Lots of nice touches in this one. The balloon inflation / boosting have satisfying art and sound. The string is a nice touch, too. I gave up on the blowing mechanic quickly in favor of the button controls.
I found the block mode hard to understand. Things improved once I figured out there is a limited time to move a block before it crosses the dashed line. I don’t feel like I got a handle on the balloon’s “AI” in this mode, though, so I didn’t see much room for “block placement strategy”.
I am mixed on the sideways screen, but I found it downright confusing that the game over screen goes back to the “normal” Playdate orientation.
Congrats on a cool thing! You’ve given me a lot to think about, haha.