Girlz n' Games
“I like to kill,” was one of the sentiments expressed by a woman when I asked her what she liked about games. I asked a somewhat bookish group of grad students what games they liked to play. Overall, almost every girl I asked expressed some kind of preference towards playing computer and video games, but indicated “too much time,” “too expensive,” and “too addictive” as the major deterrents.
Among the favorites seemed to be a lot of Yahoo games. One girl had downloaded a game called Dino Diner. In addition to waiting tables on an almost 40 hr/week basis, she came home to play this game… waiting tables. As she commented in her moments of boredom at her restaurant, “It’s just like the game!”
When discussing games, the girl population is only slightly growing in the world perspective. Too poor for my mom to encourage me buying video games growing up, I always wanted to play, felt that I’d enjoy it, but alas never became good at it. How a lot of guys get experience in my situation is to hang out over their friends houses. That wasn’t an option for me, as up until age 12 I had cooties. Then during that difficult teenage time where I was trying to talk to boys and would come upon a bunch of gamers all huddled around a box, eagerly hoping some guy would ask me if I wanted to play… they didn’t. No matter how long I stayed there.
So now that I finally have my own disposable income, student loans notwithstanding, I unfortunately suck at the games. Not suck like a n00b, mind you. In online fps’s I am only at the bottom of my team when I first start out at the game. Nevertheless, what becomes an addiction for some because they’re so good at it becomes a frustrating hassle for me when I just want to relax.
Overall, I’d say there is a lot to offer girls in gaming, but not just with flashy graphics and scantily-clad heroines. A lot of girls like problem-solving or simulation games: where they’re managing or creating stuff like Civilization or the Sims, or where they’re solving puzzles, especially visual ones like Katamari Damacy for the PS2. I know some girls to have been enamored of Snood through two semesters or more. Sometimes girls get incredibly devoted to games. I know one woman who has obsessively gone through Solitaire games in order by number.
Some women liked only free games, preferring not to pay when they don’t have money. Ferry Halim was mentioned as a graphically cute time waster. Another girl mentioned working her way through various Yahoo games, including one with a dragon and fireworks. Some girls nostalgically recalled the classics like the NES games Noid, Frogger, and Super Mario Brothers. And a girl with a few guy roommates admitted to being sucked into Halo anytime it was on in the living room.
As a final note, I would recommend a nice puzzle-solving game for all those girl and guy gamers out there: Groupie. Described as a “shareware game that combines Minesweeper with a bit of Tetris.” It was created by Professor Lindeman of the George Washington University. Fun, but not too addictive, it’s the perfect game to blow off a little work, then get back to it in a few and it’s free.
