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Creating a list of best games for girl gamers can be challenging, as there is a myriad of landmines that comes with stereotyping interests and skills based on gender to avoid: the expectation that men and boys love games featuring war and destruction, while women and girls enjoy games focusing on managing a bakery and hula-hooping.
This list is not so much as what’s “appropriate” for girls and women as much as it is a list of games and genres that have had the most appeal amongst girl gamers. An overview of genres that have high appeal amongst both sexes, these games are those that have a consistent popularity among female gamers, and are an excellent starting point for a newbie—or an opportunity to try something outside the usual comfort zone for a veteran.
Adventure games
One of the original genres—and most widely popular across age, gender and interest—“adventure” simply means a game that requires solving a series of puzzles, often set to a storyline, to successfully win a game. There are few reflex challenges or action-oriented sequences (though some segments may be timed). Interaction with game-controlled characters, clue-gathering and puzzle-solving are key to winning the game.
This genre is appealing to new gamers due to its non-confrontational nature, few time restraints, and overall low-pressure approach.
Video games that are popular among female gamers include:
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The Professor Layton Series: A puzzle adventure game, each “chapter” consists of a series of puzzles and mysteries that the citizens of towns give to the main characters to solve. While not all puzzles need to be solved to move forward, some are mandatory, before the player’s character can move forward in the story.
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Portal 2: A first-person platform game is made up of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player’s character and simple objects using the “portal gun.” This game is extremely popular and has a dedicated fan-base, the majority of which is female.
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“Active” Games
Active games are extremely popular due to their interactive nature. Not only do they allow more than one player to engage in the game at the same time, these types of games often encourage the participation of multiple players and within the same area. Occupying more “real” space than other games, the player is required to physically move their body to win the game.
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Dance Dance Revolution: Players must hit colored arrows with their feet on a “platform”, following on-screen musical and visual cues. Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them. Launched in 1999, this long-standing game is not only engaging, but can be a good workout, which is different from many other video and computer games that invite sedentariness.
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Rock Band: A hit with men, women, boys and girls alike, Rock Band allows up to four players to “perform” a number of popular rock music songs using controllers modeled after real musical instruments. Players are scored on their ability to match scrolling musical “notes” while playing instruments or by their ability to match the singer’s pitch.
Simulation
Simulation video games require players to control various, if not all, aspects of a fictional reality or life. Ranging from artificial life games to digital pets, simulation games focus on social interaction between multiple artificial lives. Some simulation games may be as simple as celebrity dress up games or pet simulation games, such as NeoPets, which is extremely popular amongst preteen girls.
In some games, like the sub-genre of “god games,” the focus of the game is control over the lives of people. Often there is not a set goal to win the game; the ebb and flow of the alternate life can go on indefinitely.
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The Sims series: One of the best-selling computer games of all time, the player controls various people within this alternate world. This game has been noted to be particularly popular with women and girls. A compelling game, players control the lives of the various characters with no discernible goal other than to keep these “lives” moving forward.
Racing Games
Racing games are often very straightforward and generally have a very short learning curve, allowing the casual player or non-player to quickly join the game.
Racing games require much less commitment, and often less strategy, compared to other video games. It is often easier to jump in and out of these games, as individual races can last only a few minutes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be just as competitive and engaging.
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Mario Kart: One of the most popular racing games, this allows the player to take control of one of many Mario series characters and race each other either against the clock or another player on a variety of Mario-themed racetracks. This best-selling, classic game has been known to break friendships among men and women alike.
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These four genres—active, adventure, simulation, racing—have been extremely popular with girl gamers, but hardly a comprehensive list of all genres that appeal to women and girls. This is just a starting point for you to discover how a preference for one or another of these popular genres can help you determine what other games you might enjoy as well.