New internet game encourages children to make their characters wear sexy lingerie and buy 'trophy' orphans

The Daily MailJanuary 26, 2010A new web craze where young girls make their virtual characters adopt children as fashion accessories has outraged parents' groups.The controversial My Minx game also sees girls as young as seven giving their characters contraceptives and morning-after pills.Players clothe their virtual minxes in sexy lingerie and other revealing outfits and buy 'trophy orphans' - named after children already adopted by celebrities.My Minx - a new web game that allows you to dress your character in sexy lingerie and adopt orphansMy Minx - a new web game that allows you to dress your character in sexy lingerie and adopt trophy orphansThe adoption clinic in a virtual Style City features girls called Pax and Maddox and a boy named Zahara after Angelina Jolie's children.The virtual youngsters have the same nationalities as Jolie's with Maddox, three, said to be Cambodian and a fan of eating cockroaches. Similarly up for grabs are Vietnamese noodle-lover Pax, five, and Ethiopian lad Zahara, four, whose favourite food is said to be guinea pig.The adoption centre also boasts a David Banda, four, and Mercy, five, of Malawi, clearly modelled on Madonna's adopted children.And there is a Mongolian girl called Jamiyan - based on actor Ewan McGregor's Mongolian four-year-old daughter – who is said to enjoy eating rats.In even worse taste, gamers can adopt children from earthquake-ravaged Haiti.my minx websiteThe controversial game, by a North London firm, sees players take their minxes binge drinking and clubbing as they try to pull menOnce they have paid the adoption fees, players style their new children in over-the-top designer gear and can then try to sell image rights for them to celebrity magazines.They are challenged to outdo rival minxes by amassing ever more adoptive children to ‘make their family more fashionable’.The controversial game, by north London firm Blighty Arts, also sees players take their minxes binge drinking and clubbing as they try to pull men.For minxes that succeed in one night stands, there are virtual condoms and morning after pills.Gamers design their own saucy lingerie brands and handbag ranges as they compete to create the most stylish minx.Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and their adopted children arrive at Narita airport, near Tokyo, a year ago. My Minx pokes fun at such celebrity familiesBrad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and their adopted children arrive at Narita airport, near Tokyo, a year ago. My Minx pokes fun at such celebrity familiesThey take on rival minxes in 'style-off competitions' to try and be crowned the 'minx of minxes' in the game, which is being marketed as 'Barbie meets Chanel'.There are no age restrictions on the game and when players run out of virtual cash, they top up their accounts by sending text messages costing £1.50 each or use PayPal.The website's creators also made Miss Bimbo, which has over two million members and was attacked for encouraging young girls to give their characters diet pills and 'boob jobs'.My Minx was launched shortly before Christmas and has already attracted 20,000 members – with some as young as seven.But parents' groups are horrified to see the game taking off and have accused the game's creators of ‘exploiting children for profit’.Andy Hibberd, spokesman for parents' rights group Parentkind, said: ‘There are more than enough pressures on children to grow up already. We don't need any more.‘Their parents will not have any idea that they are playing this game and the children will fail to appreciate its irony.‘Having them getting virtual condoms or morning-after pills will not make them any less promiscuous.‘As regards child adoption, this game encourages them to think that they don't need to worry about morals or ethics. It is all just a bit of fun.‘It claims to be a microcosm of real life but you have to question whether it actually starts creating reality.‘It is sending out all the wrong messages and the only reason its creators have made it is to make money.‘They are exploiting children for profit. Children's innocence is very precious and should be protected for as long as possible.’ But the game's creator, Blighty Arts director Christopher Evans, insisted that the game was ‘harmless, tongue-in-cheek entertainment’.Mr Evans, 30, said: ‘It is nonsense to suggest our game is a bad influence on young children.‘We try to protect children too much from the real world for too long in this day and age. They cannot be wrapped up in cotton wool.‘We should let them grow up making their own decisions about the games they play.‘The game teaches children about the world while poking fun at celebrity adoptions.‘Every time they turn on the TV they will see the likes of Madonna adopting African children anyway.‘The contraceptives and morning after pills are only one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to take them, just reflecting real life.