# The Ubuntu Forum Community > Other Discussion and Support > Ubuntu Women >  A Game for Women - elements & ideas

## kassetra

I'm creating this thread in order to gather together some gaming elements and ideas to flesh out what would be a good gaming "genre" or an actual game for Women.

So far, very little attention has been paid to us, in general, in the gaming community, and I'd like to plant some seeds for change.   :Smile: 

So... give me your thoughts!  Tell me what you like about this game or that game, what you like about board games or card games, ideas you've created, etc.   :Smile:

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## TravisNewman

Are you starting a game project yourself? I sense another 3rd party sub  :Wink:

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## kassetra

> Are you starting a game project yourself? I sense another 3rd party sub


Well, it might make more sense to move this area down to the beginner's sub-section of the main page - and then add it's own sub-forum... but that's more of a mod/admin type of thought we can discuss elsewhere...

But yeah, I thought I might develop at least a storyboard for a Women's game.   :Smile:

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## Stormy Eyes

> I'm creating this thread in order to gather together some gaming elements and ideas to flesh out what would be a good gaming "genre" or an actual game for Women.


Doesn't it depend on the woman? Not all male gamers are the same; some prefer RPGs, some prefer shoot 'em ups, other prefer platformers. Why should it be different for women? I'll use my wife as an example: she'll play puzzle games online, but she'll also play one of my _Final Fantasy_ games (She particularly likes _Final Fantasy X-2_, and we laugh at the fan service), and will even play _Ratchet & Clank_, though extended play makes her queasy. Based on that, I'd say that some women appreciate either a puzzle or a story to engage her brain and not just her trigger finger.

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## kassetra

Some elements of games I like:

From the Myst games:
I like the "environmental immersion" with fantastical plants, animals, sounds, and even music - and the fact that you can "explore" somewhat.

From Creatures:
I like the fact that there is an ecology, animals, dna, plants, etc. that all work together to create the environment.

Some elements I wish either of those games had:
I would like to be able to interact with the plants/animals more than just the ones that are the "main characters" of the storyline...

It would be nice if I could develop my own worlds, possibly, with maybe my own animal breeds/plants, etc.  Or at least take different ones out of a stock and try to create a living area/biosphere type thing.

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## kassetra

> Doesn't it depend on the woman? Not all male gamers are the same; some prefer RPGs, some prefer shoot 'em ups, other prefer platformers. Why should it be different for women? I'll use my wife as an example: she'll play puzzle games online, but she'll also play one of my _Final Fantasy_ games (She particularly likes _Final Fantasy X-2_, and we laugh at the fan service), and will even play _Ratchet & Clank_, though extended play makes her queasy. Based on that, I'd say that some women appreciate either a puzzle or a story to engage her brain and not just her trigger finger.


That's exactly why I want to gather game elements and ideas.   :Smile:   I want to see what's missing in games we do play, or what spectrum of game ideas we would like to see.   :Smile:

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## poofyhairguy

Well, based on observation, my mom and my girlfriend love rewarding puzzle games the best. But both complain if (when) they win and they aren't treated to some sort of visual celebration. My mom's favorite thing about Tetris (a game that would make her a hardcore gamer if you just counted the hours she has played) is that she gets rocket ships when she completes something. So based on this very small evidence, I think any such game needs to have rewarding goals. 

I think the idea of this thread. I'll try to get my girlfriend to create a user account and give her ideas...

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## kassetra

> Well, based on observation, my mom and my girlfriend love rewarding puzzle games the best. But both complain if (when) they win and they aren't treated to some sort of visual celebration. 
> 
> I think the idea of this thread. I'll try to get my girlfriend to create a user account and give her ideas...


Rewarding Goals/Visual Celebration.  Yeah, I agree with that.  That actually gives me a kind of cool idea...

What if when you won each section - you got a free wallper, video, or mp3 track or something like that?  Hmmm...  :Smile: 

But yeah, see if your girlfriend will post some of her ideas here!   :Smile:   That would be cool.   :Smile:

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## Zenith_

> Rewarding Goals/Visual Celebration.  Yeah, I agree with that.  That actually gives me a kind of cool idea...
> 
> What if when you won each section - you got a free wallper, video, or mp3 track or something like that?  Hmmm... 
> 
> But yeah, see if your girlfriend will post some of her ideas here!    That would be cool.


 For me, personally, this is a difficult question to answer because I don't think I fall into the stereotypical category that a lot of women do.  Hmm...I'm trying to say this without being offensive at all (that's not intended), but I'm not into fashion, shopping, cooking or indeed The Sims.  And I'd rather be bought a graphics card than a piece of expensive jewellery.   :Smile: 

I've been an avid gamer for many years but I've never really thought of games being intended for one sex or the other (with the possible exception of shoot 'em ups).  My favourite genre of games is RPG's, or better, MMORPG's.  I find it difficult to pinpoint what exactly I like about a game, but I'll have a shot at it.  

Visuals aren't necessarily important to me (hey, I played Ultima Online for 4 years), I'd prefer good gameplay over snazzy effects - though it's great when you get both of course.

I think perhaps it might be a little bit too general to just ask 'what games do women want'?  After all, there are lots of games out there already that attract female gamers.  

On the goals idea - I'm not sure about this.  I can say that when I'm playing an MMORPG I don't play to reach a specific goal.  I like games that are open ended and the freedom that brings with it.  I like to be able to use my imagination in a game rather than be told you must go to point A, then to B, then to C etc.

One thing I can definately say is that I prefer games that use your mind rather than physical skills like shooting.  Perhaps that's the most obvious gender difference I can pinpoint in gaming (and even that doesn't necessarily mean all women/men will be the same of course).  Strategy games can be equally appealing to me here, though I'll admit I generally end up cheating because I eventually get a little frustrated with them.   :Very Happy:  

An aspect of both genres I like is money making - whether using trade skills to sell goods to players in an MMORPG, or trading between towns/villages/countries in a strategy game.  I got quite a name for myself as a crafter in almost every MMORPG I've played.  I used to love keeping a virtual shop in Ultima Online, that took up probably 70% of my gameplay with the rest being devoted to a roleplaying guild.   :Smile: 

I don't know if my thoughts have helped any, I sometimes think I'm a bit of an oddity amongst my sex.   :Very Happy: 

Difficult question, and one I'm sure games developers find equally difficult.   :Smile:

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## kassetra

> but I'm not into fashion, shopping, cooking or indeed The Sims. And I'd rather be bought a graphics card than a piece of expensive jewellery. 
> 
> My favourite genre of games is RPG's, or better, MMORPG's.  
> 
>  I don't play to reach a specific goal. I like games that are open ended and the freedom that brings with it. I like to be able to use my imagination in a game rather than be told you must go to point A, then to B, then to C etc.
> 
> One thing I can definately say is that I prefer games that use your mind rather than physical skills like shooting.   
> 
> An aspect of both genres I like is money making - whether using trade skills to sell goods to players in an MMORPG, or trading between towns/villages/countries in a strategy game.


Good points, all around.  Expensive graphics cards *ARE* jewelry!  Jewelry for my screen!

Hmmm, it would seem that your preferences are for "getting into character" types of game-play - which requires a lot of imagination / mental use... 

So for you - your rewards (rather than goals) are using your mind and trading/selling/money-making...

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## kassetra

> Visuals aren't necessarily important to me (hey, I played Ultima Online for 4 years), I'd prefer good gameplay over snazzy effects - though it's great when you get both of course.


Gameplay ... meaning?

Story / Background / Storyplay?
Being able to interact with the environment?
Plotlines?  (hard to imagine in most of today's games!)

What would be your definition of good gameplay?

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## Zenith_

> Gameplay ... meaning?
> 
> Story / Background / Storyplay?
> Being able to interact with the environment?
> Plotlines?  (hard to imagine in most of today's games!)
> 
> What would be your definition of good gameplay?


 Gameplay - meaning some or all of those things that you mention.  I was really speaking generally though.  I know some people that will play a game purely because it's outstanding visually.  Whereas if there's not much beyond nice looking graphics I'll get bored very quickly.

A background story is nice.  Not on the top of my list of priorities but nice to have.  Interraction with the environment definately is something I look for.  Plotlines are important in a single player game (though not rigid ones, I do like choices at any given point to have consequences rather than being totally linear).

Plotline isn't so important to me in an MMORPG, because if I really wanted plotlines I'd just join a roleplaying guild and make my own.  That in itself can be great fun if you have the time for it.  I think what attracts me so much about an MMORPG is freedom of choice.  I can just go and kill things if I want to, or I can roleplay a little, or be a crafter and trader.  There are so many different roles, and you're not just restricted to one either, you can be all of those things at any given point.  

I do play MMORPG's far more than single player games, you may be able to tell.   :Wink:

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## Stormy Eyes

> What would be your definition of good gameplay?


I expect the controls to work properly, and to make sense. I want a challenge out of my games, but I don't want the challenge to come from having to overcome poor design or crappy implementation. I'll use _Metroid Prime 2: Echoes_ as an example. The controls and first-person view take a little getting used to if you're only used to 2D Metroid, but it only took me fifteen minutes to get the hang of it, because the controls made sense. When I faced bosses, the bosses made me work for my victories. I might not have won on my first attempt, but if I failed, it wasn't the game's fault but my own for not fully grasping the nature of my enemy. If I lost, it was due to my poor tactics. Once I improved them, I would win. As far as I'm concerned, a good game makes me _earn_ my wins. If I wanted cheap wins, I'd grab a deck of cards and cheat at Solitaire.

