Have You Played “Tampon Run”?

Tampon Run

The weapon of choice is a tampon.

Tampon Run founders Andy Gonzalez and Sophie Houser (photo by Nadia Irshaid Gilbert)

Tampon Run founders Andy Gonzalez and Sophie Houser (photo by Nadia Irshaid Gilbert)

This isn’t your average web video game; this is Tampon Run, a nostalgic eight-bit interface created by two high school girls, Andrea “Andy” Gonzales and Sophie Houser. The game is de-stigmatizing menstruation, which across the world carries a negative stigma. Throughout Africa, menstruation and poor access to sanitary products affect girls’ school attendance. On average girls miss up to eight days of study each school term because they are on their period. This is a global problem also happening in India and Asia. Let’s face it … Even in a country like the United States, the words ‘period’ or ‘menstruation’ gets dirty looks. Why are we still cringing?

Enter Andy and Sophie. Last summer, the girls attended a Girls Who Code program. For their final project, they submitted Tampon Run. Both girls had wanted to use computer code to influence social change. [Click here, to read more about the coding world and how females are joining in!]

Tampon Run 2So what exactly happens on Tampon Run? The main character, a female heroine, throws tampons at villains. It’s that simple. The idea to throw tampons was originally just a funny idea but as the teenagers started to research, they learned about the stigma and were shocked.

Now Gonzales and Houser are mini-celebrities. There is a mobile version, which includes turning enemies into flying pads once they are hit with tampons. But most importantly, they are hoping to further the conversations regarding the code movement, getting more girls to help close the gender gap in tech and educating the world on the menstrual taboo.

Okay, we’ve keep you here long enough: Go play Tampon Run!

P.S. I only scored an 8 on my first “Tampon Run.”

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