Kidney Defender
A tap-to-zap arcade game where the health bar is a real eGFR. Blast what hurts kidneys, let what helps them through, and ace lab quizzes to heal — learning the CKD playbook one wave at a time. Best played on your phone.
Suiting up the kidneys…
Tap (or click) the falling items. Your progress and knowledge meter are saved on this device.
How to play — and what it’s really teaching
- Zap the threats 💊🧂🥤
- NSAID pills, salt shakers, instant noodles, soda, cigarettes — tap them before they reach your kidneys. Every one that gets through knocks real points off your eGFR bar.
- Protect the helpers 💧🥦🏃
- Water, vegetables, exercise, sleep, and blood-pressure checks heal you — but only if you let them land. Zapping a helper costs you. Telling the two apart quickly is the whole game, and it's also the actual skill.
- Your health bar is an eGFR
- You start at 95 — full kidney strength. Take hits and you walk down through the real CKD stages, with the stage label updating live. The game ends at eGFR 15, where real kidneys need dialysis or a transplant.
- Lab quizzes heal you
- Between waves you get quick questions about eGFR, creatinine, ACR, and blood pressure targets. Get one right and your kidneys recover 8 eGFR — because in real life, understanding your labs is protective.
- Knowledge sticks around
- Every threat, helper, fact, and quiz question you encounter fills your Kidney Knowledge meter, and it's saved on your device. Play a few rounds over a week and you'll have covered the whole CKD self-management playbook.
The serious version of the rules
The game simplifies on purpose — real kidney disease moves over years, not seconds, and no single french fry moves an eGFR. But the targets are real: NSAIDs, sodium, sugar, smoking, and uncontrolled blood pressure are the big modifiable risks, and hydration, movement, sleep, and knowing your numbers are the big protectors. When you’re ready for the deeper story, the 3D Kidney Explorer shows you the machine itself, and the Kidney Simulator lets you drive the physiology.
This is a teaching game, not medical advice. Never start or stop a medication because of a game — including NSAIDs some people are prescribed on purpose. For decisions about your own kidneys, see how to read your kidney lab results and talk to your care team.
Related reading
These guides cover the next questions patients usually have after this topic.