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## lilandra

Well...I can tell you how my sister didn't bug me as much when I put the computer running Ubuntu in her room (it had internet so she was happy...but since she couldn't get ms virtual machine on it...a bit unhappy)

she found the gnome games and one of the games on it is the thing with all the coloured stones that you have to clear in groups of colours. she plays it...nice way to pass time while waiting for pages to load.

i don't know how to classify games for women...my sister plays games but web games or should i say word games!

when i play games tho i tend to play card games online...not as often...but i had a friend who was addicted in undergrad and she helped me get bit too.
when i was in undergrad we used to also go play quake (whichever number it was then) with the guys in the lab (we got killed alot but we still tried) and i liked that...do u call them fps?

but for me, it's hard to go up to learn a new game..and am i going to learn it by myself? where's the joy in playing a game by yourself? and getting somebody to "teach" you a game is well...impossible...
so, i've never really tried gaming  :Sad: 

on a side note, when i upgraded from warty to hoary on the machine in my sister's room she called me back a bit upset because the game she played had changed...and the look was horrible...
and because i was dead tired that day and didn't have an elegant solution, i had to uninstall the games and roll it back to the version released with warty and now be careful to not update it when it prompts me to.

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## Stormy Eyes

> when i was in undergrad we used to also go play quake (whichever number it was then) with the guys in the lab (we got killed alot but we still tried) and i liked that...do u call them fps?


Yes, that's a FPS -- First Person Shoot 'em up.

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## jfdill_2

Wow, this is a very interesting Forum / Concept.  In terms of community, and interactions within a game-based community, uruobsession.com seems to have a higher female participation, but maybe that is just my perception...and anyway, How do you really know who is male or female on the web?  uruobsession also has some more stringent moderator guidelines.

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## NoTiG

I know a game that more women play than men... so its sort of geared for women i guess even though it really isnt. But unfortuantely ... its windows shockwave based!!! However I am going to write an open source version much like it in the future. 

try

www.isketch.net

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## Ali_Baba

This is really interesting thread.I played World of Warcraft for 10 days about a month ago. At that time i noticed many female players on the game.I think that kind of MMORPG games could really be for women also. Might be because wow is large and you can interact with other players and choose a job too.You can choose how to play. I think developers should take these aspects to more games to get women play  more   :Smile:

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## lilandra

> Yes, that's a FPS -- First Person Shoot 'em up.


I really did love the shooting  :Smile:

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## sapo

I used to play ragnarok online...

And there was a lot o women playing it..

But the point is.. that almost all women asked for "cute" itens... and clothing, hats, etc..

And the men always were looking for "strong" itens...

So a game for women HAVE to be a lot o cute things.. a lot of clothing... and a lot things to "buy"   :Rolling Eyes:  

Thats like in real life... i know some girls that spend more than half of their payment in clothing... i think that a game isnt very different of the real life   :Brick wall:

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## holomorph

I'll contribute a few examples which may help cast some insight:

There was a game a few years ago that my whole family enjoyed; I think it's the only game I've really seen my mom get into, and my two sisters are not big gamers either.  It was called timelapse (I think, it was a long time ago).  It was one of those Myst type puzzle adventure games, starting on Easter Island and then traveling, via some time portals, to the ancient societies of the Anasazi, Myans, Egyptians, and then to Atlantis, supposedly shortly after all of the people dissapeared.  I think the appeal of this game was in the challenging variety of puzzles, good story (a bit of mystery), impressive graphics, and a pinch of historical basis. 

Nowdays, pretty much the only game the older of my two sisters (she's 23) plays is You Don't Know Jack.  A lot of people of both sexes enjoy competitive trivia  :Very Happy: .  I think she's not opposed to games like Super Mario Brothers, and recently (to my surprize) mentioned that she might enjoy Halflife (must have heard about it from a friend I guess).  I think the element of Halflife that appealed was that it is supposed to have a very complelling story.

The younger of my sisters (now 16) and my girlfriend both used to enjoy Warcraft2, and I've played quite a bit of Warcraft3 with my girlfriend and a former roomate (also female).  The main appeal of warcraft (for my girlfriend at least), is the building part.  She's not big on the battles, and I've tried other strategy games (myth2) without building and it failed to catch her interest.  So perhaps a game which involves building a camp/village/city would be a hit (Sim city seems to be popular with both sexes in its day).  

Hmm, so now I'm picturing a game where you start with a small group of primitive settlers, must gather resources, train hunters or plant crops, hunt (always a favorite activity in Oregon trail), harvest crops, build defenses against wild animals, the elements, and perhaps other people; kind of an RTS, but with the building played up, and the combat played down a bit.  It's a half baked idea, and probably not all that origional, but I think it could be fun.

Ok enough of my rambling, hopefully  I've said at least something semi-interesting  :Capital Razz:

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## TravisNewman

"Hmm, so now I'm picturing a game where you start with a small group of primitive settlers, must gather resources, train hunters or plant crops, hunt (always a favorite activity in Oregon trail), harvest crops, build defenses against wild animals, the elements, and perhaps other people; kind of an RTS, but with the building played up, and the combat played down a bit. It's a half baked idea, and probably not all that origional, but I think it could be fun."

Spore. I'm SO looking forward to this game. And I think it would fit well with this hypothesis as well.

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## bored2k

> "Hmm, so now I'm picturing a game where you start with a small group of primitive settlers, must gather resources, train hunters or plant crops, hunt (always a favorite activity in Oregon trail), harvest crops, build defenses against wild animals, the elements, and perhaps other people; kind of an RTS, but with the building played up, and the combat played down a bit. It's a half baked idea, and probably not all that origional, but I think it could be fun."
> 
> Spore. I'm SO looking forward to this game. And I think it would fit well with this hypothesis as well.


 That description looks like Pikmin & Black and White..
I hope Spore is as good as it sounds..  lately I have been disappointed by the new wave of RTS games.

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## Cheizzz

i think that, in general, women are more satisfied by "building" in games. by that i mean that they are ( in general again) less intrested in shooting and killing stuff while men find it really satisfing. my sister can spend hours playing the sims building and decorating houses and then giving her sims a nice life while i'm bored with it after say, an hour. another thing i mean by building is reaching highscores and stuff. my mother for example is addicted to tetris and stuff. i think the building element is the thing that makes rpg games popular with woman.
i can see somekind of "pattern" in the genres woman like, puzzle, rpg, sim games - all building games are popular with woman while FPS are very unpopular with them.

i think a game for woman should have somekind of building element in it. what do you all think? 

sorry for the english, im not that good at it

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## Wertigon

Here's my 0.02€:

Well, from personal experience I think that the kind of games generally liked by women are more towards the "social"/"party" and/or "constructive" genres. Examples of the first category includes party games in general such as Dance Dance Revolution, Puzzle games and virtually every other quick game where you can either play with or against your spouse/friends/family. You can basicly have a blast in these games, especially the more "social" ones such as DDR, and... Yea.

Examples of the latter include Sim City, Rollercoaster Tyccoon and Civ 3 - Games where you have to construct things and face problems, but where killing things isn't the main part of the game, or maybe not even a part of the game concept. Naturally, you can like/dislike other genres all according to taste, but these are the biggest trends I've noticed.

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## lilandra

> Hmm, so now I'm picturing a game where you start with a small group of primitive settlers, must gather resources, train hunters or plant crops, hunt (always a favorite activity in Oregon trail), harvest crops, build defenses against wild animals, the elements, and perhaps other people; kind of an RTS, but with the building played up, and the combat played down a bit.  It's a half baked idea, and probably not all that origional, but I think it could be fun.


but those games are fun too as just board games

maybe it's that i have no problem sitting down for hours in front of the computer, installing whatever, chatting, emailing, surfing or whatever i seem to spend my time doing
but playing board games...well...that's fun...and i don't need to squint at my computer screen to do it...

on that note, maybe i can suggest a game of settlers of cataan to make people happy tomorrow...

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## holomorph

Yes, I enjoy board games as well, but computer games have some potential advantages.  For one thing they're easier to save in the middle and come back to later (not saying it can't be done with board games too, just takes up more space).  Also, it's tough to play by yourself, and lets face it, it's not always possible to find a bunch of people that have the time or desire to play a game with you (unfortunately).  

Aside from that, they usually aren't really the same anyway, if they're any good; the medium is different and a well designed game should take advantage of that.  


On a completely different tangent, I forgot one other possbly important aspect of many of todays games which may make them appeal more to males than females.  The protagonist/viewpoint/player character often is designed more with the teenage boy in mind than other possible audience members.  So we get either a decidedly macho hero, or a big breasted 16 year old wet dream type.  Female gamers don't seem likely to want to put themselves in the place of the former, and may be put off by the objectization of the latter.  What do you all think?  Is the lack of primary characters that females easily connect with a major turn off for potential female gamers?

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## jfdill_2

> On a completely different tangent, I forgot one other possbly important aspect of many of todays games which may make them appeal more to males than females.  The protagonist/viewpoint/player character often is designed more with the teenage boy in mind than other possible audience members.  So we get either a decidedly macho hero, or a big breasted 16 year old wet dream type.  Female gamers don't seem likely to want to put themselves in the place of the former, and may be put off by the objectization of the latter.  What do you all think?  Is the lack of primary characters that females easily connect with a major turn off for potential female gamers?


I think that's where Cyan Worlds / Ubisoft did a good job with Uru: Ages beyond Myst.  You can control the age / build of your character and have a good amount of control over the appearance.  You could be a very ordinary-looking woman somewhat overweight if you wanted to.  Or a dumpy old guy, or young skinny dork.  But even the defaults are pretty ordinary-looking, like someone you would see at the office or waiting for a bus.

Still, during the brief time that UruLive was active, I had to laugh at all of the people who made their avatars look like sexy Matrix characters.  So, I made myself a fat old guy and picked out all of the goofiest clothes that were available.  No, really, I am not a goofy fat old guy in real life!  Well, maybe I am compared to you.

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## lilandra

> On a completely different tangent, I forgot one other possbly important aspect of many of todays games which may make them appeal more to males than females.  The protagonist/viewpoint/player character often is designed more with the teenage boy in mind than other possible audience members.  So we get either a decidedly macho hero, or a big breasted 16 year old wet dream type.  Female gamers don't seem likely to want to put themselves in the place of the former, and may be put off by the objectization of the latter.  What do you all think?  Is the lack of primary characters that females easily connect with a major turn off for potential female gamers?


nice weapons would make me happy...

