Bored or stressed by the lockdown? You can shoot at the novel coronavirus.

Two human resource management at XLRI, Akram Khan and Anushree Warade of (HRM), have developed a browser-based game, Bhag Corona, that’s not just a pastime but a source of information on the pandemic.

Launched on March 25, the game was played 2 lakh times on Tuesday. Starting with just 4,000 users on the first day, it has 1.36 lakh users from across the world, said Anushree, who’s now at home in Mumbai as XLRI is closed.

“We are using Google analytics to monitor how the game is doing and we’ve been surprised. It is not only Indians who are playing it but even the Croatians and many more,” she said over phone.

The game’s title is a reference to Union minister Ramdas Athawale’s chant “Go Corona” that did the rounds on social media a couple of weeks ago. The game features Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has the “Corona Go” chant set to a beat playing in the background.

The developers said they have inculcated World Health Organisation guidelines for personal protective measures to combat Covid-19.

Anushree said the idea was to find an entertaining way to educate people.

“Often, awareness on serious platforms is taken lightly, but an engaging game helps people understand the gravity of the situation,” she said. “Children and youngsters needed to be educated on Covid-19 and this was the best platform. We used social media to promote the game,” Anushree said.

Akram, who is now in Delhi, added: “We used the face of the Prime Minister because he is also the face of the lockdown.”

In the game, a player has to shoot a vaccine on viruses that pop up on the screen. The shooter is Modi. The game becomes tougher with viruses moving faster. The player has to score higher to reach the higher levels. Each time he or she fails, a message — such as “use masks”, “don't touch your face” and “wash your hands often” — pops upn.

Asked if they wanted to commercialise the game, both Anushree and Akram said no. “This was created with a sole purpose to make people aware,” Akram said. Added Anushree: “We are now working on a mobile application of the game.”