Hover Kids started as a game a dad built for his own kids. Every design decision in it filters through one question: is this good for the six-year-old holding the phone? Here's what that means in practice.
One button, on purpose
The whole game is played with a single input — hold to rise, release to glide. There's no attack button: every power comes from catching something on the course, and the skill being practiced is positioning, timing, and patience. Grab the ninja cloud before the robots arrive; save the star for when it counts. The game quietly teaches temperance — earn your power, then choose your moment. (The one calm counter-example is deliberate: the yoga cloud protects but never defeats. Peace is also a power.)
A session is 15–20 minutes, and then it ends
The full game — five cities plus a secret island — is designed to be one great sitting: a complete hero's journey with a real ending. When it's done, it says thank you and goes back to the title. No "play again?" prompt, no cliffhanger, no hook. Coming back tomorrow is your child's idea, not the game's.
The Sunset Card
After 20 minutes of continuous play, at the next natural break between levels (never mid-level), the game shows one quiet full-screen moment: the day's hero watching the sunset. It isn't a lock and it never nags — a tap continues playing. It simply makes "we're done for now" the easiest, most beautiful choice on the screen. Set it here:
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What we will never add
- Daily streaks, login rewards, or any "come back tomorrow" mechanic
- Countdown timers, limited-time anything, artificial scarcity, FOMO
- Loot boxes, mystery prizes, spinners — every pickup is exactly what it looks like, every time
- Ads, purchases, currencies, or anything that asks for money or attention
- Social comparison, leaderboards against strangers, share-pressure
- Punishing quitting, "are you sure?" guilt modals, progress ransom
- Endless modes with no stopping points
- Notifications of any kind
Quitting is always safe: progress saves at level boundaries, and closing the game mid-level just means that level starts fresh next time.
Young eyes
Nothing in the game strobes, flashes full-screen, or shakes the screen (there's exactly one tiny rumble, when the boss ship lands in the rubble). The end of every session is deliberately calmer than the middle — the last feeling is quiet pride, not adrenaline. A few habits that pair well with any screen time:
- 20-20-20: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. The Sunset Card's hero gazing into the distance is a little model of exactly that.
- Hold the screen at arm's length, in a well-lit room.
- No screens in the hour before bed.
- Outdoor play balances screen play — and outdoor light itself is protective for developing eyes.
The Spirit of Hover Kids
Hover Kids was made by a dad for his kids.
We wanted a game that feels like surfing: a happy flow where you hold to rise, let go to glide, and learn that your energy is something you can save up and use at just the right moment. Patience and control are the real superpowers here.
Hover Kids is built to leave kids feeling brave, kind, and capable, not wound up. There are no ads, no purchases, no sign-ups, no streaks, and no tricks to keep anyone playing longer than is good for them. When it's time to stop, the game says goodbye warmly.
Our heroes are ten ordinary kids who discover something special inside themselves. Their stories are about never giving up, being a good friend, waiting patiently, being brave when things feel scary, believing in yourself even when someone says you can't, and always staying safe.
We hope your little ones finish a game smiling, and maybe a little more sure that they can do hard things.
Lessons in the stories
Every hero has a short read-aloud story (see Meet the Hover Heroes). Each one is about one small, big thing:
- Lightning Bug — being brave when things feel scary
- Sauly — being patient
- Moola — staying calm and thinking it through
- Mauly — never let anyone tell you that you can't
- Rocko — never giving up
- Raineer — being safe, and helping friends be safe
- Cheetah Boy — being a good friend (and slowing down when it matters)
- Buttery — being brave about trying new things
- Kinger — being kind to everyone
- Cloud Cowboy — being brave in a storm, and being safe in one too
Written for ages 2–7: short sentences, nothing scary, nobody gets hurt. In the stories the invaders get bonked, bounced, fizzled or zoomed back home — never anything worse. And every hero wears goggles, because heroes always wear their safety gear.
Privacy
No accounts, no data collection, no chat, no third parties. Progress lives in your browser and nowhere else.
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