diff --git a/src/course/spec.ts b/src/course/spec.ts
index 0dc3243..96eb900 100644
--- a/src/course/spec.ts
+++ b/src/course/spec.ts
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ import { PaintCannon } from '../paint/index'
 import {
   createPaintMine, createColorGate, createSpringBoot, createSeeSaw, createFan,
   createBucketDump, createBubbleArch, createConveyorBelt, createPressurePlate,
-  applySurface,
+  createPaintBubbles, applySurface,
 } from '../machine/index'
 import type {
   PaintMineConfig, ColorGateConfig, SpringBootConfig, SeeSawConfig, FanConfig,
   BucketDumpConfig, BubbleArchConfig, ConveyorBeltConfig, PressurePlateConfig,
-  SurfaceName,
+  PaintBubblesConfig, SurfaceName,
 } from '../machine/index'
 import { TOASTER_ALLEY } from './toaster-alley'
 import { SEESAW_LAB } from './seesaw-lab'
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ export type MachineSpec =
   | { kind: 'bubble'; cfg: BubbleArchConfig }
   | { kind: 'plate'; cfg: PressurePlateConfig }
   | { kind: 'conveyor'; cfg: ConveyorBeltConfig }
+  | { kind: 'bubbles'; cfg: PaintBubblesConfig }
   | { kind: 'oil'; pos: [number, number, number]; half: [number, number, number] }
 
 export interface CannonSpec {
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ export function buildCourseFromSpec(
       case 'bubble': createBubbleArch(world, m.cfg); break
       case 'plate': createPressurePlate(world, m.cfg); break
       case 'conveyor': createConveyorBelt(world, m.cfg); break
+      case 'bubbles': createPaintBubbles(world, m.cfg); break
       case 'oil': {
         const [cx, cy, cz] = m.pos
         const [hx, hy, hz] = m.half
diff --git a/src/course/toaster-alley.ts b/src/course/toaster-alley.ts
index 07104c9..baabb9a 100644
--- a/src/course/toaster-alley.ts
+++ b/src/course/toaster-alley.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ export const TOASTER_ALLEY: CourseSpec = {
     { kind: 'fan', cfg: { id: 'ta-fan', position: [0, 1.8, 20], direction: [0, 0, -1], force: 20, range: 18, spread: 4.5 } },
     // green reward mine — GRIP, and it feeds the green gate downstream
     { kind: 'mine', cfg: { id: 'ta-mine', position: [0, 0.05, 4], color: 'green', radius: 0.9, splats: 5, impulse: 5, direction: [0, 1, -0.3], size: [3.4, 3.4] } },
+    // green PAINT BUBBLES drifting between mine and gate — a second chance at
+    // green if you missed the mine: run/jump through the field, pop a few, and
+    // the gate still opens. Bubble colour = payload = the gate's key colour.
+    // (radius 0.6 × 2 splats ≈ a quarter-dose per bubble — the gate wants ~2 pops,
+    // so the mine stays the fast route and bubbles are the recovery route)
+    { kind: 'bubbles', cfg: { id: 'ta-bubbles', position: [0, 1.4, -11], color: 'green', radius: 0.6, splats: 2, count: 7, area: [4, 1.1, 4], drift: [0, 0.3, 0], bubbleRadius: 0.6 } },
     // green gate — opens for the runner who took the reward mine (same loop as
     // Breakfast Rush, proving the gate works identically from a data spec)
     { kind: 'gate', cfg: { id: 'ta-gate', position: [0, 0.02, -22], color: 'green', size: [4, 3, 0.6] }, needColor: 'green', needPct: 0.4 },
diff --git a/src/game.ts b/src/game.ts
index 7690ac8..b8463c2 100644
--- a/src/game.ts
+++ b/src/game.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import { createFollowCamera } from './blob/camera'
 import { PaintSkin, PaintCannon, BuffSystem, PaintHUD, installPaint } from './paint/index'
 import {
   createBucketDump, createBubbleArch, createConveyorBelt, createPaintMine, createColorGate,
-  SURFACES, applySurface,
+  createPaintBubbles, SURFACES, applySurface,
 } from './machine/index'
 import { installZones } from './course/zones'
 import { buildCourseFromSpec, COURSES, type FinishBox } from './course/spec'
@@ -72,6 +72,14 @@ function buildBreakfastRush(world: World, blob: BlobHandle, skin: PaintSkin): Fi
     id: 'arch-1', position: [-4.5, 0.12, -56], fraction: 0.6, // purple-lane exit: cleansing punishes a failed MEGA attempt
   })
 
+  // ---- paint bubbles: blue soap bubbles drifting over the milk-river approach.