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## Stormy Eyes

> nice weapons would make me happy...


Stylish weapons, please. And stylish clothes. My wife and I have been playing an RPG called _Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne_ lately. I was making dinner when she first ran into SMT's rendition of Dante from the _Devil May Cry_ games and yelled, "Holy ****, he's so cool!". Now, if you haven't played DMC, Dante is a tall bloke, well built but not freakishly muscular, with a handsome face, silver hair, and a snazzy red coat. He also handles a pair of pistols as if he was auditioning for a Hong Kong action movie directed by John Woo. In other words, Dante is one stylish SOB.

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## debaser13

Hello all...well, interestingly enough...back in 2000, I actually conducted  my Master's thesis on this very topic at the University College Dublin entitled "fighting_with_cyborgs: feminism and video games".  If you'd like to read any of the chapters from it, please let me know on this site and I can e-mail them to you...some interesting findings...or, if everyone is interested, i could copy an past to here...but, the files are very large (hence the reason I did not attach them).  Also, I have a ton of books, articles, etc. which I could point you to if interested...

Cheers,

carl

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## poofyhairguy

> Hello all...well, interestingly enough...back in 2000, I actually conducted  my Master's thesis on this very topic at the University College Dublin entitled "fighting_with_cyborgs: feminism and video games".  If you'd like to read any of the chapters from it, please let me know on this site and I can e-mail them to you...some interesting findings...or, if everyone is interested, i could copy an past to here...but, the files are very large (hence the reason I did not attach them).  Also, I have a ton of books, articles, etc. which I could point you to if interested...
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> carl


Love the avitar. Iron Giant is a great movie. Sad it was never more popular,

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## TravisNewman

I would like to read them all. PM me and if you're interested we can work to get them on the web and fully hypertexed so that they're easily browseable.

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## vampiress

i haven't played a lot of games because i get bored with them easily.  I tend to inherit games after they are "not" cool.   I also end up playing alone, and until recently did not have a suitable computer/internet connection for multi player games. I am addicted to various solitare/majhjong/yahtzee/tetris type games.


i find FPS to just be the luck of fast button pushing.  i tend to get fustrated with them on the computer because remembering the control keys takes me a while.

I really did enjoy the immersion in myst and riven in figuring out the puzzles.  the graphics were very pleasing. and i did enjoy that is wasn't just blasting away at enemies.

i was recently playing Revenge of the sith on ps2, and i was so annoyed at the character dialogue, how repetitive it was, and usually out of place.  characters need to communicate, but i don't need my character talking witty one liners that get old after the second time, especially if i die a lot and have to keep replaying.

i also enjoy when levels are drastically different, like if it is a journey game, one level is in a ship, one on land, one underwater.  different environments really keep it interesting.  i got bored with the laura croft gmames because it was just her running down a hallway shooting stuff.  have some different styles of vehicles or  motions.

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## kassetra

> Hello all...well, interestingly enough...back in 2000, I actually conducted my Master's thesis on this very topic at the University College Dublin entitled "fighting_with_cyborgs: feminism and video games". If you'd like to read any of the chapters from it, please let me know on this site and I can e-mail them to you...some interesting findings...or, if everyone is interested, i could copy an past to here...but, the files are very large (hence the reason I did not attach them). Also, I have a ton of books, articles, etc. which I could point you to if interested...
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> carl


Go ahead and email me.  I do research in UI design now, but I'm very interested in your thesis.   :Smile:

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## kassetra

> i find FPS to just be the luck of fast button pushing. i tend to get fustrated with them on the computer because remembering the control keys takes me a while.
> 
> I really did enjoy the immersion in myst and riven in figuring out the puzzles. the graphics were very pleasing. and i did enjoy that is wasn't just blasting away at enemies.
> 
> characters need to communicate
> 
> i also enjoy when levels are drastically different


hmmm.  food for thought.  Those are excellent observations about specific pieces of game play.  must ponder.

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## Havoc

> Hello all...well, interestingly enough...back in 2000, I actually conducted  my Master's thesis on this very topic at the University College Dublin entitled "fighting_with_cyborgs: feminism and video games".  If you'd like to read any of the chapters from it, please let me know on this site and I can e-mail them to you...some interesting findings...or, if everyone is interested, i could copy an past to here...but, the files are very large (hence the reason I did not attach them).  Also, I have a ton of books, articles, etc. which I could point you to if interested...
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> carl


Hello Carl?
I'd love a copy.I'll pm you my e-mail adress, OK?

I have on question for all female game lovers.In RPGs, what kind of setting do you like? Meaning, do you like Medievil, Future, or what?
I'm thinking of making a game, a RPG, and I'm learning programming and 3D now.
I was thinking of making the story a little bit more mature (Not mature as in a lot of blood, but as in storyline, messages and whatever), not that a smaller kid couldn't pick it up, but philosophy is too hard for small kids.   :Wink:  
So I was thinking of having a Brom-Like setting (Look HERE to see what I mean, or HERE and HERE for a quick look), kinda paranoid, but not offensive or anything.
Well? Would you play a game brandishing such a look?

Thanks   :Rolling Eyes:

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## TravisNewman

I like fantasy but that's a little TOO fantasy for me  :Wink:  But that's just me. Many would love it. And in gameplay it might work for me, but in just pics, there's not much to tell

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## senorcheaposgato

Alright, a lot of things have been said that I agree with...but you know, as someone pointed out, women are (gasp) as varied as men.

I know!  Isn't that WEIRD?

Speaking for myself, I want something that just holds my interest.  Seems like a pretty simple request, right?  Well, apparently not.  I don't like FPS.  I used to (and by that I mean Doom or Wolfenstein 3-d, maybe even a little Quake), but I haven't played in years.  Why?

One, my computer leaves a bit to be desired.  Well, ok, it leaves just about everything to be desired.  I might actually be driven to upgrade IF I had a good reason to--like gaming.  

Two, I really don't enjoy games anymore.  Honestly, if it's more of a mental workout for me to try to remember the myriad controls for a game than it is to write a research paper on comparative orthography...well, forget it!

I won't deny the fact that the gaming industry has almost entirely ignored half of the potential market.  But honestly, what can they do?  It *is* a male-dominted industry.  When you take into account the fact the there aren't a whole lot of women working in gaming _period_ then it's no wonder there aren't any "female-centered" games.

And yes, just as a reminder, women are a mixed group. 

While I'm sure that there are plenty of women out there would would upgrade their machines at any cost if HalfLife2 had included better footwear and color coordination, not all of us go for that.  (I, for one, could care less and probably wouldn't even notice.)  

Personally, I like goals.  I like mental challenges.  I like controls that are easier to understand and remember than neuroanatomy.  

Ultimately, I don't know if marketing gaming towards women is really such a simple goal.  I'd love to see someone give it a shot, though.  But if the attempts to market to me involve dieting, anything found in a Harlequin romance, or Manolo Blahniks...well, I think I'll just turn on my NES.

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## TravisNewman

Katie, you have stumped me yet again. You can probably see the blank look on my face when I ask-- "Manolo Blahniks? What the h-e-double-somethings is that?"

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## senorcheaposgato

Alright, for the entertainment and edification of what is probably the majority of users on the forums...

Manolo Blahnik is a shoe designer.  His shoes are extremely expensive and look extremely uncomfortable...perhaps this is part of a conspiracy with the AMA to drum up business for podiatrists.  Hmm...

So yep, the cat's out of the bag.  You all know who Manolo Blahnik is, and (worst of all) it's common knowledge that *I* know who he is.

I feel dirty.

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## jfdill_2

I was looking for new games to play with my daughter (we just finished Myst IV: Revelations) and stumbled on to this company called Her Interactive which makes the Nancy Drew game series (seems to be a spinoff of Dreamcatcher Interactive).

Myst IV also seemed like an excellent "women's" game with several women of multiple ethnic descent playing major roles.  It also has a very strong spirtual (though definitely not Christian) element.  One of these women protectors tells you that you have to find a "spirit guide" and then you go to Dream (sort of shamanic journey narrated and scored by no other than Peter Gabriel).  10-yr-old girl "Yeesha" is central to the plot, and my daughter identified with that.  For my daughter, who is a mature 6-yr-old, the story seemed fine, but there are some parts when Yeesha is kidnapped by her brothers, and a younger or more sensitive child might find those parts disturbing.  It helped that my daughter had played Uru, so she knows that Yeesha grows up and that everything would turn out OK.

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## super

> Alright, a lot of things have been said that I agree with...but you know, as someone pointed out, women are (gasp) as varied as men.


no way! you mean that that you don't all...?   :Wink:  


anyways you are right on point. just as not all guys are big on the same genre of games (i love fps, and sport sims. i hate most rpgs and fantasies), it would be hard (impossible?) to make a game that appeals to all women.

but of all the rpg/fantasy games that i have ever played among the few that i liked were the latest in the final fantasy series (Final Fantasy X-2 or is it XI?) and that rpg with the girl in russia (Siberia II). interestingly both of those games revolved around female characters. but neither game is inherently girlie (in the stereotypical flowery/pink way) nor were they really made to be attractive to males (in the Tomb Raider way)

so my point is why not make a game that is smart/funny/mature/enjoyable without necessarily targeting women.


just the musings of a very hetero male who happens to know what Manolo Blahnik's are!    :Razz:

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## Stormy Eyes

> but of all the rpg/fantasy games that i have ever played among the few that i liked were the latest in the final fantasy series (Final Fantasy X-2 or is it XI?) and that rpg with the girl in russia (Siberia II). interestingly both of those games revolved around female characters. but neither game is inherently girlie (in the stereotypical flowery/pink way) nor were they really made to be attractive to males (in the Tomb Raider way)


You're thinking of _Final Fantasy X-2_, and I'll guarantee that those dress-sphere transformation sequences are 200 proof fanservice. The game itself is the "Charlie's Angels" of console RPGs, but its lightheartedness is a nice change from MegaTen.

