STD PONG: A Personalized Persuasive Game for Risky Sexual Behaviour Change in Africa

Persuasive games are more effective if they are personalized to the specific group of users under consideration. This paper presents a personalized persuasive game for motivating risky sexual behaviours in Africa. The arcadetype game simulates various sexual risky behaviours that could lead to contracting STDs and HIV and how to avoid them. It engages players in an interactive manner using various persuasive strategies with the aim of imparting knowledge and skills about safe sexual behaviours/practices and how to avoid risky sexual behaviours. The game uses the engaging concept of the popular ping-pong game and the principles of game-based learning to engage users in the game while subliminally persuading them to refrain from risky sexual behaviours/practices.