Your Next Favorite Video Game Might Just Be About Tampons

Aside from their obvious use during menstruation, tampons are wonderful weapons — and no, that's not a typo! Two teenage girls are hoping to change society's views about both violent video games and natural female body processes with their new video game, Tampon Run. While brainstorming their final project for Girls Who Code, Andy Gonzales and Sophie Houser quickly turned from joking about a tampon video game into creating one. Now, the girls have released an 8-bit game about menstrual cycles that is changing the world.

"The idea of making it funny and quirky kind of makes menstruation a lot more approachable and more comfortable," Gonzales told Today of Tampon Run, in which the female hero has to collect tampons before the bad guys. She also uses the sanitary product as her weapon in the game, which serves to destigmatize periods while also pointing out the violent content of most video games. The teens not only aim to promote period education with their game, but also to change ideas about what's acceptable to society. "Although the concept of the game may be strange, it's stranger that our society has accepted and normalized guns and violence through video games, yet we still find tampons and menstruation unspeakable," state the teens in their intro to the game.

While the lessons to be learned through this video game are extremely valuable for boys and girls alike, it's also just plain fun. After you give the addicting Tampon Run a play, you might just find yourself reaching for a trusty Playtex when faced with an uncomfortable situation.