Red Balloon of Happiness

Red Balloon of Happiness
Irog (Developer)
Avee (Graphics)
Luiishu535 (Music)
Frogge (Voice acting)

First Thoughts:
Every now and then I'll read a book or jump into a game not knowing anything about it. Sometimes it's great to discover what's in store without having any kind of preset expectations. With nothing more than the title and a screenshot, I ventured into the Red Balloon of Happiness to see what it's all about. I was genuinely delighted to experience it.



Game Play:
You are a Red Balloon doing what red balloons do best, float... and get popped by very sharp things! Using the arrow keys to move about, you are able to explore the house while avoiding glass, knives, cacti, bottles, broken windows, stove burners, swords, metal edges, and spikes.

By pressing the CTRL or Shift keys you can open doors and explore new rooms. You are also able to pick up a key to obtain entry into the garage. How a balloon opens doors or uses keys is anyone's guess... but I'll go with it, because this game draws you in and makes you WANT to explore every inch of the house.

Game Atmosphere:
From the start, the music let's you know that this isn't a happy carefree adventure. The opening tune is sad, curious, and mysterious. Each of the rooms has a different tune, which only gets darker and darker as you progress. Even the kid's room has a bit of creepiness to it.

At certain points in each of the rooms, you'll hear a voice of someone (a child maybe?), saying very spooky things like:

"You... weren't yourself anymore."

"We used to laugh a lot here..."

"It all started after that meal..."

even a whispered "Stay away..."

In addition, the light outside is dimming rapidly (giving you a sense of urgency), and eventually you will have to light a match with the left mouse button to see better. The basement and the Attic are eerily dark, and sometimes they change to show blood, making you wonder, what exactly happened here? As you explore the rest of the house, you can begin to piece together what went on.



For a fuller, richer experience, play this game in the dark, with your headphones on! The game has two endings... the bad ending is pretty each to get.



Now THAT'S creepy! But what's even more creepy is what you have to do to get to the good ending! You'll have to fully explore the basement to see what I'm talking about. But don't worry.. if you get stuck, you can use the walkthrough in the game's files.



Can you fix this awful situation? Can your Red Balloon bring happiness to this child? Can he trust you?



Overall:
Red Balloon of Happiness reminded me so much of another game I played years ago, called The 7th Guest. In a similar way, you unlock bits and pieces of the story in no particular order, and it's up to you to interpret the meaning yourself. Comparatively speaking, I've never played a game quite like this one, and have never seen a game starring a simple red balloon. Bravo to the team that planned, designed, and built this game with original music, graphics, voice acting, and game play!