What games do women play?

[DrunkOnEstus]

My wife and I both 25. The last 3 games she's been playing and enjoying lately are:

Fable 3
Dragon Age: Origins
Legend of Zelda: Windwaker

She likes games that have a story (though it's by no means a requirement). She really doesn't like shooters, FPS or 3PS. She also doesn't care for the excitement of overcoming challenge (she plays DA:O on easy to experience the journey, story, and dialog).

My last 3 are:

Bioshock: Infinite
Dark Souls (all weeks, every week)
Metal Gear Solid 2

I love everything. WRPGs, JRPGs, puzzle, adventure, art/experimental, whatever. I'm in love with the medium itself. I guess me and RTS games don't get along well if I have to point out an exception.

If it matters, the games we've loved to play together are Castle Crashers, New Super Mario Bros, and Battleblock Theater (play that shit, seriously). She also very much loves watching me play games that she couldn't/wouldn't enjoy, and I make it appear as cinematic as I can. These games include: Fallout 3/Vegas, Lost Odyssey, Silent Hill series.

I really hope this helps, and that you don't work for a PR firm trying to mine data for female demographics and metrics : )

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

There are other threads like this (I?ve even read a lot of them), but seeing as this is a school project, I needed to make my own.

What three games have you played and enjoyed lately?

What is most important for you to enjoy a game?

Lately?

Well, I'm currently playing the Witcher (the first one) and enjoying it. Mostly. I'm in Chapter 5 anyway.

I played Dishonored and had a good time as well.

And, of course Xenoblade. Which I absolutely loved.

Those three of the four games I've played so far in 2013, and the three of those four I enjoyed the most. Is that good for "lately" and "enjoyed"?

As to what is most important to me... story and characters.

I tend towards RPGs. Xenoblade is a JRPG, the Witcher is a WRPG. Dishonored was a FPS/stealth game with RPG elements.

In each of those cases, I enjoyed the game because it offered me a good story, an interesting group of characters, or both.

Oh. And I should probably mention: I'm female. Just in case it wasn't obvious.

 

[MsWhatsit]

What three games have you played and enjoyed lately?

What is most important for you to enjoy a game?

Woman here.

1. Bioshock Infinite
2. Fallout: New Vegas
3. Planetside 2

Most important for me is a nice mix of action and story. Satisfying shooty blam blam parts + satisfying story = win for me. I realize that Planetside 2 is all shooty blam and no story, but sometimes you just need to kill some stuff.

 

[Commissar Sae]

Well my girlfriend, when she has time to game, is fond of Starcraft, Mount & Blade (though she cheats horribly), point & click adventures (the lucasarts ones anyway) and arcade style brawlers (last one we played together was Castle Crashers). She isn't really a gamer per se, but she does enjoy the occasional game with me or on her own.

 

[Baralak]

I know my girlfriend loves WoW, Call of Duty, and she likes playing Virtua Fighter 5

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Female 26 years old

Company of Heroes 2 beta
Torchlight 2
Natural Selection 2

Good game mechanics and solid controls are very important to me. If I feel as if I am not fully in control due to poor control that's an instant deal breaker for me.

 

[Vrach]

Three games I've played and enjoyed lately:
- Bioshock Infinite
- Injustice: Gods Among Us demo
- Mortal Kombat 9 (2011)
(Mind you, that's what I've played most recently. Before that, important mentions would include things like The Walking Dead game, Heavy Rain, Far Cry 3 etc.)

Don't have a lot of time these days and not much has come out recently, so other than Bioshock (which I've yet to finish), I've only played fighting games, alone or with friends/girlfriend.

Most important for me to enjoy the game? Well, it'll sound a bit weird, but character control. The way I make my character move/do things is absolutely crucial to me enjoying a game. I've grown too annoyed at playing some games that aren't that bad, but just have bad character control (whether due to a shoddy port, a bad, unfixable control scheme or just bad gameplay). On the other hand, a game like Prototype where the story is bollox and the graphics look 10 years old, the gameplay is fantastic, and it's directly connected to how much freedom you have in character control. I'm also very much into a good story.

Good game mechanics and solid controls are very important to me. If I feel as if I am not fully in control due to poor control that's an instant deal breaker for me.

Hah, not that weird I guess! Totally get you, character control high-five

To try and help you with your "what do women play" thing, I can try and answer for my girlfriend. Three games she's played and enjoyed recently:
- Mortal Kombat 9 (2011)
- Super Mario (some fan made version of the old N64 game for the PC)
- Journey

She's not much of a gamer, she just likes to play with me and enjoys certain games (Nintendo games, especially Mario, are her favourite). Most important for her to enjoy a game? I don't have a 100% answer to that, but I can tell you what she likes. A cartoony visual style, platformers (more 2D as she finds 3D a little complicated at times, but I think that's just a matter of practice till she gets a hang of it) and games that focus on fun. She also likes old/old-style games, age of a game/graphics don't get to her at all.

