I’m Positive is the indie-developed, retro-styled video game that won the Center for Disease Control’s “Health Game Jam” earlier this year. The game is simple, cross platform, and designed to give you the experience of learning that you’re HIV positive from a first person perspective. After receiving a call from a former sex partner you, the player, begin to navigate through a series of events that are informed by the revelation that you yourself might be positive.
Through conversations you learn more about the main character’s fears and concerns and are presented with a realistic picture of what it’s like to grapple with the prospect of being positive. Though it’s designed to inform players about HIV, how it’s spread, and how best to minimize risk of exposure, the game doesn’t make a point of hounding players to follow a specific script. You can choose not to follow up and get tested if you so please. In many ways the game is immersive because of its resemblance to everyday life. There’s nothing special to the game except that you’re one step removed from it being your actual life.
I’m Positive is free to download for Windows, Macs, and Linux systems at their website with Android and iOS versions of the game currently in development. Watch the trailer for I'm Positive AFTER THE JUMP…
