Bunny Rescue

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!