Notes on Gender Inclusive Game Design

1. Notes onGender Inclusive Game Design “Gender Inclusive Game Design: Expanding The Market”By Sheri Graner Ray

2. Overall Notes • None of these notes are true for every single (wo)man • All notes are intended to be offered in a respectful fashion CSS 290

3. Chapter 1: Females and Machines Women generally think of (and are pushed to think of) computers as being work-related machines When asked what games for women there were, salespeople at retail game stores suggested typing tutors, gardening software, etc Women are ~52% of the overall population, but play games substantially less than men do CSS 290 3

4. Chapter 1: Females and Machines ♂: Computers are a challenge to be overcome ♀: Prefer a more artistic, communicative/cooperative interaction Example: fighting games ♀: Tend to not enjoy the ‘hidden game play elements’, such as secret, special moves that are discovered only by trial & error CSS 290 4

5. Chapter 1: Females and Machines Example: failure penalties ♀: Tend to not enjoy a crippling penalty for failure (your avatar died & you have to restart the level) Example: Goals ♀: Often times prefer more open-ended gameplay, perhaps even without a precise goal Such as Sim* - SimCity, SimTower, The Sims, etc CSS 290 5

6. Chapter 4: Stimulation & Entertainment ♂: measurable physiological reaction from visual input (e.g., adrenaline) ♀: not so much response to visual input ♀: tend to have more of a reaction to ‘emotional input’ “mutually beneficial solutions to socially significant situations” Ex: BioShock: Rescue my spouse & kid! CSS 290 6

7. Chapter 4: Stimulation & Entertainment ♀: tactile feedback good, too Dance Dance Revolution ‘Immersive’ arcade games – motorcycles, ‘snowboards’, etc CSS 290 7

8. Chapter 4: Learning and Communications Styles in Computer Game Development ♂: excel at targeting movingtargets in an unclutteredfield ♀: excel at targeting stationarytargets in a clutteredfield CSS 290 8

9. Chapter 4: Learning and Communications Styles in Computer Game Development LEARNING: ♂: Are willing to just try stuff “If all else fails, try reading the manual” ♀: Are less willing to take risks while learning Generally want to know what to do, first CSS 290 9

10. Chapter 4: Learning and Communications Styles in Computer Game Development COMMUNICATION STYLES: ♂: Typically more overtly dominant ♀: Typically more overtly empathetic CSS 290 10

11. Chapter 6: Reward and Gameplay ♀: ‘High Score’ sorts of rewards aren’t particularly rewarding Idea – look for alternative reward structures Ultima Online/MMORPGs: participating in the life of a community, such as by creating items that can be sold CSS 290 11

12. Chapter 7: Avatar Selection ‘Pyramid of power’ & ♀/♂ avatar selection ♀ are generally uncomfortable playing a ♂ avatar But not vice-versa: most ♂ don’t have a problem playing a game with a ♀ avatar Avatar portrayal: ♂: powerful ♀: sexual CSS 290 12

13. Chapter 7: Avatar Selection Good Game Design Idea: Offer a selection of both ♀ and ♂ avatars. Don’t offer just token/weak ♀ avatars Example: that game where the wizard & warrior are male, and only the thief is female CSS 290 13

14. Chapter 8: Puzzle Games Scott Kim Definition (from Pg 110): “A puzzle is a problem that is fun to solve, which means that the goal is to find the right answer. In contrast, the goal of a game is to beat another player. By this definition single player games like solitaire card games are actually randomly generated puzzles” Audience for these games is often-times ♀ CSS 290 14

15. Chapter 8: Puzzle Games Puzzles are not violent, not action games, and not directly competitive Plus, they’re great for ‘casual gaming’ market – you can pick up Blix, play for 5 boards, then move on. Plus, they’re great on limited-capability devices – phones, iPods, Zunes, etc CSS 290 15

16. Chapter 8: Puzzle Games Types: Logic puzzles Word puzzles Visual Puzzles Example of usage: Bully (as a substitute for actually going to real classes  ) CSS 290 16

17. Chapter 9: Online/Wireless Games Online games tend to be more flexible/open-ended (as opposed to ‘pipe’ style games) CSS 290 17

18. Summary: Things to Think About When Designing Women-Friendly Games Reward Issues: Flashing lights & points aren’t enough Look for an emotional tie-in Female avatars allow women players to identify with the character more Set up the story/game to encourage player identifying with the character “Understanding Comics” – iconic character idea Mutually beneficial solution to socially significant problem CSS 290 18

19. Summary: Things to Think About When Designing Women-Friendly Games Allow for confrontational and non-confrontational resolution of issues Allow for <multiple> ways to resolve things Non-confrontational: Stealth Interpersonal manipulation White Wolf vs. AD&D Allow for non-confrontational activity: Timed/scored activity Tetris, racing (as opposed to killing each other) CSS 290 19

20. Summary: Things to Think About When Designing Women-Friendly Games Create shorter, more ‘bite-sized’ subgoals Facilitates game play over shorter periods of time Avoid severe penalty failures CSS 290 20