Pop It

This page is for marketers setting up a Pop It campaign. Balloons rise up the screen and players tap them to pop them. Some balloons score points, and decoys cost points. The game speeds up towards the end, and the run ends when the clock does. The score shown at the end is the official one.

What you can set

Set these on the campaign’s Config tab, under The run.

Setting	What it does	Allowed values
Run length (seconds)	How long the clock runs. Balloons are spread evenly across it.	10 to 600. Default 60.
Time to pop one (seconds)	How long a balloon stays on screen after it appears. Shorter is harder. It must be shorter than the run.	0.5 to 30. Default 5.
Balloons that score	How many scoring balloons appear. These set the best possible score.	1 to 500. Default 40.
Decoy balloons	How many decoys appear. Players do not have to pop any, so they do not change the best possible score.	0 to 500. Default 20.
Points for a target	Points for each scoring balloon.	-1,000 to 1,000. Default 100.
Points for a decoy	Points for each decoy, normally negative. A run never finishes below zero.	-1,000 to 1,000. Default -50.

The What players will face panel shows the run length, the number of targets and decoys, how many arrive each second, and the best possible score.

Artwork and sound

Set artwork under Artwork on the Config tab. Every slot is optional.

Slot	Type	What it is	When left empty
Background	Image	Fills the screen behind the balloons.	A plain dark blue gradient.
Balloon that scores	Sprite sheet	The balloon worth points. Animate it so it can bob.	A red balloon.
Decoy balloons	Up to 6 sprite sheets	Used in turn as the run goes on. More of them means more variety, not more decoys.	Grey-blue balloons.

Pop It can also play sounds: hit (a scoring balloon popped), drop (a decoy popped) and music (loops under the run). Choose them in the Sounds section of the campaign’s Config tab, where each one has a play button so you can hear it first. With the API, set them in config.art.sounds with PATCH /v1/game-instances/{id}. With no sounds set, the game is silent.

For how to prepare images, sprite sheets and audio, see Artwork, sprite sheets and sound.

Text labels

Change these on the Copy & Translations tab.

Key	Default text	Where it shows
sound_on	Sound on	The mute button while sound is playing.
sound_off	Sound off	The mute button once the player has turned sound off.
loading	Loading…	While the game loads.
tap_to_start	Tap anywhere to start	Before the run begins.
score	Score	Next to the running total.
time_left	Time left	Next to the countdown.
scoring	Scoring…	After the run, while the final score comes back.
finished	Time!	When the clock runs out.

Choosing winners

Use Highest score, the default for this game. Players who pop every scoring balloon and no decoys share the top score, so pick a tie-break: Earliest entry wins or Random among tied entries.