally put three skulls in a line, you lose. The gameplay is solid and the art design is competent, but neither is anything new.

Colt: 2
Bookworm adventures without the aptitude, Bubble Bobble without the kitsch.

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