Germ Busters

Pip the otter has spotted a crowd of cheeky, googly-eyed germs camping out on two cartoon hands, and they need a good scrub. Pump the soap, rub up the foam and watch each germ pop into a bubble and float away waving bye-bye. They giggle, they say whee, and nobody is ever scary.

Every wash walks through the six handwashing steps in order: palms, backs, between the fingers, thumbs, fingertips and wrists, then rinse under the tap and dry with the towel. A bouncy song plays the whole time and never runs out, so there is no clock and no way to lose; the song simply keeps going until the wash is done. Hands that finish get a sparkle, a cheer from Pip and a new sticker for the sticker chart.

Made for Maplewood Children's Hospital, for children aged 4 to 12 and the parents, nurses, child life specialists and infection-control teams who wash alongside them. No ads, no accounts, no personal data collected, and the sticker chart is saved only on the device.

How to play

Press the big Play button. Pip says hi, and the step bar at the top shows the whole wash, ticking each step off as you go. The word under the bar tells you what to scrub now, and the arrow or circle beside it shows how.

• Soap: rub the hands to spread the foam
• Palms, Backs and Fingers: swipe back and forth
• Thumbs, Tips and Wrists: draw little circles
• Each germ pops into a bubble when it is clean; the counter shows how many are left
• Rinse: move along the hands under the water
• Dry: wipe the drops away with the towel
• Collect your sticker, then wash again or look at your chart

Made for little hands

There is no timer and no fail. The wash song loops for as long as a child needs, so a slow or tired washer is never rushed or cut off. If nothing happens for a couple of seconds, a pointing finger shows where to rub next.

Holding a finger still on the hands scrubs gently too, which helps children playing one-handed or lying down. The sound button is always in the corner, and the Home button asks before leaving a wash. The game fits both landscape and portrait screens.

The sticker chart

Every finished wash adds a sticker to My Stickers, chosen from twelve designs. Each page holds twelve, and a fresh page starts when one fills up, so the chart keeps growing wash after wash. Stickers are kept on the device only.

Controls

Touch

Rub the hands with a finger: swipe or draw circles. Holding still scrubs too.

Mouse

Click and drag across the hands

Keyboard

Arrow keys or WASD move the soap, hold Space or Enter to scrub, Esc or P for Home, Backspace back, M mutes

Gamepad

Left stick or D-pad moves the soap, hold A, X or right trigger to scrub, Start for Home, B back, Y mutes

Features

• All six handwashing steps in order: palms, backs, between the fingers, thumbs, fingertips, wrists
• Soap, rinse and towel-dry steps around the scrubbing
• 18 googly-eyed germs in six colours that pop into bubbles and float away waving
• A bouncy wash song that loops until the child is done: no timer, no losing
• Pip the otter cheers along with every pop and every finished step
• A new sticker after every wash, twelve designs, collected in a sticker chart
• Gentle hint finger when a child pauses
• Touch, mouse, keyboard and gamepad
• Landscape and portrait layouts
• No ads, no accounts, no personal data collected