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## Stormy Eyes

> You're thinking of _Final Fantasy X-2_, and I'll guarantee that those dress-sphere transformation sequences are 200 proof fanservice. The game itself is the "Charlie's Angels" of console RPGs, but its lightheartedness is a nice change from MegaTen.


And yes, I know who Manolo Blahnik is. If my wife leaves one of her romance novels in the john and I know I'll be in there for a while, I'm not above flipping through one.

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## Liz

> And yes, I know who Manolo Blahnik is. If my wife leaves one of her romance novels in the john and I know I'll be in there for a while, I'm not above flipping through one.


 i prefer MMORGP's..neverwinter nights mainly..or diablo..im bad at shoot em up games, mainly cause i cant see to pin point a target..it moves too fast for my eyes. ..when my then 12 yr old started killing me off everytime we played half life...was enough for me to stop playing it..heh

manolo blahniks was on sex in the city ...carrie spent thousands on those shoes. 

im like Zenith. i dont fit into the typical female role. hated sewing, shopping for clothes, makeup and frilly and/or very feminine things. ..i played MUDs for the longest time, only cause i couldnt afford a new video card to play graphical mmorpg's...

id like a game thats got a mixture of everything in it. a woman who kicks butt, does quests, interacts with the environment, and has puzzles in it. and you could win equipment for the game as a bonus ....

just my 2cents worth. ..

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## fragmental

It would be helpful if, because of the premise of this thread, someone stated their sex.  I am male(a boy...err...a man) btw.

I think a lot of it kind of falls to genetics.  Males developed this ability to track fast moving objects and hit them from a distance long ago while women learned how to multitask, solve puzzles, network, socialize and of course raise babies(which is a hell of a job).

Likewise, estrogen builds stronger pathways in the mind therefore making a person more quick to emotion, better at understanding emotion, and better at multitasking.  Testosterone makes looser connections in the brain but builds muscle mass and hand eye coordination. 

So, naturally males are going to be more likely to enjoy killing things while females will enjoy playing games.  Ironically, I saw a study done once that showed that women who played violent games were more likely to become physically violent than men.  Possibly due to frustration.

Of course, some males had more estrogen when they were developing and some females had more testosterone.  In general, analogous humans who are a balance between the good and bad attributes to both sexes are the most successful in all aspects of life.  A lot of female linux users might fall into this category.



The game I have known girls to like most is The Sims.  It's maker Will Wright just happens to be making the game "Spore" that was previously mentioned.  He must be a more analogous type person because, according to this thread, he seems to have some sort of tap on what female gamers would like to play.  Maybe he's just a good listener.


Like all humans, interests have a lot to do with it too.  If a girl likes fantasy she will be more likely to play a fantasy game no matter what that games is.  I know girls who play Warcraft, World of Warcraft, and Final fantasy for this very reason, I think.

A list of games I remember girls playing:

ExGF#1: King's Quest, The Sims, Heroes of Might and Magic 2&3(by my suggestion), black and white
Sister:  Populous, Prince of Persia(the old one), adventure games, tetris
My 60 year old mom:  Might and Magic I on NES, freecell, solitaire
ExGF#2: The Sims, Risk, Phantasmagoria
ExGF#3:  GTA3...she liked to kill whores in it.  She was a girl of questionable character, so it might have either been revenge against her own actions which she was not proud of or revenge against those who called her a *****. Either way, it makes for interesting conversation starter at parties.
Brother's Wife:  Adventure games, and puzzle type games...lots of them.

Current Girlfriend:  Wheel of Fortune, online games(mahjongg, crappy flash games...), (loves) sonic

I think most women like games they can pick up on quickly.  Ones that have intuitive interfaces and will reward them quickly.  I think they are more likely to never play a game again if they lose at it within the first few minutes, than a guy would.  No point in playing a game if it's not fun.

Lots of women play online games.  I think a lot of this can be attributed to conveniece.  I think a guy is going to be more likely to search for a good game to play and go out to a store and buy it and then intstall it than a gal would. I mean,  a lot of online games are organized into neat lists that anyone can search through and playing them requires no trip to the store and no installing.  Their interfaces are usually simple and intuitive so there's a very shallow learning curve and many of them don't take a lot of time to get a reward back.  Those games than women do buy and install may have been a suggestion from someone else.  Part of this may be that, for games that require more effort to get and install, and also to learn how to play, someone to help decide on, aquire, and learn how to play the game is important.

The girls I've met who played FPS did so because their male friend made them and they enjoyed it.  My girlfriend will not play shooting games.  She has let me know this numerous times and she hates to play games that I win at.

Disclaimer:  Everyone is different and some of the differences in men and women are imagined.  However, there are mental and physical differences produced by evolution and adaptation.  I've been rambling. I apologise for that.

I think that it's a shame that the game development world is dominated by men.  I think all games would probably benefity by having a woman's perspective.  A lot of games could benefit from having traits of adventure games as well, and I think it's no coincidence that a lot of women play adventure games.  I think women developers could create games that were more creative and encouraged creativity, were more complex in what you could do inside them but more simple in their interface.  The games might have a shorter learning curve.  They might be more elegant in their appearance and presentation.

Of course, it depends on the woman, and there are some women in game development already(like John Carmack's wife. She was on the business end at ID, though.)  A lot of them that I've seen tend to be in business or manager positions and not actually in the developing process(art, sound, or programming).

The remake of King's Quest I and II had a female developer.  That's not exactly Open source though.

So, does anyone know of any open source games with women developers? 

Oops, this was supposed to be short reply.

----------


## jaysee

Just to add my $0.02.

I'm a girl (19) and I'm not huge on games but there are a few things I do like in them:

- Goals, that's what gets me about all the Sim games (SimCity, The Sims and ThemePark World are the ones I've spent any amount of time on) they just involve goals like "be successful!" or "make the best theme park" and that's just stupid. Maybe it's just me but I want a game where Iactually have to do something

- I want things to be fairly easily attainable or at least interesting - when I played the sims getting and keeping friends was the biggest pain in the ass. It was just boring, took a lot of time and was really, really difficult to attain. I don't know about other women but I want to be able to dip in and out of a computer game - maybe playing 30 minutes at a time. I want that 30 minutes to be interesting and stimilating not spent doing mundane tasks which don't really involve you in the game and that's what I found that making friends in the Sims was.

- I want intellectual stimulation! When I was a kid (on an oooold 386 computer with about 5MB hard drive) I used tos pend HOURS playing where in the world is Carmen San Diego, why? probably because it was tricky enough to keep my attention but it kept you constantly involved in the process and involved a certain level of knowledge/mental ability to play it. The games my boyfriend and his little brothers play (playstation/computer) all seem to involve long periods of 'nothing' or such complex play that it takes hours to get used to them.

I don't know if this makes much sense but there are my ideas.

And while I'm here, if anyone knows of a game which runs on ubuntu (duh) and is similar to witwi Carmen San Diego then pm me/post it here... I'd love to play that again, I haven't played since I was 10 or so.

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## Liz

The Sims....seems to me that alot of ppl play it cause they can make a life thats different to the one they currently lead..whatever that maybe. ive never played the sims..never wanted to go through 'dating'...first love....been there done that in real life..why would i want to simulate doing it again....even if it isnt in a real setting. 

btw..i am a female.. :Very Happy:  (considered by the uninformed as middle aged..tho i dont feel it)

i like games that i can play for short stretches at a time sometimes, which is where java games online come in handy (yahoo games..etc)..there i can play with someone, or by myself...

tomb raider was a game i really wanted to play. but it seems in most games, females are anatomically in fantasy land. diablo 2 has women running around in a leotard no matter what race/class they are or what armour/equipment they have. ..neverwinter nights has dresses.....yes, they do have robes for male wizards, but there are more "dresses"  for females....final fantasy x had lulu..who everytime after they won a fight, would lean over and show us her breasts thats in a dress thats more consistent with being a ball gown with a low cut neckline...i enjoyed playing final fantasy x..but that used to annoy me after every single fight...in my view, that was taking it away from her actual accomplishments, (she survived the battle)..but lookee, my cleavage...ignore everything else. 

maybe im being too critical there..and games are aimed at men, as they are the ones who are going to buy them..and subsequently play them...and those few of us  women that do play the games, will have to put up with those little things i guess.

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## fragmental

> The Sims....seems to me that alot of ppl play it cause they can make a life thats different to the one they currently lead..whatever that maybe. ive never played the sims..never wanted to go through 'dating'...first love....been there done that in real life..why would i want to simulate doing it again....even if it isnt in a real setting. 
> 
> btw..i am a female.. (considered by the uninformed as middle aged..tho i dont feel it)
> 
> i like games that i can play for short stretches at a time sometimes, which is where java games online come in handy (yahoo games..etc)..there i can play with someone, or by myself...
> 
> tomb raider was a game i really wanted to play. but it seems in most games, females are anatomically in fantasy land. diablo 2 has women running around in a leotard no matter what race/class they are or what armour/equipment they have. ..neverwinter nights has dresses.....yes, they do have robes for male wizards, but there are more "dresses"  for females....final fantasy x had lulu..who everytime after they won a fight, would lean over and show us her breasts thats in a dress thats more consistent with being a ball gown with a low cut neckline...i enjoyed playing final fantasy x..but that used to annoy me after every single fight...in my view, that was taking it away from her actual accomplishments, (she survived the battle)..but lookee, my cleavage...ignore everything else. 
> 
> maybe im being too critical there..and games are aimed at men, as they are the ones who are going to buy them..and subsequently play them...and those few of us  women that do play the games, will have to put up with those little things i guess.


