This is a fun game that focuses on a topic rarely explored in games: sex education and the history of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is one of several games in a series that I have developed, integrating Queer Studies with game-making. The game is a video game that uses innovative mechanisms to capture the complexity of finding love, dealing with loneliness, and avoiding infection from viruses and bacteria.
Despite the serious subject matter, the game maintains a cheerful mood that contrasts with the often somber imagery associated with STIs. This cheerfulness stems from the knowledge that dedicated activists and scientists are working tirelessly to combat these viruses, and that significant progress has been made since the onset of the HIV pandemic in the 1980s.
The game was created using JavaScript, and the process of making the game involved describing it with code. Additionally, the game is part of my effort to create generative-art-based games, with all graphics generated through code and the use of emojis.
The game focuses on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as other common STIs that can interfere with finding love and dealing with loneliness. As a gay man from a younger generation, I made this game to learn more about the history of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which devastated the gay community and others. The game is also infused with my hope that, with the advancement of science, we will one day be able to clear the virus from infected bodies and free people living with the virus from stigmatization.