Tampon Run

Two teenage girls created a video game meant to de-stigmatize menstruation.

"I never thought I'd talk to my principal about menstruation," Sophie Houser, one of the two high schoolers who created Tampon Run at the Girls Who Code summer program, admits. "Or even my teachers. Like, all people really—I feel so comfortable now just saying, let's talk about it." "Yeah," Andy Gonzales agrees. "I told my comp-sci teacher ...

High School students Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser developed the video game Tampon Run as a sort of shoot-em-up game in which you throw tampons instead of shooting. The point of the game is that a natural process like menstruation should be just as acceptable in a video game as the shooting and violence that are so common.Gonzales and Houser produced the game as their final project in the Girls Who Code program. Go play it now -it’s a hoot!  -via Daily of the Day...

  While Anita Sarkeesian receives death threats and rape threats for the crime of generating thoughtful, detailed critiques of the sexism in video games, as happened just a couple of weeks ago, then you know that the world of gaming sorely needs a lengthy session of sensitivity training—if its problems with women aren’t so deep-seated as to resist any improvement, that is.     Enter Andy Gonzales and Sophie Houser and their charming Flash game Tampon Run, which they designed this summer at a camp called Girls Who Code. Gonzales and Houser are both high school students in New York who wanted to attack the sexism in the gaming industry. As Gonzales says: “We were brainstorming what our potential feminist game would look like, and Sophie jokingly suggested a game where you could throw tampons at people. The moment she said it, we realized it was a game we could make. We did some research about the menstrual taboo and realized it was a real problem that we could legitimately address with our game.” The game is preceded by a few splash screens in which the creators explain their purpose in designing Tampon Run: “Although the concept of...

Tampon Run is a video game by New York City high school students Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser about menstruation. Specifically, the game features a protagonist that collects and throws unused ...

New Yorkers Andrea Gonzales, 16, and Sophie Houser, 17, met while attending a Girls Who Code summer program.

Two high school girls created video game that combines lighthearted fun with a serious message

Is the world ready for a video game about menstruation? Two high-school girls think so.  As the end of the summer coding program "Girls...

“Tampon Run,” the brainchild of two New York City high schoolers, involves collecting tampons and chucking them at your enemies. This video game was made to end a stigma.

High schoolers Sophia Houser and Andrea Gonzales designed a typical shoot ‘em up video game with a big twist. They discuss the game and how having more women in the tech world would change the industry, along with Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani.

Oh yeah, Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser are going there.