Balloonies Slot Review: Floating Reels, Star Multipliers and Free Spins

What Balloonies is

Balloonies is an online video slot from IGT. Every symbol is an inflatable character: a hedgehog, a monkey, an elephant, a giraffe and letter balloons, all floating against a bright blue sky. A follow-up called Balloonies Farm swapped the zoo for farm animals, but this page covers the original game.

The layout is classic: 5 reels, 3 rows and 20 fixed paylines. What sets it apart is the Floating Reels feature, IGT's upside down take on cascading reels. Instead of falling from the top, replacement balloons rise from below.

A note on sources. IGT does not publish a public game page or game sheet for Balloonies, so the specifications on this page come from third-party game listings, and we only use details on which those listings agree. Where they disagree, as they do on release year, volatility, bet limits and free spin counts, we say so and point you to the rules screen instead of picking a number.

How a spin works step by step

1. Set the bet. All 20 lines are always active, so your total bet is 20 times the line bet.
2. Fifteen balloons appear. Five reels, three rows.
3. Line wins are checked. Matching symbols on a payline from the leftmost reel pay according to the paytable.
4. Winning balloons pop. Every symbol that was part of a win bursts and leaves a gap.
5. New balloons float up. Symbols move up to close the gaps and new ones rise in from below. If a new win forms, it pays and the process repeats.
6. The spin ends when a refill produces no win. All wins from the sequence are added together.

This is the same idea as a tumble or cascade, just in the opposite direction. The practical effect is identical: one paid spin can produce two, three or more wins in a row, and each refill is free.

Symbols and paytable

The table below shows the five of a kind values reported for the main symbols, as multiples of the line bet. Values for three and four of a kind, and for every symbol at your exact stake, are in the in-game paytable.

To convert to your total bet, divide by 20. A 500x line bet win equals 25x your total stake, and the 40x Bonus award equals 2x your total stake.

Wild. The hedgehog is wild. It lands only on reels 2, 3 and 4 and substitutes for every symbol except the Bonus balloon and the Star.

Star. Stars land on reels 1, 2 and 3 and carry a multiplier, covered in the next section.

Star multipliers explained with an example

Each Star shows a value of x2, x3 or x5. When a Star is part of the action on a winning spin, its value multiplies the win. When two or more Stars are involved, their values are added together and the total applies. Our multiplier guide explains how additive and multiplicative designs differ.

Worked example. You play at 1.00 total, which is 0.05 per line. A line of five giraffes pays 300x the line bet, or 15.00. Two Stars on the screen show x2 and x3. Added together they make x5, so the win becomes 15.00 x 5 = 75.00.

Now take a smaller hit: a letter line paying 0.50 with a single x5 Star. The result is 2.50. That is how Balloonies turns routine wins into something worth watching, and why the Star counts more than any single regular symbol.

Third-party descriptions differ slightly on how Stars combine with Floating Reels, so watch a few multiplier wins in the game and check the rules screen for the exact wording of your version.

The Bonus balloons and free spins

Bonus balloons appear on reels 1, 2 and 3 in the base game only. Land all three and two things happen:

1. You are paid 40x the line bet straight away. At 0.05 per line that is 2.00.
2. A pick screen shows three balloons. You pop one, and it reveals the number of free spins you receive.

The free spins play on a different set of reels that carries more Stars, so multiplied wins come around more often than in the base game. Floating Reels are reported to stay active, which means a single free spin can chain several wins, each one boosted by the Stars in play.

Sources do not agree on the exact free spin values hidden in the balloons, so we do not quote a range here. The pick screen and the rules show the possible awards for the version you are playing. Reports also say the round cannot be retriggered, so the number you pop is the number you play.

A full bonus worked through

Here is how one round could unfold at a 1.00 total bet, using paytable values from above and illustrative outcomes.

1. Three Bonus balloons land on reels 1 to 3. You collect 2.00 immediately.
2. You pop a balloon and receive a batch of free spins.
3. On one spin, five elephants line up for 400x the line bet, which is 20.00. A single x3 Star is in play, so the win is 60.00.
4. The elephants pop, new balloons float up, and a letter line pays 0.50. The Star still applies, giving 1.50.
5. The refill brings nothing new and the spin ends at 61.50.

Most free spins will be far quieter than that, but the example shows where the value comes from: a mid or high symbol line, a Star or two, and a refill that keeps the sequence going.

Bonus buy and extra bet options

Balloonies does not have a bonus buy. The only way to reach free spins is to land the three Bonus balloons. There is also no ante or feature boost option. Your total bet is simply 20 times the line bet.

That makes stake sizing straightforward, but it is worth doing the conversion before you spin. The paytable and the Bonus award are quoted per line, so a figure that looks large on the paytable is twenty times smaller against your total bet. At 0.10 per line you stake 2.00 a spin, the Bonus balloons pay 4.00, and five monkeys pay 50.00 before any Star is applied. If your casino displays the total bet only, divide it by 20 to find the line bet and read the paytable from there.

RTP, volatility and max win

The RTP most often listed for Balloonies is 94.33%. Listings also report builds at 92.4% and 96.23%, which suggests IGT supplies the game in several RTP versions and the casino chooses one. Our RTP guide explains why a gap of almost four points matters over a long session. The game info screen shows the value of the version you are playing.

Third-party listings disagree on volatility, and IGT does not state one, so we do not label it here. Max win is also unclear: the top symbol pays 1,000x the line bet, and Stars can lift a line win well above that, but no reliable source states a cap in terms of total bet. Bet limits vary by casino as well.

How to test Balloonies before you play

• Open the rules screen first and note the RTP, the bet range and the free spin values in the pick balloons.
• Play 200 base spins at your planned stake and count how often Floating Reels produce a second win.
• Watch how often Stars land, and whether they land when a win is on screen.
• Track how many spins it takes to see three Bonus balloons. That gap is your real bankroll question.

IGT does not offer a public demo link for this game on its own site, so use the play money mode at your casino if one is available. Our demo slots guide covers what to look for.

Where to play Balloonies for real money

Welcome bonus up to 500% on the first deposits18+ · Terms apply · Check that the platform is available in your country

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PaylinePilot editorial team · Numbers on this page come from the in-game rules and paytable, not from press releases.