Parents' Guide to

Bloons TD 6+

By Jeff Haynes, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Tower defense pops balloons with incredibly fun gameplay.

Game Apple Arcade 2022
Bloons TD 6+ Box Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

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age 8+

Based on 1 parent review

griffin S.
griffin S. Adult
April 15, 2023
age 8+
i had a level 106 account and it just deleted it for no reason
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What’s It About?

BLOONS TD 6+ doesn't really have a significant story to pay attention to, unlike other apps. The premise behind the game is that a collection of balloons (or Bloons, as the game calls them) have decided to travel along a twisty path through towns, villages, forests, and other landscapes, clearly taunting the monkeys that inhabit these locations. Taking up arms against their mortal enemies, the monkeys decide to blast these threats out of the sky. OK, perhaps that's a bit more melodramatic than it actually is, but the concept is basically the same. Players will place monkeys, each with their own skill sets and abilities (such as ninja, sniper, or wizard), in the balloons' way to deflate the oncoming hordes of floating orbs. Each inflatable that you take down will earn you coins that you can use to upgrade skills and firepower, or purchase new units, like heroes, with their own destructive abilities. What's more, every single balloon popped gives your units experience, allowing them to gain attacks and evolve into more powerful units. There's also the option to erect structures, like spike factories and bomb shooters, to cause significant amounts of damage, or markets and villages to provide coins and speed boosts to your units. Apart from the levels that come with the game, Bloons also features daily challenges and the option to build your own levels that can be uploaded for other gamers to explore. Will you and your monkeys finally gain the upper hand against these wicked Bloons?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (3):

This simple to learn strategy game is deceptively fun and packs loads of levels that will keep you coming back to pop round after round of balloons. Bloons TD 6+ is one of those games that's got a simple premise: Defeat everything along a path before it gets to your base. But it's the methods that you use to accomplish this that's part of the fun. Honestly, when's the last time that you deployed a pack of superhero, pirate, or ninja monkeys to destroy balloons? It's absurd, but it's also hilarious and engaging to watch them attack these inflatable enemies with their darts, boomerangs, or other abilities. It's also fascinating to see how varied the Bloons can be themselves. From iron balloons that shrug off most attacks to ceramic balloons that burst smaller orbs forward when shattered, you'll frequently be facing off against a challenging set of odds that only get more intense at higher difficulty levels and the longer you survive each round. Fortunately, as you succeed through these trial-and-error stages, you'll gain additional experience and unlock powers that can be used to tip the balance of a stage in your favor. That provides an additional level of depth, as you start to customize and enhance your units to produce more damage, cause secondary effects on the field of battle, or earn additional cash.

But the fun doesn't stop with the regular campaign. There are daily levels released to give you new challenges, as well as special events that restrict your units or earned cash, or pit you against gigantic blimps to test your strategic skills. Players also have the option to create and upload levels, ensuring a virtually endless number of challenges for the game's community. If there's an issue that could be presented about Bloons TD 6+, it's that it's not always clear about some game features. It's hard to tell why certain pathways are fully closed off for characters after you've selected some upgrades over others. It just feels arbitrarily determined. Additionally, it can be frustrating to go through an entire level, setting up for seemingly every single option, only to face a set of Bloons on a later level that your forces can't possibly destroy. But these are minor issues for a game that's this deep and entertaining. If you're a strategy fan or interested in what tower defense games are all about, give Bloons TD 6+ a few rounds -- you'll have a blast.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about trial and error. Bloons TD 6+ frequently throws an overwhelming amount of balloons at you until you either succeed at or fail a level. Is it useful to continually fail until you learn how to succeed, or should the game give assistance after a while to prevent frustration?

  • Do you enjoy playing as the monkeys in Bloons TD 6+? Would you like to have a chance to be the balloons instead? What kind of balloons or powers would you want to use if you had the opportunity to control these inflated opponents?

Game Details

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