Girl Game Companies Owned by Women
Many of the companies that produce girl games are owned and managed by women. These entrepreneurs noted the lack of games designed with females in mind, and are concerned by the fact that many more boys play computer games than girls. They hope to help close this gap, and capitalize on the untapped female market, by making games that appeal to young female interests (1, 4, 5). In order to discern what those interests are, many of the creators of girl games have conducted extensive market research.

"Lets Talk About Me Some More" from Girl Games

Market Research
Research on girls' experiences with technology, and their feelings about computer games, has yielded the following findings. Young girls dislike intense competition (6, 5), and find typical computer games to be boring (5). Some studies found that girls dislike violent and aggressive game themes (7), while other studies show that girls are simply bored by violent games due to their repetitious nature (4, 6). Girls reportedly complain about the lack of game characters they can identify with, and the lack of story or narrative (5). On the basis of findings such as these, researchers hypothesize that girls enjoy games that include many different activities, social interaction on the screen and between players, challenges (6), group problem-solving and cooperation, and realistic game settings as opposed to fantasy settings (7). Based on the results of this market research, many of the girl games come in pink and purple boxes, and are focused on things such as shopping, popularity, fashion, friendship, secrets, dating, health and physical fitness.

Articles on WomenGamers.Com solely reflect the experiences and perspectives of the author(s). Feel free to agree or disagree in the accompanying forum thread.