Women and games. Key points

The main characteristic of a gaming product is audience reach, the larger it is, the greater the potential for high profits. For a long time, the game audience was men, but time goes on and now the eyes of game developers are aimed at a promising female audience.

In this article I will talk about my observations and studies of female psychology in relation to games, key points will be highlighted and some biases will be refuted.

Result

During the game, its participant carries out activities. He is motivated to get a result. It would seem simple, but the result in women and men are two completely different things.

Men are attracted to the process of achieving results, and women are attracted to the final result of their activities.

Why this is so is a rhetorical question. The fact remains. In games, men are interested in the process of achieving the goal: the murder of a couple of thousand monsters, long diplomatic negotiations, the construction of megacities, etc. And the more complex and intensive the process of achievement, the greater the motivation. For women, on the contrary, the process goes to the background, they see the goal in front of them. Hence the important game conclusion:

Games designed for female audiences should have a clear definition of goals. The player must clearly see and be aware of the ultimate goal of his results.


My research only confirmed this. Without a final goal, interest in the game disappears after a woman becomes acquainted with the world of the game. Aimlessly a woman will not explore the game world, as she is not interested.

The goal is conveniently served in the opening video or during the briefing. But I note right away, the goal should be clear, otherwise a woman may not understand it.

I will dispel another misconception that a woman will not play a game where there are many repetitive actions (killing a couple of thousand monsters, long diplomatic negotiations, the construction of megacities, etc.). This is absolutely not the case. If the final goal is designated and in the process of its achievement they are constantly reminded of it, then these “boring" actions will be perceived positively by it. A woman can calmly monotonously kill a couple of thousand monsters with a smile on her face if she constantly sees the ultimate goal.

Particular attention should be paid to obstacles - women hate them.
If a woman who kills thousands of monsters on her way for the sake of a "great" goal, suddenly kills one of the monsters and she needs to start from the beginning, then this is regarded as the inability to achieve the goal. But there is no way to achieve the goal - there is no game.

When I first came across this, I was also surprised. Girls played before the first loss, then interest in the game fell sharply. What to do? You can certainly make a win-win game, but then its meaning is lost. The answer is simple and at the same time complicated:

For a female audience, game obstacles should look like part of the path to the goal, and not something that interrupts this path.

It is difficult to realize this in many cases.

A look at the game world

The reason for the differences between men and women on this point is not exactly known. It is believed that it lies in the basic differences in the structure of vision. But the reason is not so important, but what is important is that: The

look of a man generalizes the game world, and women detail. A man immediately sees the tools for gaming activities, and a woman sees a gaming background, atmosphere.

Women are interested in viewing the game world (not exploring, see paragraph above). They highlight details, evaluate proportions, coloring objects, artistic beauty, and completely do not see the game menu interface ...

Yes, women do not immediately notice the game menu. When I came across this, I was in shock. The girls with whom I studied the game interfaces did not pay attention to the menu. As a result, after the consideration of the game world ended, they did not know what to do ... Epic fail. In men, I have never met such a problem. Hence the first conclusion:

It is necessary at the beginning of the game to talk about the main points of the game menu and interface.

I note a few points:

• Selecting menus and interface elements does not mean talking about them. Doesn't roll. Women do not even see bright, blinking elements.
• If the entire game menu comes down to 1-2 buttons, this rule can be neglected. Sort it out.
• It is convenient to use the initial instructional video or animation, where focus on each explanation of the menu item is explained.
• Do not forget about the specific goal (see paragraph above). The "aimless" menu item for the female eye is not visible.

We move on to the paragraph. Attention should be paid to the details of the game world.

For women, the threshold for involvement in the game world is much higher than for men. That is, for women, a detailed game world with its own atmosphere is very important.

This is already much more complicated. The process of creating a detailed game world with an atmosphere is very complex and requires significant resources. I will give the following comments:

• Women have a more pronounced artistic taste - they immediately notice imbalances in objects, incorrect composition and poorly selected colors. Although women cannot correctly express the reasons why they do not like this world, they will still not like it. It is advisable that the pictures of the game world were viewed by a professional artist.
• The color taste of women is different from the taste of men. If the majority (about 80%) of men prefer “strict” (classic) color combinations, then most women (about 60%) prefer bright or colorful colors.
• It is necessary to give an opportunity to consider the game world.

