STD PONG 2.0: Field Evaluation of a Mobile Persuasive game for Discouraging Risky Sexual Behaviours among Africans Youths

Playing mobile games has become a very popular activity in our society today. Aside from being a very common leisure-time activity, researchers have begun to design games to solve real-life problems in many domains, including in the domain of health and wellness. A major challenge in the domain of health and wellness is the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). This paper presents the design and field evaluation of a mobile persuasive game intervention aimed at promoting change in risky sexual behaviour among African youths titled STD PONG 2. 0. The results of the field evaluation on 41 African youths showed that STD PONG 2.0 was effective at motivating change in risky sexual behaviours by promoting a positive attitude, intention, and self-efficacy against risky sexual behaviours. The game also led to a significant increase in the knowledge about STDs and its preventive measures. Finally, we propose some design suggestions for developing persuasive games targeted at Africans generally and African rural communities based on our findings.