Parents and social groups are upset that a new online game, designed to provide tongue-in-cheek fun for teenage girls, alludes to sex.

The characters in My-Minx do not actually engage in sex but, while binge-drinking, are urged to buy condoms and “anti-baby pills” for supposed one-night stands.

Ostensibly, the role-playing game is about a celebrity lifestyle.

Players get to live in a fantasy world through online female characters called “minxes”. They design and buy sexy lingerie and outfits for their minxes and outdo one another by buying virtual orphans named after children already adopted by celebrity stars like Angelina Jolie and Madonna.

Created by London-based firm Blighty Arts, the game has 30,000 players globally. About 5,300 are from Singapore, its founder Chris Evans told The Sunday Times.

“There is a huge following from the style cities of Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris,” he said of the game, which was introduced in December last year.

Players – some as young as seven, British media reported – take their minxes binge-drinking and clubbing as they try to attract men.

If a one-night stand results, there are virtual contraceptives for sale. Buying these items boosts a minx’s IQ score – crucial for levelling up.

But the game does not show any steamy sex scenes, unlike the adult areas in popular virtual world Second Life.

Still, the promiscuity promoted is a cause for worry to parents like Mr Thomas Chong, 47.

Mr Chong, who has two daughters aged nine and 11, slammed the game for what it allows, and for the fact that there is no age limit set.

“Behaviours are more caught than taught. We should not underestimate the influence of certain games,” said the director of the Early Childhood Institute, which is part of the PAP Community Foundation.

He lets his son, 14, and daughters play only educational games like MapleStory and Disney’s Toontown. Ms Dana Lam, president of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), is alarmed at how playing with dolls and dressing up can take on “sinister dimensions”.

“People who create these games ought to educate themselves to be more aware of the social implications of their fantasies or develop a conscience,” she said.

“This game appears to be pushing a fantasy that at its best encourages young girls to view themselves through a lamentable male gaze, using the same bag of tricks as advertising.”

British parents’ groups have reportedly criticised the game for exploiting children for profit and sending out the wrong messages.

Its website has also been lambasted for making orphans in Third World countries into fashion accessories.

A virtual adoption clinic in My-Minx offers children called Pax, Maddox and Zahara, after actress Angelina Jolie’s adopted children.

Also up for grabs are David Banda and Mercy, modelled on singer Madonna’s adopted children.

To these critics, Mr Evans said: “Many of the features and parts of the game that have been criticised are parodies of real celebrity lives.

“We find it insulting to our 30,000 users to suggest that they cannot make their own distinction between a game and real life.”

Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of youth services at Singapore Children’s Society, is not convinced by his argument.

“It is unfortunate that the creator of the game has not done enough research to prove that teenage girls are not highly susceptible,” she said.

“If they get addicted to this game, the line between the real and fantasy worlds will be blurred. They have not developed enough self-control to say no (to sex).”

Lawyers whom The Sunday Times contacted said that the game is not illegal as its content complies with Singapore laws – so far, that is.

Under the Internet Code of Practice in Singapore, prohibited content includes depiction of nudity or genitalia, sexual violence, sexual activities, persons under the age of 16 behaving provocatively, homosexuality, incest, paedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia.

Mr Gilbert Leong, 46, a partner at law firm Rodyk and Davidson, said it is hard to monitor user-generated content.

“If its content becomes obscene, the authorities may block the site. But one has to be more circumspect.

Today you can block My-Minx, tomorrow there is My Genie,” he said.

The Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore said websites hosted overseas are beyond its jurisdiction.

It recommends that parents subscribe to network filtering services offered by Internet service providers to “filter out content which they deem inappropriate or objectionable”, said Ms Ginny Goh, head (broadcast and new media) of MDA’s media content and standards division.

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This article was first published in The Sunday Times.