The MiddleSex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is a Canada-based teaching organization designed to promote wellness, prevent disease and injury, and protect the public through the delivery of public health programs, services, and research.  They cover topics from health education on abuse to cancer prevention to weight loss.  Among their many goals is to reach teens, and what is one of the most difficult topics to talk to teens about?  Sex and STIs of course.  Some creative minds at MLHU have come up with a rather ingenious solution.  Reach them with fun, humorous gameplay.

Battle the Sperminator.

Adventures in Sex City is an online health game designed to teach teens about birth control, relationships, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy, and general sexual health.  Teens must go up against Sperminator, a former superhero who’s infected by a STI and doesn’t seek treatment.  Please note this game is for teens and adults only.  The artwork is definitely not for little kids.

In the dark of the night, Sex City is in a panic because of the terrible Sperminator whose sole mission is to infect all citizens with various sexually transmitted infections.  Who do you call?  The Sex Squad!  An elite team of superheroes dedicated to keeping the citizens of Sex city safe from STIs.  It’s up to you to help the Sex Squad stop the Sperminator and save Sex City.

The goal of the game is to answer a series of sex-based questions using one of the Sex Squad super heroes.  Teens can go up against the sinister Sperminator using one of four characters:

1. Wonder Vag – a pro-abstinence virgin
2. Willy The Kid – a short guy that joined the squad to prove size doesn’t matter
3. Power Pap – a sexually active girl that’s already had a close encounter with a STI
4. Captain Condom – a scientist whose condom-perfecting experiment went awry resulting in his half man half condom appearance.

Get a trivia question correct and you can deflect the Sperminator’s infected  sperm with your rubber condom shield.  Get it wrong and be prepared to be shot by the Sperminator’s sexual projectile arms. You won’t find the game mechanic revolutionary, but I found the comic book style to be compelling, the characters amusing, and the questions informative.

And if that doesn’t amuse you…

If you need a really good laugh, may I suggest checking out some of the MLHU’s collection of condom commercials.  This is definitely better than reading a pamphlet.  Congratulations to MLHU for their creative efforts to deliver sexual health information to teens!