In this 3 part edition of my YoVille Tips, I will be discussing the balloons on YoVille.com. Please keep in mind that these balloons are not in the actual game, but on the official website. Any associated coins, however, cross over into the game. This part will go over the basics of the balloons. (In the next parts, I will go over the collectible balloons -- 3b -- and the sets -- 3c--.)

Intro to Balloons

The balloons are a fun way to "decorate" your friend's (and your own!) profile on YoVille.com. Why splat? Well, besides the fact that it is fun, and lets you express your creativity...splatting earns you things. Sometimes it will earn you soap (to clean your profile, or your friend's - if you are feeling generous.) Other times it will earn you more balloons, or even rare balloons that are only found by splatting.

You get free balloons every 10 minutes. My way of keeping up with this is keeping YoVille.com open at all times in another browser tab. This way you can jump back to it and get a new balloon every 10 minutes. The free balloons are small primary colors (red, blue, and yellow.) When you start collecting sets, you can can earn other free balloons, as well. As you collect/mix balloons, they will be displayed on your YoVille.com profile.

The balloon toolbar shown above is located at the top of the pages on YoVille.com. The first button, the brown pouch, will show you your balloon collection:

From this screen, you can select (by clicking on them) balloons to throw. If you drag certain combinations of balloons into the mixing area at the bottom, and click the swirly looking button, you can make new balloons. If you are too impatient to wait the 10 minutes for the next balloon, you can also purchase more balloons, but this will cost you YoCoins.

The next button on the toolbar will show you which balloon you have ready to throw. (If it is white, like on my sample toolbar, it means it is empty. You will need to select a balloon out of your pouch.)

The next button on the toolbar is the soap. Soap can be either purchased in the pouch, or earned through splatting. Soap will allow you to clean up splats on your profile, or your friends' profiles. (Cleaning up splats earn you 5 YoCoins each! Warning: Try to only clean simple one balloon splats. In is considered bad etiquette to clean up the prettier picture type splats from collectible balloons. Most YoVillians like those splats and want to keep them on their profiles.)

The last button is the free balloon indicator. On my sample toolbar, it indicates to click for a new balloon. Clicking the button gives you the following pop-up:

Beginners to splatting will only see the primary red, blue and yellow balloons. Select any one of these three, and it will be put into your pouch, ready to splat or mix. Once you have selected a balloon, the "Next Balloon Ready" will be replaced with a countdown timer until a new balloon is ready.

Basic Balloon Sizes

There are three different sizes of balloons: small, medium, and large. The problem is, they don't show any bigger or smaller in your pouch. The trick to knowing which size you have is determined by where the balloon tail is!

Small: Balloon tail going down, and slightly to the left. Throwing this causes a messy splat.

Medium: Balloon tail going down, and to the right. Throwing this causes an almost flower type splat.

Large: Balloon tail going up, and to the left. Throwing this causes a swirled splat.

Mixing Basic Balloons

The key to getting anything other than the basic primary small balloons is mixing (in your pouch.) The combinations for the solid colored balloons is as follows:

Small Red: One of the free balloons obtained every 10 minutes.

Medium Red: Mix 2 small red balloons.

Large Red: Mix 3 small red balloons.

Small Blue: One of the free balloons obtained every 10 minutes.

Medium Blue: Mix 2 small blue balloons.

Large Blue: Mix 3 small blue balloons.

Small Yellow: One of the free balloons obtained every 10 minutes.

Medium Yellow: Mix 2 small yellow balloons.

Large Yellow: Mix 3 small yellow balloons.

Small "Pink": (Looks more purple than pink...) Mix one small red and one small blue.

Medium "Pink": Mix one small pink, one small red, and one small blue.

Large "Pink": Mix one medium pink, one small red, and one small blue.

Small Orange: Mix one small red and one small yellow.

Medium Orange: Mix one small orange, one small red, and one small yellow.

Large Orange: Mix one medium orange, one small red, and one small yellow.

Small Green: Mix one small blue and one small yellow.

Medium Green: Mix one small green, one small blue, and one small yellow.

Large Green: Mix one medium green, one small blue, and one small yellow.