Balloon Pop Challenge Review

This is a great little back-to-school game! Multicolor balloons float across the screen and must be popped based on a variety of factors involving color or math. Math games include odds and evens, addition and subtraction, multiplication and factors. In a game, a problem is given (for examples, factors of three) and only balloons containing correct answers should be popped. Several levels of balloon speed are encountered as the player advances through levels, increasing the difficulty of the game. It's a great game for practicing math in your head and for learning to think through basic math problems on your feet.

Multiple players are allowed, and scores for each player are tracked in the "Grades" section. The player can select difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, and Hard), turn sound effects on and off, and even read a basic lesson under the "Learn" section, where basic and brief written description of the mathematics behind each game are available.

My four-year old enjoyed playing the color game (the math games are beyond his years) and my 2.5 year old enjoyed indiscriminately popping balloons for the pleasure of it. This would be a good game for the toddlers all the way through middle school, though grade-school and middle-school students will get the greatest utility.