This paragraph is all. Moving on.

The main character

Here we can observe many prejudices, such as: that for a female audience only women are interesting as the main characters, that the main character should be perfectly beautiful, etc. In most cases, this only prevents one from understanding correctly what a hero should be for women. I won’t go around for a long time, and immediately outline the results of my research:

For a female audience, it is important that the protagonist be positive and not cause artistic disgust.

This statement is confirmed by my research. In addition, it is based on the previous paragraphs. What does this statement mean?

Women by their very nature do not like to play negative roles. They hate to be considered bad. It doesn’t matter what a woman does, it’s important how they think about her (more precisely, how she thinks, how they think about her). Here the key place is occupied by the goal (see the first paragraph). If the goal in the eyes of a woman is positive, then all means are good. A woman can calmly "kill a couple of thousand monsters" if she kills for the good in the form of a specific positive goal. Of course, she must feel this “great” goal throughout the gameplay.

Now remember the second paragraph. For women, the main character is a part of the game world and it should be artistically combined with their ideas about the game world.

If the main character causes a woman an artistic disgust or rejection, then this is the end of the game. Remember the game menu? In this case, the woman will simply not notice the hero.

It should also be said that for a greater immersion in the game world, the main character should preferably be a woman, but not necessary. So we can consolidate the woman’s interest also by ties of association with the main character. The main character should not be dazzlingly beautiful.

Here are the main mistakes related to the heroes that scare the female audience:

• Negative hero.
• A hero without a goal.
• A hero that stands out from the game world (He must be part of it).
• An ugly hero, without aesthetic beauty.
• A heroine who looks like a prostitute.

Tip on the paragraph is simple - show sketches of the main characters to women.

Thinking

This is the most difficult paragraph. It is no secret that men will never fully understand women's logic. In this section we will only try to approach this understanding.

Perhaps when reading the article you got the impression that for women you need to make simple and colorful games, where everything is explained and shown. Like, women are stupid and, accordingly, require simple approaches to them. But this is completely wrong. Women are not stupid at all, and even in many situations they are much smarter and more capable than men. What is the matter? But the difference is in thinking.

Women have more developed artistic thinking.

This does not mean that all other types of thinking in women are not developed. Just women approach all tasks from the side of creating a situation to solve them. I.e:

Women seek to create a situation in which the task is being solved, and not to carry out actions aimed at solving this problem.

Is it difficult? .. But they are such women. Let's see the consequences of this.

• Women adore logical constructions. Create, manage with deep interconnected objects - they love it.
• Women love to create something artistically expressive even aimlessly.
• Women hate monotonous activity if they do not see the goal.

These points are difficult to take into account, since they greatly affect the game mechanics. But nowhere to go if you want to get at the disposal of a female audience.

The perfect game for a female audience

To summarize. What should be in the game:

• The clear goal of the player’s game activity;
• Expressive art world;
• The positive protagonist who artistically fits into the game world;
• The ability to create game situations for solving tasks.

What you need to pay attention to:

• Game obstacles should be part of the player’s progress towards the goal;
• It is necessary to highlight the game interface and explain its purpose.

The ideal game for a female audience should revolve around the concepts of the goal of gaming activity, the artistry of the game world, the positive protagonist and creative approaches to game mechanics.

In part, these points can cancel each other out. I gave an example of how hatred of monotonous activity is offset by setting goals.

Afterword

In this article, I tried to highlight the key points of game development for a female audience. Of course, there are still countless points (activities, socialization, etc.), but the moments described in this article are, in my opinion, the key ones. As you have seen prejudice even more.

For male game developers, it is difficult to understand women's logic and a feminine look, so the last tip:

Show your achievements to wives, girlfriends, etc. Watch their reaction and experience.

Literature

Notable article with CWI full of feminism - Why women don't play: manifest of change