Overview
The Balloon game is a version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. Every pump adds five dollars to the balloon; collect at any time to bank it, or keep pumping and risk a burst that wipes the balloon. Bursts are not random. Balloons come in three colours, each with its own burst range, and they arrive in groups of five where the burst point drifts by at most one pump. Over 45 balloons the task measures how you balance risk and reward and, more importantly, whether you learn the pattern from experience instead of pumping on feel.
Example: pumping a yellow balloon
Balloon 12 of 45, the second balloon of a yellow group. Each press of Space adds five dollars and inflates the balloon; Enter banks it. The loop pumps eight times and collects $40.
Example animation
Pump to inflate, collect to bank.
Collected $40.
Pump Space
Collect Enter
Balloons 11 to 15 are yellow: the burst point stays within one pump of the first one.
Yellow balloons burst between 9 and 12 pumps, and the first yellow one of this group burst at 10, so collecting at eight is the calibrated stop: $40 banked, nothing risked on the burst point.
This is a looping animation of the game screen, not the live game.
Play Free Example
Game Phases
1
Pump
Press Space (or the Pump button) to add five dollars to the balloon on screen.
2
Collect or keep going
Press Enter to bank the balloon and move on. If the balloon bursts first, its money is gone and the next balloon appears.
3
Learn the colours
The first five balloons are always green. After that each group of five is one colour, and bursts inside a group stay within one pump of each other.
4
Read the reveal
At the end a chart shows every burst point next to how far you pumped, so you can see how well you calibrated to each colour.
We are not affiliated with Arctic Shores or Maven Securities; all information provided is for educational purposes to help students prepare for interviews.
Scoring
+\$5
Per pump, when collected
Each pump you bank is worth five dollars.
lose
Burst
A burst loses everything in that balloon; money already banked is safe.
total
Score
Your score is the total banked across 45 balloons.
Green balloons burst between 5 and 7 pumps, yellow between 9 and 12, red between 14 and 17. The optimal play is to learn each colour from the first balloon of its group and collect one pump below the burst point you expect. The results screen shows your banked total against the maximum possible for the run.
Your progress
📊 Track your progress
See your scores over time and watch yourself improve.
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