 I read an article about the guys who created the strategy game Oasis.  They said that there was a study done showing that women preferred games that were easy to learn and could be played withing a short amount of time.  So that's the way Oasis was designed(well, it wasn't designed that way just for women, but it was one reason).  Oasis is a pretty good game.  No linux port though.  Wine might work.  I don't know of any similar open source game.

As I've gotten older I've started to lean toward that too. I like to play games that I won't have to spend forever learning to play before I can start having fun and I won't have to remember a lot of details in order to be able to pick it back up again.  That might have something to do with maturity, but it might just be a coincidence related to my memory going bad.  I used to play all sorts of complicated games and elaborate RPGs.  I can't do that anymore, or at least, I don't want to.

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## Stormy Eyes

> i enjoyed playing final fantasy x..but that used to annoy me after every single fight...in my view, that was taking it away from her actual accomplishments, (she survived the battle)..but lookee, my cleavage...ignore everything else.


I'm a guy and I agree with you. I once told my wife that the animators did that to prove that Lulu was a sorceress: nothing short of magic could keep her from spilling out. Personally, I prefer the female characters in _Digital Devil Saga_. They have personality, and while a couple have dodgy outfits, they don't look like Jessica Rabbit's gun-toting cousins.

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## Liz

> I'm a guy and I agree with you. I once told my wife that the animators did that to prove that Lulu was a sorceress: nothing short of magic could keep her from spilling out. Personally, I prefer the female characters in _Digital Devil Saga_. They have personality, and while a couple have dodgy outfits, they don't look like Jessica Rabbit's gun-toting cousins.


 lol. well i guess thats as good an excuse as any.  :Capital Razz: 
i didnt bother me at the beginning..but after a while if you use lulu often it does.

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## nalle

A couple of more cents to the pile and there'll be a dollar!

As a woman who has played games since childhood I have to say that as I grew older games have become more and more alienating, not because of some womanly traits that should be inherent, but because I simply started wanting more than the basic bad vs. good and the good do a whole lot of bad things and it's okay - kind of thinking that many games have.

My favorite list includes games like nethack, frontier, civ 2, BG 2, Fallout 1 & 2, Outpost 2, H of M&M up to # 3, M&M series, Dungeon Keeper 2,Master of Orion, Sanitarium, Postal, GTA 1&2, Millenium 2,2, Discworld Noir, etc.
The one thing that they have in common is that they do not legimate killing with the Good vs. Bad and can be viewed throught the acumulation aspect some mentioned earlier in this thread.

I do not think this is because I am a woman, but because I get older every year and many games have base assumptions that I find harder and harder to agree with.

Like Civilization 2 - I used to blow of the once-a-month "I hate everything"-steam by destroying civilizations, but these days I just can't bring myself to agree with the assumptions that Sid made with regards to technology - that the western civilization is the highest crown of achievement or that war is an answer to and the problem is to rule over everything.

Just like in my teens I just couldn't live with running around with punk hair as a good enough excuse to sit in front of the computer (Giana sisters), in my adult years I have started growing out of gaming - I don't mind learning to play a new game, but when I still used windows and went to the game shop to browse, the back covers talked about the amount of guns, enemies and sorted add-ons - things that don't excite me at all and sound alot like what the make-up stores offer to some of my less analytical friends.

One of the answers to what I like these days in games I found was when I started to read sci-fi made by women and also found an IF made by a woman, the game's name was City of Secrets. I really got in to the game because it felt like a Real mystery and I found myself playing through puzzles because I felt my avatar *needed* to solve them and thus I wanted to solve them (only a few of them were even mentioned in the game in the "go do my bidding and i will reward you" -way that most games deal with such things or everyone telling the same story or just being too obvious at lying). And also that nobody was bad or good, nor were the made on a scale from chaotic evil to lawfull good, but were simply people (the clerk: acting like a person at work)

I think Sanitarium was one of the few other games that were not so easy to figure out, since the normal cliches were left out in both cases.

So as to the point of all this: as a gamer and as a woman I would hope that games were developed with the human experience in mind - how we really interact and gather information and to remember that the main character must be able to act in a believable manner and to have actual options.

And by options I mean real power to decide what they want and strive for in the game instead of just how they will strive for it. I know this might sound hard, but it is possible and does not necesseraly require much open-endednes if the choices given are ones that we all might make ourselves.

Thank you.

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## Stormy Eyes

> lol. well i guess thats as good an excuse as any. 
> i didnt bother me at the beginning..but after a while if you use lulu often it does.


The novelty wore off; I understand that. After a while I'd just swap Lulu in for a round so she'd get a share of the points, and then swap her right back out again. I pretty much tore through the game with Auron, Yuna, and the pretty blond crybaby. I'd only call in Lulu if I ran into a monster that resisted physical attacks; I wish they still called the Flare spell "Nuke".  :Smile:

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## BinaryDigit

I'm not a huge fan of gaming but I do like games like Morrowind...sometimes I'll join in with the  boyfriend in BF1942  :Capital Razz:

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## Stormy Eyes

> I'm not a huge fan of gaming but I do like games like Morrowind...sometimes I'll join in with the  boyfriend in BF1942


If your man's got a PS2, see if you can find yourself a copy of _Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne_. I bought it for myself, but my wife grabbed it and ended up beating it before I did (though she didn't get to fight Lucifer at the end.  :Smile: )

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## BinaryDigit

> If your man's got a PS2, see if you can find yourself a copy of _Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne_. I bought it for myself, but my wife grabbed it and ended up beating it before I did (though she didn't get to fight Lucifer at the end. )


 Oh cool hehe  :Very Happy:

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## Cordate

Below the Root was one that a friend introduced me to a few years ago- I really liked it, 4-color ASCII art and all. 

I find that I dislike games with much combat and bashing things. Maybe I'm too empathetic, or too much of a Libra- I always put myself in the shoes of the bashee to try and understand what motivates them. And if I'm playing a game where I'm representing a real human/intelligent being, I find myself wanting to avoid violence just as much as I do in real life. 

I'd much rather find cool places/worlds that I can explore and do interesting things in-  coming to an understanding of a culture, helping some character reach a new level of awareness or wellness, or even simply coming upon a fabulous view... those are rewards that'll keep me playing.

Though there is /one/ sort of shoot-em-up that I liked- Insaniquarium. The cool rewards for finishing a level were great as they added new elements to your gameplay. And getting to raise a giant school of diamond-pooping fish was just a lot of fun.

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## geekchic9

Video Games that I'm playing now: 
Various versions of Sokoban: a simple logic game with complex consequences. 
Beneath a Steel Sky: Point-and-click free sci-fi adventure game. I really like this game a lot, even though it's a flawed game in many ways
Curses: a text adventure game -- so good I want to write my own text adventure game for fun
Galatea: text adventure game with a lot of different possible endings

Games I've played in the past and enjoyed: 
Final Fantasy 7: Great storyline, well-developed characters
Super Mario I, II, and III: I think everyone has played at least one of these
Duck Hunt: Really helped my hand-eye coordination
Tomb Raider 3: Required a little more dexterity than I possess, some violence I wasn't too crazy about
Descent I: I miss this game. Fight the aliens!
Starcraft and its expansion: Would still be playing this game if I had lots of access to a Windows Computer

Video games I would like to play but can't for various reasons:
World of Warcraft (my computer can't handle the graphics)
Myst and its sequels (don't own the games, would like to buy them)

Games I don't like:
Violent shoot-em-ups: I played a game in the distant past where I climbed down the ladder instead of jumping down it, and for this error this monster grabbed a powerful gun and started shooting me in the back with it. When it ran out of ammo, it started beating me up with the butt of the gun! I was literally screaming, terrified, as it had gotten me into a corner and I couldn't move. Maybe I'm just oversensitive, but I was too afraid to play that game again.

Chess: Too many rules and patterns to remember. I need to give this game another try in the future, though. Maybe I'm just too impatient.

Risk: Don't like the premise (world domination), too many complex rules. Like chess, I probably need to give this game another try.

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## fragmental

I like computer risk more than board game risk.  A lot less adding and subtracting tiny plastic men involved and things like that.  Also, risk can be fun with other people but sometimes it can be less fun with other people.  That's not as much a problem playing against the computer.

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## cokhavim

just wanted to add my 2 cents.  don't know if someone already mentioned this, cuz this thread is too long for my lazy eyes to read....

i like fantasy adventure games.  but it seems like all fantasies feature a male hero who either saves a damsel in distress or saves the world or something.  sometimes you might see a "supporting" female character in the story.  i'd like to see a princess in the lead role of the game, saving a prince in distress, and the world at the same time.   :Smile:

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## fragmental

I think one of two of the King's Quest games were like that.  King's Quest 7 might have been one of them.  Seems like most games I can think of with a female lead character, the character is a bit busty.  Beyond Good and Evil is the only one I can think of right now that didn't have a busty female lead character.

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## Woo

I have a fundamental question:

Should it be a game for the few strong women who have fought their way into this geek stronghold or should it appeal to the majority of girls who have as little as possible to do with computers in case hot boys think they are nerds?

Fun vs. advocacy

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## slavik

As for women shopping and liking various different clothing pieces part ...

Theya re pointing out the obvious problem in today's games ... there is very little variety in the character's clothing ... especially in MMORPG types.

Sure there are various different looks, but the clothing/armor gives different benefits.

ie: 10 different outfits (which are not very nice for mixing and matching have completely different statics). This is true in The Matrix Online MMO ... looking at the clothes that a character wears, you can tell what kind of attacks he uses.

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## torx

my mom plays Forza Motorsports on my xbox! She likes the in-game scenery best!

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## lucia_engel

Hmm interesting thread.

I've played games since sega 16bit. I remember playing Shinobi with my brother...good times. Games were so much harder back then.

If not for college I'd be playing games on my PS2 and PC, but alas no time.

Some of my fav genres and games:

FPS: Max Payne series. One of the best. I love the film noir, comic storyboard approach. NOLF is also great. I didn't expect how challenging it'd be. I don't care much about graphic since I don't really have a good card.

