Designing games for teen girls – How?

During our Monday lecture, we tried to lay out a concept of a horror game for teenage girls, taking place in World War 2. We went through one intense discussion after the other as of how one is supposed to reach out to these teen girls. What awakened the most intense debate, was the choice of platform. A few pointed out that the game should be made for smartphones and Facebook, but I didn’t like this at all. I wanted the game to be made for consoles and/or the PC. I’ll explain why…

When I googled “games for teen girls”, I mostly found sites with flash games like “Kiss Beiber”, “Baby Room Cleanup” and tons of different makeover games, half of them starring Barbie. Then, when I quickly browsed the trending games on Facebook, I found many games of this kind here as well, but there was a wider variety of games here. Though, all of them share the same problem. Due to several limitations Facebook games have to adapt to, like small game spaces and 2D graphics, they are not very immersive.

Yes, people can spend several hours a day on these games. They can feel incredibly rewarding and addictive. But for someone who has played games on a console or the PC as a gaming platform, they don’t quite feel the same. When people called out that many girls own smartphones and use Facebook regularly, I can see where they were coming from. But to make a horror themed game taking place in a World War 2 setting, I had a more immerse game in mind. I wanted to create what some people choose to call a “real” game, for a console. Because there are not as many games like that for teen girls, that are well made and have deep characters and stories.

Believe it or not, I have actually been a teen girl (granted, some people still think I am one). I could enjoy a simple, vane makeover game from time to time, sure. But I mostly played all PC games I could get hold over. When I was 13, I spent hours and hours of my time in the multiplayer mode of Star Wars: Jedi Academy. After that, I started playing MMOs. I also have a 14 year old sister. She doesn’t play as much games as I did as a teen, but I just heard that she bought the new Beyond: Two Souls for the PS3 (and oh, how jealous I am of her right now).

Mall World, a Facebook game with over a million monthly users.

So because of all this, I’d like to make the game for either a console, the PC or both. People shouldn’t just say “girls play more games on Facebook than on consoles” and therefor want to make a Facebook game. If we made more console games for teen girls (without being all pink and glittery), more girls would start playing! Just a girls thoughts.

Beyond: Two Souls is a much welcome invitation to the female audience.