Achievement Unlocked: Sex! – These are some helpful thoughts about the nature of sex and marriage in video games. A quote:
What the vast majority of these games inevitably do is present relationship mechanics that distill the commodity model down to its essence-you talk to the NPC enough, and give them enough presents, and then they have sex with/marry you.
This design approach is extremely simplistic and perpetuates the commodity model of sex-the player wants sex, they go through certain motions, and they are “rewarded” with what they wanted (like a vending machine). Furthermore, when sex is included in a game, it is generally framed as the end result-the reward-of romance, rather than one aspect of an ongoing relationship/partnership.
Richard Clark (Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief) has spent his entire life writing, reading, listening, and playing. He has a Bachelors in Theology from the Baptist College of Florida and has a Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY where he is the classroom technology manager at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing at Christ and Pop Culture, he is also a staff writer for 
This may well be (and I can’t think of really any examples of games in which sex/marriage/getting the girl isn’t just the culmination of performing a number of tasks the right way), but isn’t the commodity model of sex just a reflection of how it almost always works in real life?
Sex is the cumulative reward for performing tasks (one might say quests) in such a way to remove barriers between the player and his goal. I think the view of sex often forwarded throughout Christendom makes a commodity model of sex the de facto system for believers. And so much so that in a lot of ways, marriage is devalued in such a way that it becomes a glorified form of prostitution.
We often hear of the contemporary dating system being compared to prostitution, with the man (or woman) paying via dinner, a movie, compliments, snuggling, etc. for sex-as-culmination. With marriage, one can be seen as paying a hefty price (one’s life until death annuls the contract) for an exclusive, nearly on-demand escort service. At least that’s how sex is commodified via the teaching on sex that I grew up with, though of course not in so many words. The emphasis on how important sex is but also how forbidden it is outside of marriage naturally leads to its commodification (with the price tag being marriage).
We shouldn’t be surprised to see virtual games reflecting the actual games our societies live out daily. Now what would be interesting would be to see a game posit things in a different way, offering a new pedagogy.
Absolutely, The Dane. I completely agree. I’m increasingly frustrated with the flippant and unconsciously loaded way pastors and teacher treat sex, and of all things, for the benefit of teenagers! It’s really quite scandalous.