Storywise... well I couldn't say she's not into stories, but she wouldn't be impressed by a game just because of a story. If she likes a game, she'll like the story if it's good, but not the other way around. For example, she loved the story in Journey, but Walking Dead didn't catch her attention. She likes the series, so it's not that she's not into the setting, but she doesn't like the gameplay, so the story didn't pull her in.

Hope that helps, good luck on your project

 

[BabyRaptor]

One of the apparently rare Escapist women here.

My 3 latest games are Chocolatier: Decadence By Design, the original BioShock and a really, really old PS1 JRPG called Legend of Legaia. I've been meaning to make time to get around to Scribblenauts Unlimited, but I keep getting derailed.

Most of my games are RPGs. I'm huge on story and being able to project myself into a situation. I am not at all a huge fan of shooters; something my boyfriend is trying very hard to change. (Hence the BioShock.)

 

[Thanatos5150]

The following is a full and complete list of video games, my finacee has player over the past 6 months, in order of frequency:

Skyrim.

End List.

Did Skyrim occupy the entire six months?
... Because it can.

Ever since I got her to play Skyrim for the first time, she has literally played no other videogame as far as I'm aware.

I am, however, the gamer in the relationship, so gaming sessions usually involve me playing and her cuddling up with me and pointing out all the valuable pick-ups that I miss.

 

[NoeL]

Well, even though I can't help you with your school work (I fall outside your demographic), you DID ask for my response, so here it is.

First up, I'm a 27yo cis male.


What three games have you played and enjoyed lately?
Well, I enjoyed the last three games I played, so I'll list them:
- Ninja Gaiden (the NES one)
- Guitar Hero (6, but I have them all)
- Monster Hunter Tri (Wii)

What is most important for you to enjoy a game?
Lots of different things, though given my above listings (particularly the first two) I like:
- Fast-paced, brutally difficult, incredibly tight and simple controls, predictable/learnable. For this reason I love rhythm games. Memorisation, muscle memory, and quick reflexes.

Regarding Monster Hunter... I just like dressing up. I find the core gameplay - particularly the sluggish pace and awful controls - quite frustrating. But the game is very pretty, and I'll dredge through the meat of the game just to see what kind of armour I can make out of the monster bits.

But that doesn't really answer your question, i.e. the "most" important thing.

I can't really answer that because there's two very different kinds of games that I love. I can give you the most important factor for each of those kinds though.

Type 1 would be the ability to make a hard-as-fuck game look easy, by mastery through repetition. So games like Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania, Guitar Hero, and any other game that flat out whoops your butt at first, but allows you to become a god in the eyes of noobs after some practice. I enjoy the challenge of taking a hard game, learning it, and eventually conquering it. But again, I only really like games that are hard in the sense that they're fast-paced and require foreknowledge and/or split-second reflexes, as opposed to say, a game that requires you to think and strategise quickly (like Tetris), or slowly and in-depth (like chess).

Type 2... well actually I wouldn't even consider Type 2 "games". Type 2 are "games" (or to be more accurate, "toys") like Minecraft, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the Sim games (although the Sim games don't appeal to me at all - I like to be a part of my creation, not just a god looking over it), and of course LEGO (not a video game, but same appeal). I like sculpting things, but I also only play Minecraft in survival mode. I enjoy having to work for the resources. A house in survival with a single diamond block in the wall is more rewarding than a house in creative with a whole wall of diamond blocks. In creative, every block is equal. In survival, blocks have value.

I guess this related to my appreciation of Monster Hunter as well. I like to see visual rewards for effort. It's why I'm always kinda disappointed when equipment isn't visible on the player sprite. I'm equipped with a horned demon helm, yet my player is still wearing the same dinky bandana. Seeing my defense stat jump from 57 to 59 isn't as rewarding as seeing a badass demon helmet.

tl:dr, being able to breeze through a brutal game without thinking and/or having a visual reward (that you can use for customisation) for investment in a game. Those are what make a game enjoyable to me.

 

[Vetta E-dom]

Answering for the GF

Forza - the 3rd not that that matters
HArvest Moon (Tale of two towns)
Battlefield 3- occasionally
Lego Games- Recently Harry Potter

 

[putowtin]

Me woman, (looks down to check!)
What games do I like? Err the same as you!
Seriously I play most genre's of game and love them all! (apart from Call of Duty/ Battlefield)
I do not play cookin mama

What three games have you played and enjoyed lately?
Fallout NV
Skyrim
Mass Effect Series

What is most important for you to enjoy a game?
Story, I need to be captivated, I want to forget real life and become absorbed.

 

[Ariseishirou]

Female (30 years old)

Most recently played:

-Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance
-Dark Souls
-Dead Space 3

I've been gaming since I was a little girl, starting back at the original Nintendo/point and click adventure games on the PC. I'll play anything so long as it's engaging. My taste ranges from obscure JRPGs (in the original Japanese) to the latest CoD release. I don't really care about genre, or style, I just want quality (in gameplay and/or storytelling) in any genre or style. The Souls' games really have got me bad, thusly. I'm on my Nth playthrough of Dark Souls right now and goddamn I have not seen such a fine game in ages.

