I did consider adding indicators for where hazards were going to show up, but I kind of liked making the player remember where everything goes as a little extra layer of difficulty so I scrapped that. The sequence does get long, I'll give you that. I do like the idea of showing where you lost balloons last time, though.
As for similar solutions, that was mostly intended. I built the storm around what I wanted the player to do and how I thought the player might respond, so it was very deliberate. It is a puzzle game after all. Having said that, I've enjoyed seeing a lot of different solutions from people and I think it's really cool and exciting that people have found alternate ways to win the game.
Thanks for playing!