The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) Test

This example was designed by Dr. Heather Shaw

The Balloon Analogue Risk Task, often shortened to BART, is a simple game-like activity about judging when to keep going and when to stop. In the task, a player pumps up a balloon a little at a time, with each pump offering the chance to gain more. The catch is that if the balloon grows too much, it can burst and the points from that round are lost. That creates a small but very clear decision each time: play it safe, or take one more chance.

What makes BART so useful is that the idea is easy to understand straight away. People do not need lots of instructions to get started, because the choice feels familiar. We all make little decisions like this in everyday life, where there is a possible reward but also a risk of losing what we have already built up. That makes the activity engaging, easy to explain, and well suited to sessions where you want people to feel comfortable rather than tested.

On the Rib:bit, BART works well as a friendly experiment for exploring decision-making, confidence, and changing behaviour over repeated rounds. You can watch whether someone tends to play cautiously, push their luck, or change their strategy after a balloon bursts. It is a nice example of an activity that feels playful on the surface, while still giving you a useful window into how different people approach uncertainty.