Make a Splash: Meet Balloon Barrage's Three New Rivals

Balloon Barrage has come out of the workshop dripping wet and better than ever. Today's update gives the pool-deck artillery duel three named rivals, Quick Match games that always start, pet XP on every rival match, and a full art glow-up.

Meet Puddle, Misty, and Cosmo

The anonymous easy, medium, and hard computer opponents have hung up their towels. Taking their lanes are three poolside rivals with faces of their own: Puddle the Grelephant, an easy-going splasher happy to let newcomers find their aim; Misty the Frostyserpent, a colder, sharper shot; and Cosmo the Cosmagator, whose aim is cosmic — and whose payouts are too, at roughly triple Puddle's rate for a win (40-60 MPC against 15-25).

Rival matches now pay your pet as well as your pocket: your active pet earns 15, 20, or 25 XP for beating Puddle, Misty, or Cosmo, and 5 XP even in defeat. When Balloon Barrage is the day's Featured Game, rival wins now pay double like everything else, and pet-care coin boosts apply too. The 10-rival-games-a-day limit still stands — but PvP matches no longer count against it.

Quick Match Always Starts

Queue up for a player-versus-player match and nobody shows? After about 20 seconds a stand-in challenger dives in, so a match always starts — and it pays the same rewards as any PvP game. PvP remains unlimited.

A Fresh Coat of Paint (and Water)

Every pet in the target fleet has been redrawn to match its true species art, the arena has a brand-new banner, and every throw now arcs visibly across the pool before landing in a ring of spray — a big splash on a hit, a modest plip on a miss. Win or lose, the match now ends on a painted victory or defeat scene worthy of the result.

Grab your balloons and play Balloon Barrage — the Wiki has the full rules and payouts.