RPG: FF series. I'm not a huge fan but I've played FF8, FFX and FFX-2 and enjoyed them all. I really like how they finally implemented voice over for their characters, made it much more enjoyable (though Tidus...ugh)

MMORPG: I've played my share of MUDs but stopped because I found them to be mostly hack and slash. I've also played Runescape, which is constantly growing and improving, but free play doesn't have much to do but leveling up. Another one worth mentioning is Kingdom of Loathing. Bwah, text based but with handdrawn stick figures.

Strategy: Command and Conquer series. I admit I only know how to tank blitz...no strategies at all  :Razz: . Those Red Alert 2 cutscenes are hilarious...so is superhuman Tanya (she always comes out in this skin tight military tee and shows off her bust as if no one will notice it.)

Adventure: Umm...don't care much of most of the point and click adventure games. I used to play Interactive Fiction games awhile ago. Really liked 1893: A World's Fair Mystery.

Sim: For flightsim I'll have to say Airfix Dogfighter. Not realistic at all but it's so fun to fly model airplanes around the house World War style  :Smile: . I LOVE Rollercoaster Tycoon...so much fun to see all those people hurl after a ride heh.

Stealth action: Metal Gear Solid, hands down. Great storyline, great voiceover, challenging gameplay, Hideo Kojima is a genius. (Getting MGS3: Subsistence this weekend!) Thief series is also worth a mention. Now that was an original game. Sneaking up on guards and clubbing them in the head is so satisfying  :Razz: . Splinter Cell is overrated. Too easy.

Others: Mafia. Like GTA, but I like the story better. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. One of the most original games in a long time. Most action scenes are played using a "Simon says" interface. Though you can't skip cutscene...and the ending kinda suck. Last but not least, Resident Evil Series. another great one. Very nice environment. Though puzzles were abit easy and I don't like the FPS style of RE4.

So basically, I like all kinds of game, but the most important thing that a game need is STORYLINE (though I don't mind UT once in a while). Then humour, ease of control, originality, and degrees of difficulty.

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## elizabeth

I honestly couldn't help feeling slightly offended when I read the topic of this forum thread  :Confused:  

Unreal Tournament doesn't have a real plot, it doesn't have cute things, and it's my favorite game. One of the sweetest girly girls I knew in middle school was mad about Doom because she could kill the monsters with chainsaws.

As was stated previously, women love all types of games. I can't think of a genre that I haven't enjoyed some game in. 

Is what you meant by this "a game for stereotypical women"? Or "a game that would get women interested in gaming"? I am sure your intentions are good, but I think they're misdirected to a point of offense.

I don't believe the problem is so much with the games themselves that exist out there exactly. It's the way they are marketed - Final Fantasy for example would probably have a MUCH larger female fan base if teenage girls were just exposed to it, an ad in a teen girl magazine would help a lot, but that doesn't happen. I am a crazy FF fan now and I never learned about it until I was 18 when my boyfriend showed me FF7. He was shocked that I'd never heard about FF8, apparently it was one of the most expensive ad campaigns in gaming history. I saw none of that record-breaking campaign.

Since game developers have men as their target audience, they make their female characters have "the ideal female form." For example, in UT ALL the female characters you can use have giant breasts and are stupidly thin. I've heard men I know argue that the men in the game are overly muscled - but at least having muscles makes SENSE! How exactly does being thin and having giant breasts help someone in a fight to the death? These ladies would have trouble standing, let alone picking up a redeemer.

Game developers also use women as the "prize" in games sometimes. You win the race, you get to see girls jumping and cheering for you. Your goal is rescue the princess. Etc etc etc.

Of course there are notable examples of where women are powerful and strong, and good, not all games are guilty of this badness  :Smile:  

So I think if you really wanted to make a game that appealed to women, try and take these things into consideration. Have the female forms in the game be more natural. Have the prize in your game be something that appeals to everyone. Advertise the game to everyone. I personally wouldn't go for a game that was aimed at women (too many bad memories of "Barbie" games draped in pink!), but I would love to see another good game out there that wasn't so obviously aimed at men.

----------


## cobelloy

I just stumbled across this thread, but I don't have time to read it all, sorry, but if it is still relevant:

games I have liked:

Final Fantasy series - real epic adventure that takes weeks/months to fully explore, where there is battling monsters, but actually beating them is a matter of battle strategy rather than fast button clicking and button combo type stuff

Tomb Raider series - same as above, great epic style adventure with fabulous scenery

Resident Evil - same again

Doom - love the different weapons and just gotta love secret cheat codes!!

Wesnoth - easy to play quest type game with levels of difficulty and many alternate quests to play, you gather new characters and sometimes lose them when you make a mistake

(Medieval) Total War - this one is a huge strategy type game where you get to raise armies and conquer the world, form alliances and send spies and assasins, with the option to control individual battles from the battlefield. This game is a little AI driven though, the computer often feels like it is not listening.

important elements: there has to be a sense of acomplishment throughout, like gaining extra items/levels/powerups for completing side-quests. The story should be forked in places so that if you play the game again the ending might be different

Also - I like boredom-busting games like tetris, mahjong, those jewel drop things, solitaire, and L-breakout is an absolute fave.

Games I hate - car/motorbike/snowboard racing games, shoot em up games, sport games (football, golf etc), worms, lemmings

**reply to elizabeth above (just read your post)

I don't mind ridiculous looking female characters, as long as they kick *** as bad as the male characters, after all you gotta respect a woman with huge knockers who can pummel bad guys in stilletos and a G-string !!

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## Etoile

Hmmmm.  I think my preference is for puzzlers rather than fighting.  For example, in an RPG game, I'd rather have to successfully negotiate with an opponent instead of whacking eir head off.  Unfortunately negotiation is probably harder to plot and code than head-whacking...but that's my preference.

Also, I think it's important to have a gender-neutral character for the player, if possible.  If the character is seen on-screen, it could only be in distance shots, or in shadow.  Although I like playing Cate Archer (NOLF) with her trick lipstick, and I think guys played that game some too, I think it's better to let the player decide what gender their character is.  This is hard, but it can be done - in the literary world, Jeanette Winterson's book "Written on the Body" has the protagonist entirely gender neutral.

----------


## yavez

You should take a look at what Nintendo are doing with their handheld DS and the games available for it.  

As far as I've read their push is to get more female gameplayers and casual gameplayers into buying their systems and the games.    There are very few of these gameplay models on the PC front at the moment, they involve strange interactive ideas that are not neccessarily about competition, but favour building community, or enhancing skills.   There have been many titles over the last couple of years both console and PC based that eschew the more formal game tradition (shooting things, jumping over things).  Take games such as Animal Crossing on the DS, as strange and colourful RPG.  Katamari Darmacy on the PS2/PSP, one of the most addictive and surreal games ever to be produced.  

I think your best bet would be to produce a game that has no gender target, but rather give us PC users (Linux gamers) something that we can't get.  A game that's fresh, addictive and colourful and isn't all about shooting somebody, or jumping over platforms.

some links here about women and gaming, may be useful in your research:

http://www.womengamers.com/

http://www.womensgameconference.com/

http://www.thumbbandits.com/

http://tomshardware.co.uk/2005/10/08...n_can_enjoyuk/

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## superchar42

I like really REALLY old games like frogger and one you've probably never heard of -- Paganitzu (I hope I spelled that right) It was a cave-game and you searched for stuff. I've never found it on anything but a 5 1/4 floppy though. 

Something that would be nice to see is a game where you can choose the gender of the main character and the gender of the "saved" person -- so a girl can save a guy, vice versa or a girl can save a girl or guy and guy. Everyone's happy!

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## Raavea

It depends on the genre of the game for me. (Do lesbians count as women?  :Wink:  lmao) I like pretty much all games, and have occasionally been known to even play a snowboard game. I term those simple games wake-up games. I play them when I'm too tired to use my brain. I have never understood this whole 'Lets get women into games!!!' thing. I have always been a gamer, my mother was a gamer before she started webdesign (she maintains that she doesnt have time now) my step mother was a gamer... I am your typical teenage boy, in a womans body. I even have the filthy sense of humour.

 In a shoot-em-up type game, I like CSS and Half-life features. Nice guns, limited heals, realistic weaponry and physics... I would however like it if the game had optional sex. I don't see why I can only have a male sprite in a shoot-em-up - I personally attended army cadets and was a very good shot, I particularly enjoy a few hours on a shooting range.

 In a roleplay-type game (my favourite) I enjoy being able to have a class as well as professions - ever played WoW ? You can be a hunter/druid/warrior/priest and also a tanner/herbalist etc. Sort of like that, but less limited. It's nice to create a special bag or something, and sell it, or make a cloak with a purple trim and wear it. I enjoy a character creation screen with plenty of options, races, starting outfits, and so on. If it's text based, like a MUD or MUSH, I enjoy plenty of variety. I also like a game where it's okay to go through without performing quests, but where if you do, you get things non-questers wouldn't get. I like variety in my quests, some should be delivery, some puzzles, some to go and destroy so and so.

 In puzzle games, I enjoy level editors. I enjoy a funny easter egg. I like logic games but I also enjoy things like penguin puzzle (not sure if its available for linux) and frozen bubble, and even snake. I really like snake race.

 If I had an ideal game that didn't really fall into a category, it would be an odd mixture between all those I mentioned. Where you go through a storyline, and can have it in fps mode, and at certain points you have to go and play a mini puzzle game or something. I really enjoyed games like ff and diablo. FF7 for the ps is my favourite ps game, and diablo 2 is my favourite pc game. I'm sure my tastes would be more up to date if I ever had any cash, but being unemployed atm... *rolls eyes*

 Anyhow, end of lecture. If you have a particular style of game in mind, feel free to PM me for suggestions or brainstorming, I'm a gaming *****. ^__^


EDIT: Oooh, ooh. I like the option to have really unrealistic GORE too. And I like a variety of death noises! It's a good stress reliver. I think all games should have a multiplayer AND offline option, but I prefer MMORPGs most of all.

