Bloons
The original dart-throwing puzzle that the whole Bloons Tower Defense series grew out of: limited darts, one monkey, pop the quota.
Before Ninja Kiwi built a tower defense empire, Bloons was a 2007 puzzle game. A monkey stands at a fixed spot with a fixed number of darts, and a wall of balloons is arranged in front of him. You get a quota to pop and only angle and power to work with.
The design is all about chain reactions. Bomb bloons blow up their neighbours, ice bloons freeze a cluster solid, and tack bloons fire spikes in every direction, so a single well-aimed dart can clear a third of the level while a technically accurate one pops a single balloon and wastes a shot. Finding the chain is the puzzle.
Controls
Mouse to aim, click and hold to set power, release to throw
Tips
- Find the bomb bloons first and plan the shot that reaches them. Everything else is a chain reaction from there.
- Darts bounce off the level walls, so a ricochet often reaches clusters a direct line cannot.
- You only need the quota, not every balloon. Stop optimising once the counter is satisfied.