What image does the word "gamer" conjure up in your mind's eye? If you've kept an eye on the media in recent months and years, you'll know there's a trick behind the question. The nerdy, teenage and most of all male stereotype is simply not a reflection of current gamers. In fact, some sources even say those female gamers outnumber the boys.
Look carefully and you will see that this last assertion goes back five years to 2014. However, it seems that those who have been slowest to cotton on to this changing trend have been the developers themselves. This in itself is still very much a male-dominated sector and there is a perception that when it comes to real gamers, the ones who sit hunched over consoles totally immersed in a fictitious universe, the guys still outnumber the girls.
Whether someone who plays League of Legends or Fortnite on an Xbox is more or less of a gamer than someone who plays Candy Crush or Golden Goddess on a smartphone is a debate we can leave for the locker room. What is certain is that, not before time, game designers and platforms are recognizing just how broad a demographic they must now serve. This is not just in terms of sex but also age, background and numerous other factors.
Let's take a look at the types of games that are attracting the biggest female audiences. How many of them have you tried?
Casino games
Back in the early days of casinos, the story goes that slot games were placed near the main entrance to give the ladies something to do while their menfolk were busy at the gaming tables. We can have a good laugh at this today, in an age when casino games have skyrocketed in popularity among both sexes. This is largely thanks to all the online platforms, but the bizarre thing is that there is still a major sexual divide between slot games and table games.
In fact, some researchers suggest that as many as 80 percents of slot game players are female, while 90 percent of table game players are male. This is certainly borne out if you take a look in the physical casinos in Las Vegas or elsewhere. It also goes some way to explaining why there are plenty of "feminine" sounding slot games such as Cleopatra, Wonder Woman, Golden Goddess and so on.
However, you can't help but wonder whether this trend means the girls are missing out. Slot games are all about the spin of a reel, while with a table game, winning is so much more than luck as there are numerous strategies that can be employed to improve the odds. There are signs that habits are shifting, however, with one report suggesting that the vast majority of video poker players are female.
Match 3 games
These are those jewel-matching type games like Candy Crush, which can become almost hypnotic if you play them for too long. Research by Quartic revealed that more than two-thirds of match-three gamers are female.
Part of the attraction could be that these games provide an enjoyable diversion that allows you to relax your brain a little, but without needing to devote any great attention or emotional investment. After all, surely the whole idea of a game is to relax. It is, perhaps, this very attitude, however, that can lead to that distinction between "real" gamers and casual ones.
Family and farm sims
Ah, Farmville. It was a watershed game in so many ways, in that it introduced the world to social gaming, it appealed to stay at home parents and to senior executives, and most shocking of all, it was designed by a woman. Ten years have flowed under the bridge since Farmville appeared in our lives, but this genre of the game remains as popular as ever.
The appeal here is that the game is secondary in nature to the act of playing. It's a little like going for lunch with a good friend - the quality of the food is incidental to your enjoyment of the overall experience. In that respect, a virtual carrot is as good a thing to bond over as anything, so enjoy!