EDIT2: Has anyone read .hack// ? I love it. I would absolutely explode if there was a game like the World on the market. ^_^

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## Rhapsody

I play a lot of games myself (mostly on my consoles, rarely on the PC) but the main advantage I have is that I like just about all genres except first person shooters and sports games. I'll give you a rundown of my favourites:

PlayStation 2

Rez (Incredibly weird shooter by United Game Artists.)
Shadow Hearts (Nice, but overlooked RPG by Sacnoth.)
Burnout 3: Takedown (Very, _very_ fast and fun racing game.)
Burnout Revenge (Overall, about the same as Burnout 3, which is good.)
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (Very punishing action adventure game that is about at the limits of my abilities.)
God of War (Less punishing but more brutal action adventure game that is my favourite game of all time.)
Final Fantasy X (One of the better entries of the famous RPG series, hooked me in for over 100 hours.)
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (Grand Theft Auto with more gunfights and high explosives, good fun.)
Kingdom Hearts (Square RPG with Disney characters, better than it sounds.)

GameCube

Super Smash Brothers Melee (Hectic fighting game from Nintendo, has nearly 200 hours of power on time recorded.)
Soul Calibur II (More precise 3D fighting game by Namco, quality stuff.)

Nintendo DS

Kirby Canvas Curse (Original and fun platformer from the famous Nintendo series.)
Mario Kart DS (Best version of Mario Kart. Ever.)
Jump Superstars (Imported from Japan. Similar to SSBM, but with Shounen Jump characters.)

PC

SimCity 3000 UK Edition (Very nice city builder, but with serious memory leaks and crashes under Windows XP.)
Transport Tycoon Deluxe (Whether enhanced with TTDPatch or OpenTTD, I view this as a timeless classic.)

----------


## samorost

I think this is a great idea. There are a lot of games out there which are pron disguised as 'games' and they don't really interest me. I also don't need to act out killing fantasies.

I am a huge Tomb Raider fan because of
1. A strong athletic female lead character
2. Atmospheric settings and music
3. Tricky puzzles
BUT I don't like the fighting aspect so much. I like a bit of tension (Myst is pretty, but too dull) but not a huge difficulty level because I want to get through the game. 

I enjoy gaming because you can immerse yourself in a fantasy world, doing things and going places you can't in real life. I would like a Travel the World game, where you have a mission in different countries, maybe spying, with tension but not much violence. 

I feel uncomfortable about virtually hurting things e.g in GTA you can mug people by kicking their heads in but I can't bring myself to do it. It feels wrong.
I would like blowing inanimate things up, it's very satisfying!

Best game ever: Spyro series- lovely movement and controls; completing levels opens up a new world to explore; manageable enemies; fun extra tasks.  :Smile:

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## kassetra

> Is what you meant by this "a game for stereotypical women"? Or "a game that would get women interested in gaming"? I am sure your intentions are good, but I think they're misdirected to a point of offense.


 Being a woman myself, I thought I had made my intentions very clear that I meant neither of those items. Perhaps you didn't see my original post all the way at the end?




> I'm creating this thread in order to gather together some gaming elements and ideas to flesh out what would be a good gaming "genre" or an actual game for Women.
> 
> So far, very little attention has been paid to us, in general, in the gaming community, and I'd like to plant some seeds for change. 
> 
> So... give me your thoughts! Tell me what you like about this game or that game, what you like about board games or card games, ideas you've created, etc.


 I was asking for the following information:what women liked about the games they've played.what women liked about board games or card games.ideas that women had for games.possibly books or stories that women would love to see a game made of...My intentions have nothing to do with making male-marketed games appeal to the stereotypical "woman" nor do they have anything to do with getting women "interested in gaming." I was looking to find experiences with current games and what kinds of things women like (other than myself) when they game.

The gaming market has their target male audience down to a science, but I'm not seeing any of the same kind of intense research made for women. It's especially obvious when I go to purchase a new game and glance at the "women & children" section - "Ooooh joy! A new cosmo makeover game! JUST FOR WOMEN!" *gack.*

Even though I play a lot of fps - sometimes with mods that change the characters - I don't think that if I were creating a game for myself, I would choose a "first-person shooting/killing" game as my first choice form of entertainment... unrealistic triple-z breasts aside from the fact.

But in today's gaming world, if I don't want to play a fps, and I don't want to play an rpg-based... then I'm stuck with puzzle-based or sim-based games - because those are the four genres of games getting the most development.

so if I'm bored of the hot new fps, or the big new popular rpg, sick of the same puzzles, and tired of recreating the same town.... what do I play?

And while I was thinking about that, I was wondering what other women like about the games they play, because I know I'm not the only woman that plays games on her computer.... of course that got me to thinking, "hey, you know, it's very possible that there is an entire genre of gaming out there that hasn't been discovered because the gaming industry is so focused on a specific male target audience... heyyyyyyy.....this sounds like something that a grass-roots effort could flesh out..."

And there you have it, my entire line of thought for why I created this thread.

I'm sorry if wanting to make something new and based upon what women like to play offends you, but being a female programmer and game player, I thought it was cool and exciting.

----------


## Mirrorball

Nowadays I like to play strategy games, especially Civilization 4. The Sims was also fun for a while, but eventually I got tired of it. I like classic card games, like solitary and bridge. But my favorite computer games ever were those of the Monkey Island series. They were extremely addictive, I just had to solve the puzzles and see what would happen next. Great sense of humor too. Go Guybrush Threepwood!

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## nursegirl

I have different game interests:
1) Puzzle games: Tetris, Zuma, Frozen Bubble - Just looking for minimal thought, small learning curve for the early levels, with steady increase in difficulty.

2) Fantasy games with high levels of immersion: Myst, ICO, etc - With these, it's all about beautiful graphics. Non-linear is better, although ICO had a completely linear plotline, and I forgave it because it was so beautiful and the interactions between the main characters were fascinating and sweet.

3) Strategy games: Civilisation, Wesnoth, Starcraft - Actually, these are pretty similar to the first set. I'm looking for a game that's easy to learn how to play, but difficult to master. I personally like turn-based strategy better than RTS because I so often have to get up and do something and return to my game hours later.

I sometimes wonder about what a plotline would look like that was written largely by women rather than men. Perhaps more character development? I don't know if you've played Indigo Prophecy/Farenheit, but it's probably a step in the right direction in terms of interesting, likeable characters.

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## Abrii Doniger

The biggest problem with the game developer world is there are so few women in the industry at that level, and the industry knows this. Last time I looked, iirc, at a piece on the IGDA site (International Game Developers) I think it was less than 15% of people working at game companies was female though I could be wrong there, just remember it was very low. How that broke down jobs wise I reallly do not remember at all but in my own experience one game company I know of had only 2 women as designers last I checked.

About women in the game industry: http://www.igda.org/articles/soconnor_women.php




> Ill be the first to admit that finding female gaming talent is easier said than done. Most women dont consider gaming as a career  either because they dont play games themselves, or because they dont see the work as a viable professional pursuit.


Maybe that is what needs to change in order to change the games we get  :Smile: 

I've heard many women say they have a hard time playing any type of FPS type game as the movement makes them seriously ill, some sort of motion sickness induced by the graphics and fast moves. Top down views like Diablo weren't a problem at all.
I've played a lot of games, from the old original Quake to MMOs like Asheron's Call, Anarchy Online, to Everquest 2. What I like is good risk vs reward, interesting and complex character developement, the ability to make things that are worth the effort put into them (your own armour, weapons, etc). Unfortuneately most of the games I see may start out that way but soon damp everything down to appease the players who want instant gratification as easily as possible.



AbriiD

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## cara

I must say that this is a fantastic idea.
I play World of Warcraft, and the guild that I am in has a lot of women. I would say that about one third of us are women. But wow is the type of game that is just so.. addiciting.. that people of any age can play it. I know my 5 year old likes it, as well as people that are 70 years old.
An mmorpg style game with mini *puzzle* games is something that I would definitely be interested it.

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## mediax

My wife (who isn't much of a gamer) enjoys Oregon Trail, my granddaughter (who is) enjoys The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, Need For Speed, the CSI series and virtually any "Tycoon"-type game (Rollercoaster, Zoo, etc. etc.)

I wonder if there is something to the point about creating things being appealing to women - my granddaughter's favorite part of The Sims 2 is creating the families, and of Rollercoaster Tycoon building the rides.  In addition, one of the places I've seen most female gamers is in Second Life (a terrific online game that does offer a Linux client!), where everyihing in the virtual world is created by its inhabitants.

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## Abrii Doniger

That's an element I reallly do enjoy in any game I've playeds,d making things!
In Asheron's Call I was part of the in game help team and my character took up some crafting skills to give me something extra to do when my shift was quiet (cooking and arrow making iirc). In Anarchy Online I think I'm one of the few trade skills Engineers (class Engineer but focused on making things instead of high damage) still playing the game from the really old crew.
I also like the stand alone games that allow you to be creative, Sim City in most of it's incarnations, Zoo tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon....

----------


## Cordate

I've been trying Planeshift (a free (and open-source) 3D Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) lately and I really like it- there's a lot of things that one can do, even though the game is still heavily under development. There are a lot of good roleplayers there and tons of places to explore. Come join me and help give the character base more diversity!  :Smile:  

PS- I'm "Venae Rell" in the game if you want to look me up!

----------


## SoloSalsa

From my male point of view, I think a good possibility is _Linux Sims_ (or something like that).  The Sims 2 definitely has a female fan base; besides, it's definitely a good game!  My sister likes leading them to romance (whereas I like making houses and gardens).  As someone said, SimCity also appealed to women.  I thinking a sim-like game.
YDKJ (you don't know jack) is such a fun game!  Someone on like page three brought it up.  As a seperate project, it would rock if the community made a trivia game and database.