 

[Charli]

Hmmm women? Well I am a woman, lets do this

I play:

Skyrim
Awesomenauts
Dota 2
Sonic Games
World of Warcraft
Terraria
Torchlight 2
Binding of Isacc
Super Meatboy
Batman Arkham City
Pokemon
Magicka


These are CURRENTs, if I were to go over my entire history I'd be here all day, I like at least one game from every genre without fail, I've been raised on video games, and it's been a bit tough. Girls when I grew up, I never met any that enjoyed or wanted to discuss them, and guys were dismissive of me if I even brought the subject up, asides from one, my neighbor who babysat me often. He was great and introduced me to many good things like the final fantasy and grandia games. But yeah, I dunno what it is, I can definitely say the 'boys club mentality' exists, at least while I was growing up, it's been dismantled a bit as years have moved on.
But I still despair at what kind of games sit in the 'girls section' of games and how they're marketed and made.

Oh well one day I'll get to fight that battle on the front-lines.

Personally I like alot of what could be considered gender neutral games. Games where the marketing and design is based around a human being enjoying it and not 'this or that'. I can't pinpoint what I like about games since I enjoy many different ones.

 

[Joccaren]

I'll do me and one of my female friends.

Me:
RTS, RPG, FPS, MMO, 4X - basically anything. Primarily PC gamer. Most played games over the last few years would be Starcraft 2, Skyrim, Mass Effect Series, The Witcher 2, Quake 3, Halo Combat Evolved, Civilization IV, Dungeons and Dragons Online, the Bioshock games, Guitar Hero, Dragon Age Origins and a ton more I CBF listing.

My friend:
RTS, RPG, FPS, MMO, Fighting Games, Racing Games - and basically anything else if its good. Uses PCs and Consoles equally dependent on which friend group she's with. Her most played games recently would probably be Halo 4, Starcraft 2, The Sims [2 and 3], Guitar Hero, Gears of War, Mass Effects, Dragon Age Origins, she's recently gotten into Bioshock, and a ton more I CBF listing.

Likewise for some other of my female friends, though they focus more on CoD type games.

 

[Datsle]

My girlfriend usually plays The Sims 3 if anything, if not that its usually "Castlestory" or some random "F2P" IOS games.
We tried playing WoW and Diablo 3, and she did prefer Diablo. Due to the atmosphere, voice acting, writing and CG.
(I dont blame her, she just played act 1, and thats before the game shows how empty it is)

 

[likalaruku]

Female, almost 30.

What three games have you played and enjoyed lately?
----------------------------------------------------
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion; Shivering Isles.
Pokemon Fire Red.
Zelda: Majora's Mask.


What is most important for you to enjoy a game?
------------------------------------------------
I like to travel, collect stuff, be part of a story, hear the weird irrelevant things NPCs say, save the world, questing, leveling, & therapeutically break stuff without consequences. Bonus points for colorful environment, cuteness, humor, & a catchy soundtrack.

Even though NPCs aren't real, the reward zone in my brain releases endorphins whenever I do a good deed for them.

I tend to prefer RPGs & I tend to enjoy long-running franchises the most. I also tend to prefer cartoony graphics over realistic. I do prefer premade characters over making one myself & I'm not terribly fond of replacement protagonists.

The least important things are difficulty, graphics, & score. Playing tons of 8bit & blocky polygon games are just a thing I do. The more realistic the graphics are, the higher they rate on my Uncanney Valley Chart of Creepiness. Plus if I wanted to see realistic people, I'd go outside. I don't consider playing in hardcore mode to be in any way fun; I find challenging gameplay (die replay die replay) to be frustrating & unpleasant, especially after the anxiety attack I had while playing the rotating box thing ad nauseum in Psychonaughts.

 

[xeyra]

So I actually signed up after spending a while lurking here to reply to this thread. I'm a 31 years old female and I've noticed my game preferences tend to go towards RPGs or action adventure games or FPS with an interesting story. Bioware has pretty much been one of my favorite game companies as many of my favorite game series have come from them (NWN, KOTOR, Dragon Age and, of course, Mass Effect). I've also started dabbling into MMOS in 2012 with SWTOR (and Eve Online, which is its complete opposite). My brother has had an influence on some of the games I've played lately too. I'm much more likely to try out FPS games if they have some story or RPGish progression elements and choice, for example.

Here's a sample of the games I've played lately and enjoyed:
Bioshock Infinite
Tomb Raider
Guild Wars 2
Divinity II
Skyrim
NWN2 (been module playing again)
Age of Wushu
SWTOR
Torchlight 2
Darksiders
Game of Thrones: Ascent (Facebook)

I also seem to enjoy watching full walkthroughs of games I'm probably not going to be playing (that's how I "played" Prototype 1 and 2).

 

[NoeL]

I love the responses that are like "I'm a woman and I play all the same games you do!" then go on to list a bunch of games I don't play. XD In their defense though, it's me that's outside the norm, given that I've pretty much skipped this generation of games... and it's not like they were directly talking to me anywho.