Balloon Risk Game

• Pumps per collected balloon: the average number of pumps on the balloons you cashed in. Balloons that burst are left out, because a burst cuts the count short. Researchers call this the adjusted average pumps, and it is the game's main score [1].
• Your risk style: our own playful label for that number (Careful, Steady, Bold or Daredevil). It describes how you played this game, not your personality.
• Points collected and balloons burst: the cost and the reward of your style. More pumps mean bigger balloons and more bursts.
• Compared with other players: once at least 30 people have played, the result shows what share of players pumped less than you.

1. Pump. Each pump adds 5 points to the balloon in front of you. The balloon grows.
2. Collect whenever you like. Your balloon's points go to your total, and the next balloon appears.
3. If it bursts first, that balloon's points are lost. Each balloon bursts at a different, hidden moment.

You play 30 balloons. As in the original task, each balloon can burst anywhere from the first pump to the 128th, with every point equally likely, so the average burst point is in the middle [1]. Each run's burst points are drawn fresh by our server, which also checks and scores your pumps.

The original study used 90 balloons in three colours and paid real money, 5 cents a pump; its main score came from the 30 balloons with the 128-pump limit, which is the version you play here [1]. Researchers have used anything from 10 to 90 balloons [2]; scores from the first 10 or the last 10 balloons led to the same conclusions in the original study [1].

• Learning. Many people pump more as the game goes on, once they see how far balloons tend to go [1].
• The stakes. Lab versions paid real money; this game uses points, so your choices may be bolder or more careful than with cash.
• Knowing the maths. Reading Figure 1 before you play will change your choices. Play first, then read.

The game shows how you balanced risk and reward in 30 balloons, today. It is not a personality test, and it can't tell you whether you take risks with money, health or driving: the links between this task and real-life habits are small [3]. It says nothing about your health and is not a diagnosis.

Our version is close to the published one, but the scores aren't strictly comparable with lab studies: they paid money, used different numbers of balloons and tested small groups of students [1][2]. Compare your score with other players here and with your own later runs.