Growing up, I was lucky enough to be exposed to a myriad of games. Some of my favorites included Super Mario, Yoshi’s Island, Kirby, Pokémon, and Animal Crossing. In fact, the first game I ever got on my Nintendo DS was Animal Crossing and it became the game I enjoyed the most. Although all these games were extremely popular at the time, I sometimes received criticism for playing Animal Crossing as it was “a girl’s game.” Being a young kid in elementary school, I never really understood what was so girly about Animal Crossing. Was it because of the cute animal? Or was it because Animal Crossing just wasn’t as exciting of a game?

What makes a game girly or manly? Who is it that determines what games should a person play? These ideas are explored in Shira Chess’ book Ready Player Two. In the book, Chess splits the gaming community into two categories: Player one and Player two. Chess describes Player one to be a person who in bodies the mythical norm, “… white, cis-, heterosexual, young, abled, and middle-class male” (Chess 6). She therefore describes Player Two to be the total opposite of Player One or a person who is deemed “different” by societal standards. Chess categorizes females into this category of Player Two and cites an interview with the author Sheri Graner Ray where she talks about the problem of the videogame industry. “We have a problem where the game industry does not see women as a market. They see women as a genre” (Chess 39). This view not only has created a closed environment for women but has also created a stereotype when it comes to “female” games.

When you think of female games, what games come to mind? For most people, games like Kim Kardashian: Hollywood or Animal Crossing come to mind. I think this stereotype or, as Chess puts it, “designed identity” is incorrect. Chess describes this designed identity as “a hybrid outcome of industry conventions, textual constructs, and audience placements in the design and structure of video games” (Chess 5). The industry convention of associating the label of casual gaming with a female audience has been cited throughout the history of games. In fact, the first serious attempt to market games towards female audiences fell into this association. In the mid-1980s, Nintendo introduced the Nintendo Knitting Machine that allowed players to knit via the Nintendo Entertainment system. Although it was an attempt to sell games to a female audience, I would say it wasn’t a good attempt nor would I classify the knitting machine as a game. Chess describes how the home is seen as less of a place for leisure and relaxation and more of like a workplace to women as they’re usually responsible for house chores. For me I like to play video games for fun and relaxation and I would say the knitting machine was more like work for women rather than a game.

Since the gaming industry is forever evolving and changing I hope to see less gender disparity among gaming. Sure, demographic wise females are more interested in casual games such as Animal Crossing but there are also a huge population of females that play other games that are seen as more masculine such as Dead by Daylight or The World Of Warcraft. At the same time, there are many non-females who enjoy playing games like Animal Crossing. Although change can’t happen overnight, I do like the direction the gaming industry has been moving towards: gender inclusivity in gaming.

Work Cited:

Chess, S. (2017). Ready player two: Women gamers and designed identity. University of Minnesota Press.