Public vs. Championship Edition

There are actually two versions of Hot Air Balloon Flight. This page explains the difference.

The public edition (what this site covers)

The game featured on this site is the free public edition — no sign-up, no install. It's set in several real locations within Japan, built from official Japanese geographic survey data. The core gameplay (burner and rip-line control, the JDG competition format) is identical to the special edition described below.

The Championship Edition (a supporter edition)

In September 2026, a real international event — the Hot Air Balloon World Championship — will be held in Krosno, Poland, with 7 pilots representing Japan.

A special edition of the game is set at that championship venue. Core gameplay (flight controls, JDG rules) is the same as the public edition, but the flying location is the real World Championship venue rather than Japan. This edition is made available to supporters of Team Japan and isn't a general public download.

If you'd like to support Team Japan, donation and merchandise info is shared on Instagram — see the link in the footer.

At a glance

	Public edition	Championship Edition
Who it's for	Everyone, free	Team Japan supporters
Setting	Locations within Japan	The World Championship venue (Krosno, Poland)
Core rules	Same (JDG, burner/rip-line control)	Same
How to get it	Play instantly via this site / GitHub Pages	Through the supporter channel