protecc 💢 — a learning game about STDs (P1)

Filling the void in our high school sex ed classes. Play protecc at home with our print-at-home version!

The 5 types of cards in protecc

Team members: Jessica Chen, Tiffany Manuel, Alyssa Romanos

OVERVIEW

protecc is a 3–5 player card game that includes the fun that comes with Challenge and Fellowship. Our learning outcomes are increased knowledge of STDs/STIs and their specific symptoms and treatments. We can measure these learning outcomes by asking players which symptoms are associated with STDs and STIs shown in the game to see if they have built these associations through gameplay.

With protecc, our intent is to teach young adults about Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Infections (STDs/STIs) and how to treat and prevent them through a competitive card game. We felt that a card game would be the most fun and engaging landscape for an educational game because in this way, it feels like learning happening as gameplay progresses. We talked about how other formats, such as a trivia game or board game, would most likely require the players to have prior knowledge of STDs and STIs in order to succeed. By presenting the information as the game is played and necessitating that the information is retained in order to win, we feel that the educational goals for the game are achievable. This set-up equalizes the playing field for all players, regardless of whether or not they know much about STDs and STIs.

We wanted to create a game that teaches players about STDs, STIs, and different forms of protection and prevention because we feel that this knowledge is not accessible to everyone, seeing as many schools do not teach sexual education. Additionally, some schools hold certain beliefs about sexuality and sexual health such that they do not teach students about safe sex. Furthermore, this game can help spark open conversations about sex and sexual safety. Sex and STDs/STIs are stigmatized, especially for women, and so we feel that this game can lessen some of the discomfort associated with these sexual health topics.

Games similar to this are Fluxx and Exploding Kittens. In protecc, players use cards of different types to achieve a goal, similar to Fluxx. Once the goal is in place (Condition card), players can put down Symptom cards (similar to Keeper cards in Fluxx) in order to complete the Condition card, each of which has two symptoms associated with it. Players can use Treatment to block players from completing the Condition card and Prevention cards to block other players’ actions (similar to Nope cards in Exploding Kittens).

Games like this can often be used to push certain beliefs about sexuality and sexual health. For example, while doing research, we found some STD/STI games that want to reinforce abstinence rather than safe sex. Our biggest concern is figuring out how to strike a balance for a game about a stigmatized topic, such that it is fun, educational, and painted in a positive light.

ASSESSMENT

In order to concretely assess our players’ knowledge about STDs, STIs, and different forms of protection and prevention, we created a short survey that was administered to players both before & a day after a playtest. We specifically wanted to test how well players could match symptoms & treatment with conditions, replicating the main goal of our game. In addition, we wanted to see how players would self-assess their own knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases by asking how they would rate their knowledge out of 10. Our goal was to improve all players’ scores to 7 (out of 9) or above.

Screenshots of our survey

Ultimately, our survey results indicate that our players did learn more about sexually transmitted diseases through our game. Before playtests, players scored an average of 4/9, whereas they scored an average of 8.33/9 after.

Players’ scores, before (left) vs after (right)

In addition, players went from a self-rating on average from 5/10 to 6/10. Based on this data, we can conclude that our assessment goals have been reached and that players were able to meet our learning outcome.

Players’ self-rating, before (left) vs after (right)

SET-UP

1. Shuffle all the cards into a single deck
2. Dealer deals 5 cards face down to each player and places the deck in the middle
3. Designate a discard pile (left of the deck), and a Condition Card spot (right of the deck)

RULES

With the goal of increasing players’ knowledge of STDs and STIs, we designed the rules such that players would be actively engaging with the information. As our players learn the symptoms and treatments associated with particular STDs and STIs, they will (ideally) be better able to form strategies and, therefore, improve their performance. (PDF of the version of rules for players available in the print-at-home version.)

GAME BITS

• Condition Cards
• Symptom Cards
• Treatment Cards
• Prevention Cards
• Action Cards

HISTORY

Version #1

Notes from Version #1

Version #2

Notes from Version #2

Version #3

Notes from Version #3

“The game made a lot of sense, and it felt like I was learning and paying attention to the symptoms and conditions as the game progressed.”

Version #4

Notes from Version #4

“Now we all have the symptoms of a UTI.”

Version #5

Notes from Version #5

“You have back pain. Don’t complain.”

Notes for improvement

• Add more (lesser known) conditions
• Adjust the balance of cards
• Once you run out of cards, it was hard to get more again
• Art will play an important role (make it cute to make the idea of wanting to get a condition work)
• Could add expansion packs