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[mike]

Just found this article that explores games aimed at girls.
(The article is mostly discussing this mobile game http://www.coolestgirlinschool.com/)

As far as I can recall, I've never really seen a game specifically aimed at girls (other than Barbie games etc).
Espescially girls in the sort of age range the game in the article is marketed to. (I suppose The Sims would fit in that category though...  )

I understand that casual games include women in their target audience, but they don't tend to exclusively target women. 

Here are a few quotes from the article.

It seems to me that with games like Civilisation and so on, boys can build civilisations and destroy their opponents by building up armies – why is there so much fuss about girls building their social standing and destroying social status of rival powers? Why are strategic games aimed at boys left alone, and games like yours aimed at girls inviting so much commentary?

Coolest Girl In School is a mobile RPG (role playing game), the first one in the world made specifically for a female audience. Set in high school it allows players to laugh at the fickle nature of high school hierarchies, subvert stereotypes and most importantly, have FUN! In it players create their character (name it and dress it from an extensive wardrobe) then go out into the world (home, school, material world- the shopping complex) and interact with non-player characters (school mates, parents and teachers). Interactions occur as multiple choice questions and every answer affects your personality points (score).

The game is aimed at girls (and guys who get it) who are mature enough to know the difference between real life and a mobile game and have a sense of humor. We feel it would appeal to people 15 and over. Obviously there are many people under 15 who are media literate and have a sophisticated sense of humor who would also enjoy the game.

It's Grand Theft Auto for girls.

Anyway, I found it was an interesting article ... Perhaps you'd like to DISCUSS?  :D

[BenH]

I for one would like to see more knitting games!

[1337-n00b]

I for one would like to see more knitting games!

Seconded.

[team_q]

My girlfriend seems to have no problem with guitar hero or Mario Galaxies. My Grandmother loves Zelda. I think the article is far too sensationalist and irritating, "and boys who get it." ca'mon! There isn't anything stopping girls from playing games, and to make such 'sassy' claims towards games irritates me.

[Eden]

This reminds me of Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble (a pity that game didn't make it to the finals of the IGF, but not surprising given that it is the IGF*.)

Anyway, since this is targeted at 15 year old+ high school girls, I wonder if they'd take it seriously and not see the humor in it. When Mean Girls was released, a lot of my friends (and myself, to some extent) took it quite seriously; like a drama almost.
Tina Fay, the writer of Mean Girls, also noted this.

Games by Tale of Tales seem to get a mainly female audience, maybe this is because their games lack the traditional (maybe described as "twitch"?) challenge present in most other games, and instead have a more emotional or intellectual challenge. And are based on more pleasing aesthetics (that's a matter of taste. I don't share the love of retro that most of the rest of the indie community do).


I'll paraphrase Jon Blow, sort of: Too many games are Drugs, and whilst drugs may be appealing to most gamers, they're not appealing to non-gamers. And lots of non-gamers are female, becuase of the somewhat macho videogame culture.

But honestly, I don't see a really big difference between how I play and the male gamers I know play. I think it's the culture of videogames that drives many females back, and most of the games being made today project this really male image that kind of says: :GTFO IF UR NOT MALE!!!"

It'll be interesting to see how well this game does.
*Where most of the Jury is male.

[Golds]

Games my lady friends like, in no particular order:

Final Fantasy Tactics, the Katamary's, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Final Fantasy 7, Tetris, Sokoban, Bejeweled, and of course, The Sims (at least at one point in their lives).

I dunno :O.

[mike]

My girlfriend seems to have no problem with guitar hero or Mario Galaxies. My Grandmother loves Zelda. I think the article is far too sensationalist and irritating, "and boys who get it." ca'mon! There isn't anything stopping girls from playing games, and to make such 'sassy' claims towards games irritates me.

Yeah, I agree with you there.
But some of the points the article is making, regardless of it 'sassy' tones, I feel may not have been explored until very recently in the games industry (indie or otherwise).

There isn't anything stopping girls from playing games

Sure, but there aren't many games out there that encourage girls to play them.
I'm far from an encyclopedia of games, so I could be very wrong, but I haven't heard of any games so fully targeted at girls to date... (That is, girls in the age bracket this game targets).

Years ago when the initial concept for Coolest Girl In School came about I was sitting on the couch with my husband and he asked if I wanted to play a console game. My reply was something like, “I’d rather be dead.” The challenge was then on to create one I would want to play. Selfish huh!

Seems like a valid reason to make the game...

But, like Eden, I wonder how well it'll do too.

[team_q]

See this is the problem though, I'm not a teenage girl, or a middle aged woman, I don't know what kind of games they like. I won't even speculate because that would make me sound like some kind of chauvinistic asshole.
My sister used to play game when we were kids because my brother and I did, when the Sims came out, my sister loved that, even after we moved on to other games, my sister still played the Sims.

