FDA made a creepy Xbox game to warn teens about the dangers of smoking – CNET

Smoking

The new horror game is based on a smoking statistic. 


Valery Sharifulin/Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration is changing how it’s tackling tobacco use among teenagers. One Leaves is a free horror game for Xbox and PC designed to educate teens about smoking dangers.

Part of the FDA’s The Real Cost antismoking campaign, the game targets the 12-17 age range, the group most likely to experiment with cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The game’s premise is based on the statistic that three out of every four teens who smoke in high school will continue into adulthood despite trying to quit.

You wake up in a cage with three other people. An ominous voice tells you the rules: The four of you must try to escape, but only one of you will. The rest will be trapped inside forever. You can run, but only in short bursts because you have poor lung capacity.

“This game is part high school, part hospital and part hell,” Gary Resch of marketing agency FCB New York said in a release Wednesday. FCB helped create the game and the Real Cost campaign.

If you’re not the first to make it out, the voice gives you the bad news.

“You’re trapped. Game over. Just like three out of four teens who think they’ll escape smoking — but don’t know the real cost of cigarettes,” it says.

Another catch? The maze changes each time you play the game. So if there’s a way to win, it’s going to be a challenge.

Popular esports gamer and Fortnite star Ninja tweeted a playthrough of the game on Tuesday. He said the game’s message was important to him because his grandfather was a heavy smoker.

The game has been available since February. Plans are in the works to make One Leaves a real-life escape room experience at this year’s Winter X Games. 


Now playing:
Watch this:

First look at Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S



3:16

source: cnet.com