Rescuing Miffy from the Rain!

While walking through my neighborhood in Berlin, I spotted a cardboard box on the sidewalk marked “zu verschenken”: the classic local cue for “free to a good home.” The rain had just started, only a few drops, and I peeked inside to find a children’s game I’d never seen before: Bunte Ballone. The design instantly won me over. The box was scuffed but dry, and the game inside looked mostly intact just in time to rescue. It even has little Miffys on it!

Bunte Ballone is a simple color-matching game for young children, involves rolling a die, placing chips on matching balloons, and filling a board. Players pass if they’ve already placed a color. The first to complete their board wins. It is low-stakes, tactile, and easy to grasp. The game takes ten minutes and is suitable for ages 3-5.

Two pieces were missing: one of the four player mats and the special die, which originally had colored faces instead of numbers. Upon returning home, I cleaned everything thoroughly and scanned the box and game mats. While I couldn’t use the fourth mat, I managed to create and print a conversion key that could be used with a conventional die. 🎲

⚀ → 🔴🎈 Red Miffy
⚁ → ⚪🎈 White Miffy
⚂ → 🔵🎈 Blue Miffy
⚃ → 🟡🎈 Yellow Miffy
⚄ → 🟢🎈 Green Miffy
⚅ → 🟠🎈 Orange Miffy

The game is playable again! Even though it’s a small thing, it’s so nice to preserve a simple and fun game. Now, Bunte Ballone is alive and kicking!