Ruku's Heart Balloon is a perfect game for the smallest of little girls and the manliest of men who don't fear being judged. It's a pretty simple but very well made match 3 game (match 2, to be precise). There's a short story mode (2-3 hours), two arcade modes and even multiplayer (haven't found anyone manly enough to try it with though). Most importantly, it's absurdly cute: characters, story, dialogues, voices, beautiful art, interface made to look like embroidery - everything is cute. Despite that, it's not as easy as one would imagine, I even failed a few times in the story mode. The arcade modes have a lot of customization options and can potentially be much harder. Haven't tried them, because as more of a "hit things with a huge sword" person, 4 hours of this were enough for me (probably should work on my manliness). Also, that "puzzle platformer" tag? It's a mistake. You don't even directly control a character in this game. If you like "relaxing casual games" more than I do, or ...

The innocence and cuteness of this game make me wish I were a father with a small child to share it with... I think the piano soundtrack could be better, though the rest of the presentation is very charming, offering the same kind of distilled kawaii warmth as Sanrio franchises. The puzzle gameplay itself is appropriately simple and straightforward, but I appreciate how new mechanics are introduced over time, and the later levels pose slightly more of a challenge. For the price, the game packs nice value.

[i][b]Ruku's Heart Balloon[/b], so much more than Nena's song about 99 Red Balloons.[/i] [h1]Negatives[/h1] [list] [*]Only three stories [*]Achievements are difficult [/list] [h1]Positives[/h1] [list] [*]Adorable artwork [*]Customize puzzles [*]Illustrations and sheet music [/list] Our verdict: [b]Worthy[/b] [table] [tr] [th]For more games like this...[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]Check out [url=https://tgexp.com/rukus-heart-balloon/]The Gaming Experience[/url] website[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Watch our [url=https://www.youtube.com/@tgxp]YouTube channel[/url][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Follow our [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/notnowmom]Curator Group[/url][/td] [/tr] [/table]