+  // Pop one mid-run → SLICK/waterproof → your paint survives the rinse. The
+  // bubble colour teaches the counter to the hazard it floats above. ----
+  createPaintBubbles(world, {
+    id: 'bubbles-river', position: [0, 1.4, -24], color: 'blue', radius: 0.6,
+    splats: 2, count: 6, area: [5, 1.0, 2.5], drift: [0, 0.3, 0], bubbleRadius: 0.6,
+  })
+
   // ---- paint-mines: first-through floor panels on the centre line ----
   // REWARD: roll over it and it launches you forward + coats you GREEN (GRIP) —
   // a shortcut booster for the runner who takes the middle. HAZARD: further down,
diff --git a/src/machine/index.ts b/src/machine/index.ts
index b72abd1..fbd8587 100644
--- a/src/machine/index.ts
+++ b/src/machine/index.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export {
   createFan,
   createPaintMine,
   createColorGate,
+  createPaintBubbles,
 } from './parts'
 export type {
   Vec3,
@@ -36,4 +37,5 @@ export type {
   FanConfig,
   PaintMineConfig,
   ColorGateConfig,
+  PaintBubblesConfig,
 } from './parts'
diff --git a/src/machine/parts.ts b/src/machine/parts.ts
index f788bb4..a6e2bfb 100644
--- a/src/machine/parts.ts
+++ b/src/machine/parts.ts
@@ -1072,3 +1072,172 @@ export function createColorGate(world: World, cfg: ColorGateConfig): MachinePart
 
   return { id: cfg.id, group }
 }
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// PaintBubbles — a field of drifting soap bubbles that each hold a dose of one
+// colour. Touch one and it POPS: a burst of droplets, a paint douse on whoever
+// popped it, and a soft upward boop. The slow ambient drift is the always-on
+// telegraph (like the belt/fan), and the tint is the signage — a green bubble
+// gives green, matching the gate/tunnel colour language. Popped bubbles respawn
+// in the field after a beat, so the supply is steady but not spammy.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+export interface PaintBubblesConfig {
+  id: string
+  /** Centre of the spawn field. */
+  position: Vec3
+  color: PaintColor
+  /** Splat radius per douse splat (the mine's scale: ~0.9 is a real dose). */
+  radius: number
+  /** Splats per pop, spread around the body. Default 3. */
+  splats?: number
+  /** Bubbles alive at once. Default 6. */
+  count?: number
+  /** Field half-extents the bubbles wander in. Default [3, 1.5, 3]. */
+  area?: Vec3
+  /** Base drift velocity. Default [0, 0.35, 0] — a lazy rise. */
+  drift?: Vec3
+  /** Seconds a bubble lives before quietly re-forming elsewhere. Default 7. */
+  lifetime?: number
+  /** Bubble radius (visual + pop-trigger). Default 0.55. */
+  bubbleRadius?: number
+  /** Upward boop applied to the popper. Default 3. */
+  impulse?: number
+}
+
+export function createPaintBubbles(world: World, cfg: PaintBubblesConfig): MachinePart {
+  const { scene } = world
+  const pos = asVec3(cfg.position)
+  const hex = PALETTE[cfg.color]
+  const count = cfg.count ?? 6
+  const area = cfg.area ?? [3, 1.5, 3]
+  const drift = cfg.drift ?? [0, 0.35, 0]
+  const lifetime = cfg.lifetime ?? 7
+  const bubbleR = cfg.bubbleRadius ?? 0.55
+  const nSplats = Math.max(1, cfg.splats ?? 3)
+  const impulse = cfg.impulse ?? 3
+
+  const group = new THREE.Group()
+  group.position.copy(pos)
+  scene.add(group)
+
+  // Shared translucent soap-film material, tinted with the payload colour.