The problem is, the vast majority of game developers are men. Thats it. We don't know what girls want, and I don't think a lot of girls know what they want from games, only that they don't get the same experience that guys do.

Girls can make games for girls. They just need to avoid the needless "us too" fist shaking that articles like this seem to bring out.

[Eden]

We don't know what girls want, and I don't think a lot of girls know what they want from games, only that they don't get the same experience that guys do.

I'm curious, what'd you say the general experience you get from say, The Sims is?

[team_q]

We don't know what girls want, and I don't think a lot of girls know what they want from games, only that they don't get the same experience that guys do.

I'm curious, what'd you say the general experience you get from say, The Sims is?

Well, my experience was trying to min/max wealth and happiness, but thats a different game then what my sister plays. hahah

[1337-n00b]

Don't be silly, Quiggan, girls, like everyone else, just want a game where they can knit.

In all seriousness, I can't help but wonder if girls don't like games NOT because there aren't games targeted at them, but because they're not nearly as interested in the notion of fulfilling fantasies as men are.  I honestly don't know, but how many girls do you see pretending to be something else, at any age?  Boys, on the other hand, are always turning things into "guns" to shoot each other with - and when that's no longer cool they start playing airsoft/paintball.

Perhaps The Sims is so popular with women because it lets them play around with clothes, hair, makeup and social drama - I've yet to meet a teenage girl who doesn't like at least three of those things, "chauvinistic" of a thing as it may be to say.

[Eden]

We don't know what girls want, and I don't think a lot of girls know what they want from games, only that they don't get the same experience that guys do.

I'm curious, what'd you say the general experience you get from say, The Sims is?

Well, my experience was trying to min/max wealth and happiness, but thats a different game then what my sister plays. hahah

That's very different to my experience

they're not nearly as interested in the notion of fulfilling fantasies as men are. 

I think we're more interested in fufilling a different fantasy(s), rather than the guns'n violence fantasy presented by things like Halo.

[Keops]

My girlfriend enjoys Animal Crossing, a lot (as well as Ico, World of Warcraft and even Aquaria!)...

Animal Crossing, is that a game for girls? Now I have to say I agree with TeamQuiggan, in that I think these claims are little more than bullshiat or sensationalist remarks. I've seen lots of girls playing lots of types of games. Also while true that they tend to like games similar to Animal Crossing, The Sims, RPGs or something there are even girls who love to play fighting games, shooting games, etc.

I think girls would play more if less of this alienating things were in the press or in the mainstream opinion currents. I suppose they just feel intimidated by this "manly" territory?

My two cents.

[1337-n00b]

I think we're more interested in fufilling a different fantasy(s), rather than the guns'n violence fantasy presented by things like Halo.

I should have seen that coming. :D

That may be true, but the fact remains that Halo allows a lot of guys who play Airsoft to have a more atmospheric experience.  Likewise, Guitar Hero takes the classic air guitar a step further.  Half the reason Knights of the Old Republic is so popular is because it finally lets you be a Jedi Knight.

I guess what I'm asking is, "What do girls do that can really be enhanced by a videogame?"  I'm sure that's not the only piece of the puzzle, but I personally think it's a big one.

[george]

I guess what I'm asking is, "What do girls do that can really be enhanced by a videogame?"  I'm sure that's not the only piece of the puzzle, but I personally think it's a big one.

Coolest Girl in School kind of answers this question -- it multiplies social relationships. Some people have said (sorry, no cite on hand) that proportionally more women play MMOGs than women play console games partly because of the social aspect.


edited because what I wrote didn't make any sense.

[Chris Whitman]

If all the women you know only care about socializing and the colour pink, then all the women you know are boring.

[shinygerbil]

I thought this was a topic about 'games about exploring girls'.

[Eden]

"What do girls do that can really be enhanced by a videogame?"

Do? I'm not sure. It's not like we do anything that different to guys (mostly).
But I'd like to see different types of fantasy than the one in most modern video games.

In fact, I would like to go beyond the idea of simply providing an enhanced experience, and create something truly unique to the medium of games. A few games have done this.

[Radnom]

I for one would like to see more knitting games!

Perhaps with the wii remotes? knit one... pearl one... 

The girls I've played games with seem to like fighting games like Soul Calibur and Marvel vs. Capcom, because of the interesting characters (and relative ease of pulling a fluke and beating me compared to more in-depth games  ). I watched a couple of my female friends playing Zelda: Twilight Princess.. they complained that the character was too girly (and they thought he was until I pointed out the contrary) and that the start was far too boring.

I like watching people play games. It gives me insight into how they think.

[team_q]

Do? I'm not sure. It's not like we do anything that different to guys (mostly).
But I'd like to see different types of fantasy than the one in most modern video games.

"So what DO you guys want in a video game then?"
"I don't know you're smart, figure it out."