The Period Game’s point is education
Two art school graduates would like to make introducing tween girls to Aunt Flo a bit more fun. Daniela Gilsanz and Ryan Murphy hatched the idea in a class at the Rhode Island School of Design.
The “Design and Play” class was given a challenge: create a game about a body part. “I pitched menstruation—and eventually got Ryan on board,” Gilsanz told Fusion.
The result is the Period Game, an educational board game about the menstrual cycle that’s loaded with puns and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“There is no standardized method for learning about your period, and as a result, many young women are unprepared and uncomfortable when the time comes,” the pair explain on their website for the game. The website’s tagline: Bleed to succeed.
They’re trying to interest partners in manufacturing and distributing the game.
Gameplay is similar to other children’s games. Players, who use tokens in the shape of various menstrual products (tampon, sanitary pad, menstrual cup), start in puberty and work their way around the board where they can land on spaces where they “grow breasts,” “ovulate” or other activities related to their cycle. Along the way they gather cards that teach them about what happens in various parts of the body during the menstrual cycle. Game play starts when a player twists a giant plastic ovary that dispenses a marble. A red marble indicates the player has her period; a clear one means it’s not time yet.
The game also comes with instructional pamphlets that teach young girls how to play the game and how the game relates to what they’ll experience during their menstrual cycle.
The creators have already been recognized for their product: it won the Red Dot Design award.