+  const filmMat = new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({
+    color: hex, transparent: true, opacity: 0.42, roughness: 0.08, metalness: 0.1,
+    emissive: hex, emissiveIntensity: 0.25, depthWrite: false,
+  })
+
+  interface Bubble {
+    mesh: THREE.Mesh
+    age: number
+    /** seconds until respawn after a pop (0 = alive) */
+    dead: number
+    phase: number
+  }
+
+  const spawnPoint = () => new THREE.Vector3(
+    pos.x + (Math.random() - 0.5) * 2 * area[0],
+    pos.y + (Math.random() - 0.5) * 2 * area[1],
+    pos.z + (Math.random() - 0.5) * 2 * area[2],
+  )
+
+  const bubbles: Bubble[] = []
+  for (let i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+    const mesh = new THREE.Mesh(new THREE.SphereGeometry(bubbleR, 16, 12), filmMat)
+    mesh.position.copy(spawnPoint())
+    mesh.renderOrder = 1
+    scene.add(mesh)
+    // stagger ages so the field never pops/expires in sync
+    bubbles.push({ mesh, age: Math.random() * lifetime, dead: 0, phase: Math.random() * Math.PI * 2 })
+  }
+
+  // droplet burst on pop (same recipe as the arch/mine bursts)
+  const bursts: Array<(dt: number) => void> = []
+  const burstAt = (at: THREE.Vector3) => {
+    const parts: THREE.Mesh[] = []
+    const vels: THREE.Vector3[] = []
+    for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+      const s = new THREE.Mesh(
+        new THREE.SphereGeometry(0.07 + Math.random() * 0.12, 8, 6),
+        new THREE.MeshStandardMaterial({ color: hex, transparent: true, opacity: 0.9, roughness: 0.2 }),
+      )
+      s.position.copy(at)
+      scene.add(s)
+      parts.push(s)
+      vels.push(new THREE.Vector3((Math.random() - 0.5) * 3, 1 + Math.random() * 2.5, (Math.random() - 0.5) * 3))
+    }
+    let life = 0
+    const step = (dt: number) => {
+      life += dt
+      parts.forEach((s, i) => {
+        vels[i].y -= 8 * dt
+        s.position.addScaledVector(vels[i], dt)
+        ;(s.material as THREE.MeshStandardMaterial).opacity = Math.max(0, 0.9 - life * 1.1)
+      })
+      if (life > 0.9) {
+        for (const s of parts) {
+          scene.remove(s)
+          s.geometry.dispose()
+          ;(s.material as THREE.Material).dispose()
+        }
+        const i = bursts.indexOf(step)
+        if (i >= 0) bursts.splice(i, 1)
+      }
+    }
+    bursts.push(step)
+  }
+
+  let clock = 0
+  world.addSystem({
+    update(dt) {
+      clock += dt
+      for (const b of bubbles) {
+        if (b.dead > 0) {
+          b.dead -= dt
+          if (b.dead <= 0) {
+            b.mesh.position.copy(spawnPoint())
+            b.mesh.visible = true
+            b.age = 0
+          }
+          continue
+        }
+        // drift + a lazy sideways wander so the field feels alive
+        b.age += dt
+        b.mesh.position.x += (drift[0] + Math.sin(clock * 0.9 + b.phase) * 0.25) * dt
+        b.mesh.position.y += drift[1] * dt
+        b.mesh.position.z += (drift[2] + Math.cos(clock * 0.7 + b.phase) * 0.25) * dt
+        if (b.age > lifetime) {
+          // quiet expiry: re-form elsewhere, no pop, no paint
+          b.mesh.position.copy(spawnPoint())
+          b.age = 0
+          continue
+        }
+        // pop check: any dynamic body inside the bubble
+        const hit = dynamicBodiesInBox(world,
+          { x: b.mesh.position.x, y: b.mesh.position.y, z: b.mesh.position.z },
+          { x: bubbleR, y: bubbleR, z: bubbleR })
+        if (hit.size > 0) {
+          burstAt(b.mesh.position)
+          const offsets = [[0, 0.35, 0], [0.4, 0, 0], [-0.4, 0, 0], [0, 0, 0.4], [0, 0, -0.4]]
+          for (const body of hit.values()) {
+            const t = body.translation()
+            body.applyImpulse({ x: 0, y: impulse, z: 0 }, true)
+            for (let i = 0; i < nSplats; i++) {
+              const [ox, oy, oz] = offsets[i % offsets.length]
+              world.events.emit('paint:request-splat', {
+                point: new THREE.Vector3(t.x + ox, t.y + oy, t.z + oz), color: cfg.color, radius: cfg.radius,
+              })
+            }
+          }
+          b.mesh.visible = false
+          b.dead = 2.5 + Math.random() * 2 // respawn after a beat
+        }
+      }
+    },
+  })
+
+  world.onFrame((dt) => {
+    for (const s of [...bursts]) s(dt)
+  })
+
+  return { id: cfg.id, group }
+}