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Comment by ericmcer | Hacker News Reader

Isn't it kind of misguided to approach this as men studying women and trying to make more things that appeal to them?

Video game distribution is insanely low friction. Last month the best selling game was Resident Evil (6m copies) and right alongside it you have a Slay the Spire 2 (3m copies) which is made and distributed by like... 15 people maybe?

I definitely don't think I could make a better game for women than women, so hopefully more girls get into playing and making games. It is definitely one of those areas where you have an opportunity to stand out from the 10,000 games that come out every day.

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> Isn't it kind of misguided to approach this as men studying women and trying to make more things that appeal to them?

Why would it be misguided? There are plenty of works that are created by women that appeal to men (Harry Potter, Animorphs, Full Metal Alchemist), so I don't think there's anything wrong with men trying to make something that appeals to women.

It's the "trying" part that taints the stew.

Make art that is truthful and your audience will find you.

Knowing your audience is the most important step in serving them content they want.

I think you are saying something fundamentally different than the parent comment.

I think they are saying 'make something that appeals specifically to you as the creator, and it will resonate with some people out there'.

I personally agree that this seems top result in works I enjoy. (As evidenced by behind-the-scenes content or interviews with creators espousing a similar philosophy.)

I think my advice still follows. If you're making a game for yourself, then it's best to know and understand yourself. There's often a difference between what people think they want and what will actually bring them joy.

I'm interested in helping my daughters discover content that appeals to them, and to do that I need to understand what it is about certain games that is appealing for them.

> I definitely don't think I could make a better game for women than women, so hopefully more girls get into playing and making games.

Some of my favourite game designers and authors are women. I don't think a creator needs to share the gender, sexuality, or ethnicity of their target audience in order to make games that appeal to that audience. They need to _observe and listen_.

Who are your favorite game designers that are women?

Roberta Williams is at the top of the list; her games were a huge part of my youth. Lesser known here would be Lori Cole, who made Hero's Quest. Loved those Quest games.

Rebecca Heineman comes next; again, the games she worked on were massively influential upon me.

I have much respect for Amy Hennig, who pushed narrative gaming to new levels.

Kim Swift is responsible for _hundreds_ of hours of time lost to multiplayer games with friends of mine.

There's good odds most gamers of my age have played, and enjoyed, something worked on by Sheri Graner Ray.

Honorable mention is Corrinne Yu; I started following her career with passive interest when she was hired at 3DRealms, I expected she had the potential to be the next John Carmack.

> Lesser known here would be Lori Cole, who made Hero's Quest.

Also lesser known because due to a trademark dispute, all sequels and the VGA remakes of the series were renamed to Quest for Glory.

I deeply enjoyed that whole series in my childhood, even despite how weird the voxel-based art in the fifth game was. IIRC, I learned the "razzle dazzle root beer" cheat in Hero's Quest before I learned the Konami code, and, with the help of my dad, even learned how to hex edit my save games in Quest for Glory 2.

If we agree that women statistically have different preferences with regards to video games than men, wouldn't it also be reasonable to think that women might have difference preferences towards careers and hobbies than men?

The past 40 years we went from pinball and arcade machines, to most men playing some sort of game on a personal device (phone, console, computer etc). I could see the next 40 years capturing women in the same capacity given the right infrastructure and content.

I imagine most of that is cultural.

It would be convenient if it's cultural because it would explain why transfeminine nerds retain "masculine" nerdy interests while avoiding a faux pas.

Calling it a faux pas implies that being treated as women is a tiny, inconsequential thing for trans women. It means the world to me.

If I "retained" masculine interests, it's because I still enjoyed them, even after I no longer felt pressure to act like a man.

I played Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, and preferred beautiful/cute games before I realized I was trans. I probably would have played more if I didn't care about my friends calling me a f--. I also like plenty of "guy" things but so do plenty of cis women. I had this exciting period of trying all sorts of new things when I came out and I'm only just starting to see what I truly enjoy when I don't worry about the opinions of others.

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