Circus Balloon floating towards mobile

For the most part clowns are a source of joy for children. For some of us, however, they terrorize our childhood, thanks in no small part to Stephen King's It, Jack Nicholson's terrifying performance as The Joker and Ronald McDonald's sinister sneering grin.

The colourful cartoon visuals of Circus Balloon seem friendly enough, though. We haven't heard of Games Mill before but turns out it's a five-man German development studio established in 2006 and currently working on three games, the first of which is this.

In Circus Balloon you try to save Zippo the tiny clown and his balloon full of fleas. And why not? To do so, you must navigate more than 30 mazes filled with circus-related elements which inevitably turn up to spice up the danger level of the adventure.

So you find yourself trying to avoid lions, snakes, and weightlifters, for example, as you make your way to the target area of each level with your floating flea home intact.

The developer makes a point of communicating the fact that the game is entirely violence-free, which will reassure parents looking for something to keep a child amused while waiting for their dental appointment.

Circus Balloon is due out in the summer. Games Mill's other titles include vertical shooter 3D Raid Over New York (so expect a bit more violence in this one) in which you have to save earth from aliens, and action-adventure-with-RPG-flavour Path to Valhalla. Both are scheduled for an autumn release.