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## ShirishAg75

> I've been trying Planeshift (a free (and open-source) 3D Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) lately and I really like it- there's a lot of things that one can do, even though the game is still heavily under development. There are a lot of good roleplayers there and tons of places to explore. Come join me and help give the character base more diversity!  
> 
> PS- I'm "Venae Rell" in the game if you want to look me up!


I saw the Planeshift site & although things looks good, nowhere it's mentioned what specs are needed to play the game. I do have the bandwidth however  :Smile:

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## Cordate

Planeshift specs... well, I run it with an old 32Mb GeForce 2 card on a 2.4/ 768Mb box and it does fairly well.... give it a try!  :Smile:

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## Senak^2

The games I most enjoy are ones that can challenge your mind and have many various things to do (as part of the game objective or as a side story) especially in adventure/RPG games. Which I think is one of the reasons why I like to play Final Fantasy. The best games for me involve good character development, plot, interaction with the environment, and somekind of unexpected twist. Although I do enjoy FPS every now and then (especially in multi-player so I can kill my all family members! Mwhahaha! JK).

One thing I notice lacking from games are the presence of strong female characters. In a lot of games I've played there's usualy two or more strong male characters but none to just one not-as-strong-as-the-male character.

I'm not really into card or boardgames unless I'm bored but the women in my friend's family loves them. Games such as scrabble, yatze, various solitaire, and etc... I do like Word Twist a lot though.

As for graphics I don't think too much of it, just as long as it is well layed out and easy to interpret. As my friend's and I like to say, "What's better than sex? SUPER NINTENDO!!"

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## Kevanx

Very interesting thread. Part of me wants to rebel against the thought of having "girl games", but I do think it's important to recognize that the brain truly does work somewhat differently between men and women when it comes to hormones, reward reinforcement systems, and even things like spatial visualization. First person shooters are probably more enjoyable (popularity is the wrong measure, clearly) with men than with women, based on hunter/gatherer instincts and biological pathways that respond to that kind of situation.

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## aysiu

> First person shooters are probably more enjoyable (popularity is the wrong measure, clearly) with men than with women, based on hunter/gatherer instincts and biological pathways that respond to that kind of situation.


 Interesting theory, but there's no control group to test in order to validate that speculation. Although the nature v. nurture debate will rage on for centuries to come, you certainly cannot discount that it's generally frowned upon in many societies for people to stray outside their prescribed gender roles. If you've ever been teased as a guy for liking knitting and shopping or teased as a girl for liking football and violent movies, then I think you know what I'm talking about. As a biological male, I've certainly felt no instinctual (or otherwise) compulsion to hunt, gather, or play first-person shooters.

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## Sef

> I saw the Planeshift site & although things looks good, nowhere it's mentioned what specs are needed to play the game. I do have the bandwidth however


Here are the specs:




> Minimum Requirements:
> Windows (2000, XP or Vista), Mac OS X 10.4, Linux (2.6 kernel, glibc 2.3.2), FreeBSD or Solaris
> GeForce 2 or higher 3D graphics card (64MB of video memory at least)
> 1 Ghz CPU
> 512 MB RAM
> 1 GB free disk space
> 56k modem Internet connection
> 
> Recommended Requirements:
> ...

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## anxiousdog

> I've been trying Planeshift (a free (and open-source) 3D Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) lately and I really like it- there's a lot of things that one can do, even though the game is still heavily under development. There are a lot of good roleplayers there and tons of places to explore. Come join me and help give the character base more diversity!  
> 
> PS- I'm "Venae Rell" in the game if you want to look me up!


Thanks for the link! I used to be an Everquest player, but I've quit due to the fees! I've tried a few of the online games like Runescape but looking for something a little "more". I'll have to try this game!

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## Starn

i may not be a woman. and according to some test i might not be a man.. but thats kinda off topic..
so uh.

i think from what i know from my ex gf.. and some of my cousins.

the ability to explore a beautiful world like in oblivion maybe not that intense in gfx. most of the time i play that my self i enjoy exploring and using some mods that enabled me to basically live another life.
almost every friend of mine that is female which is 80% i don't like hanging out with guys and doing "guy" stuff. anyways from what they talk about in games is Zelda.... so if ya was to make an rpg maybe a mixture of zelda and oblivion?
like some one else said sim styled game... and creatures or even a social style game... kinda like second life...
a game i know of that is more popular for females than males is Harvest Moon and um when i tap into my feminine side i would enjoy a harvest moon styled game but more in depth in living and other stuff some thing where i would possible live the life of a farmer or any other type jobs... rancher blacksmith cook ect. in a multiplayer environment or just harvest moon as a multiplayer game. there are other ideas i have... but i kinda want to keep the idea that i have a chance of being a male. heh for my other ideas go really in depth small example a romance gfx novel game...
or anything with in depth romance. would be cool to.


ps: sorry for my small male brain and horrible spelling. i do not claim to know women well or anything.. i only go by what my female friends say.
and truefly i enjoy a lot of thing women do that over the year men declared for women only... like makeovers. as a rough idea. so i do think i am in touch with my feminine side 

oh nother idea. for a game or part of a game. some thing kinda like spore?

also i just now relized that games are multi gender.....
i've been asking around and so far all the girls i know keep saying games i like.. so in reality any kind of game can go both ways.. cept maybe barbie...

----------


## Chii

Wow.... it's really hard for me to think about a game that "all women" would like to play.  As the fact stands as stated before that different women want different thing in games.  Much like men want different things in games.  

Personally I love don't mind a good storyline in a game and many times it helps makes games enjoyable for me. (IE Half Life 2 is a blast, but sometimes I get motion sick from playing it too long, why?  No idea :>)  As for strategy games, the only one I've ever been able to play for a long period of time has been Star Craft.  It had a great story, and I just found it clicked with me.  Where as Ages of Empire, and other such rts game simply didn't.  

My favorite genre of game though has to be the Sandbox mmo.  Where you can more or less do a bit of everything you choose to do.   IE go mining for some hours, or if you don't feel like that turn around and hunt, craft, pvp, or just plain socialize.  (Sadly the game that does this the best is also the most expensive by ways of Entropia Universe/Project Entropia).  And I may be superficial... but nice graphics add VERY much to the appeal.  Don't get me wrong... you have UO which is a great game even with it's graphics and open ended play style, but when a new mmo comes along with great play style and graphics.  I'll most likely be sold (EU has more or less done that but again it's so expensive to play >.<), which may be the case with an upcoming mmo, "Earth Rise".  

This being said,I also play Eve Online; and belong to a pirate corporation  xD.  And the only thing that the game is missing is the ability to get out of your ship, dress up, and walk around in the stations and planets.  But this is already in development and I am eagerly anticipating this.

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## rihanha

IMO, the good games appeal to different types of motivations - i.e. both me and my husband play WOW, but he likes to explore and do arenas, I like to complete quests and gain achievements. Neither of us are big on the socializing but we have a friend who logs in only to chat sometimes. I think that is why WOW is so popular, you can get a whole range of satisfaction from it - you could tie it neatly into McClelland's Theory of Needs (achievement, affiliation and power). 

However, I do think gaming is overly male-centric and it certainly affects what I find interesting and what/how I play. I prefer an environment that promotes equality - can I express my feminine side (if I chose to), or is there just one or two token female character choices, which are limited to tight pants and big *****? I would like to see a game that actually takes women into consideration when it is designed in a serious and respectful way. I'm interested in Sony's FreeRealm idea, where you can mix casual gaming with an MMORPG. One of my biggest laments is that games just take too much time - so a game that lets you express yourself (both male and female), appeals to different motivations, and lets you throttle your time investment from casual to hardcore will have my votes and my dollars.

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## RoboNuggie

A game for women? 

I didn't realize that women were so separate from men that they required separate games.... how about separate food?...... air?........ planets?

Goodness me. What utter nonesense.

If on the otherhand, you were trying to say that perhaps non-violent games should be more available... then yes, by all means, but that is not just a female requirement. Some none violent games are tetris (I love that), Mahjong (love it), Penguin racer..... and so on and so forth.

So please, stop putting dividing lines where there are none...after all I thought Ubuntu women's aim was to help unify and stop separatism...

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## stimpyjcat

this thread is SO old...

but if serves for something I can say that most of the woman that know that play pc games like the puzzle/action-puzzle ones

my mother is crazy with luxor or zuma like games (as well as many female friends of her) and I get sick just watching her playing at insane/impossible levels and beating them (I hate those games btw  :Capital Razz:  )


so im sure that this genre (luxor-zuma like) will be special for most women from 15 to 70 and theres not even wine'able versions of that kind of games... yet

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## wolfyking2

> Some elements of games I like:
> 
> From the Myst games:
> I like the "environmental immersion" with fantastical plants, animals, sounds, and even music - and the fact that you can "explore" somewhat.
> 
> From Creatures:
> I like the fact that there is an ecology, animals, dna, plants, etc. that all work together to create the environment.
> 
> Some elements I wish either of those games had:
> ...


 Sounds like you would like a game called Deus Ex.  Even if it's a shooter/stealth game.

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## dan_s28

Play EVE Online, even has a girl name "eve"

http://www.eveonline.com

Forgot to add it plays real well with cedega from transgaming.

It has MANY more complexities over WoW or EQ2. There only one server cluster, so all the players can interact.
50,000 online at peak hours. Has a free trial for 2 weeks also.

-Dan

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## thrice_loved

I like many different types of games. Intuitiveness is important to me - I'm not a fan of long tutorials - give me a game I can pick up and play (ala many Wii games).

I'm not a big fan of heavy conflict in my games. Sometimes I want to play a game just to hit things (I enjoy being a barbarian in Diablo II ) but more often I like games which emphasise co-operation and community.

I also like problem solving games and puzzle games.

Please note: Personally, I feel that making games for girls is a ridiculous concept (All we end up with is more cooking and horse riding games! Blegh!) - however I would like to see more games wiht a collaborative focus, that don't require me to fire weaponry. Good luck.  :Smile:

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