{"id":28177,"date":"2025-08-23T12:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T16:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museumofplay.org\/?p=28177"},"modified":"2025-08-23T12:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T16:05:03","slug":"from-girl-talk-to-girl-games-the-analog-history-of-games-for-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museumofplay.org\/blog\/from-girl-talk-to-girl-games-the-analog-history-of-games-for-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"From Girl Talk to Girl Games: The Analog History of Games for Girls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Opening the 1989 Sears Christmas catalog and perusing the fifteen-odd pages of video game advertisements, filled with pictures of boys and accented with blue, reveals what many women have felt for decades: games just aren\u2019t made for us. Until the 1990s, video games were almost exclusively marketed to boys and men. Women, of course, can and did still play video games; but playing them meant wading through a swamp of sexist portrayals, if we were even lucky enough to encounter a female character in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nBarbie Fashion Designer, 1996. The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
Then, in 1996, an unprecedented hot-pink box appeared in the software aisle: Barbie Fashion Designer. <\/em>Unabashedly feminine, the game stuck out from its peers not only for its aesthetics, but for its dress-up gameplay. It was one of the first games designed specifically for girls. Barbie Fashion Designer<\/em> was an instant sensation and commercial success for Mattel, and alongside Sega\u2019s Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover, <\/em>these two games ushered in a new wave of games designed for girls. Game studios like Purple Moon responded to this burgeoning market by developing these \u201cgirl games,\u201d characterized by gameplay involving dress-up and fashion, domesticity, dating, and shopping, all wrapped up in \u201cpinkified\u201d Barbie-<\/em>inspired aesthetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as girl games became immediately popular, so too did they immediately generate controversies. Some feminists were concerned by the potentially sexist content of girl games, arguing that their gameplay perpetuated a narrow ideal of femininity centered around fashion, appearances, and relationships with men. Those on the other side of the debate claimed that playing girl games was actively participating in female culture and thus constituted an act of feminist resistance. In either case, girl games remain popular today, with recent titles like Infinity Nikki <\/em>(2024) and Dress to Impress <\/em>(2024) garnering millions of dedicated players. The last 30 years have proven that girl games (and the debates around them) are here to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most conversations about girl games place their emergence as a genre in the mid-90s with the release of Barbie Fashion Designer <\/em>and Cosmopolitan Virtual Makeover. <\/em>But digital games don\u2019t just spring into existence\u2014they are often rooted in an analog past. Girl games are no exception. As a longtime lover of girl games, I wanted to discover if there were any common threads between analog girl games and their video game descendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With The Strong\u2019s generous support, I made the journey from Montana to New York to explore the museum\u2019s vast collection of 19th<\/sup>– and 20th<\/sup>-century board games. My research goals were twofold. First, I hoped to contribute historical context for modern girl games and deepen our collective understanding of this significant, enduring genre. Second, as a game designer myself, I wanted to use my findings to offer informed suggestions to other designers working within the genre, so that we can continue to make girl games without perpetuating sexist ideals. My delightful weeks at the museum consisted of playing all manner of board games featuring women or girls. In addition, the knowledgeable staff at The Strong gave me the excellent suggestion of exploring the museum\u2019s collection of trade catalogs, helping me uncover how these games were marketed during the period I was studying.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nIllustration from a Milton Bradley Company catalog, 1873. The Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play at The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
Before the 1960s, there were very few games that included depictions of women and girls; this was also true of men and boys. In fact, most games designed and sold from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries were traditional\u2014like Dominoes, Checkers, Crokinole, Parcheesi, and various card games\u2014which tend to be abstract in nature. Far from being gendered, these games were touted as appealing to all ages and sexes. The 1873 Milton Bradley catalog, for example, depicts both men and women playing games in parlors. A Sears catalog from 1936 describes a Carrom board as offering \u201cendless amusement for the whole family from little sister to grandfather.\u201d For nearly a hundred years, traditional games dominated the market in America, purchased by middle-class families to play in parlors to entertain guests or pass the time.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nGame of the Captive Princess, 1875. The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
The few board games that did depict women during this era, like The Coquette and Her Suitors (1858), The Game of Captive Princess (1875), and Witzi Witch the Fortune Teller (1928) didn\u2019t follow the conventions of the modern girl game genre. Notably, these board games don\u2019t let you roleplay as <\/em>women; rather, the woman serves as the player\u2019s reward<\/em> for winning. For example, both Coquette and Captive Princess feature male-only playing pieces, and players must race opponents to the finish line to win the maiden\u2019s hand in marriage. This framing evokes the \u201cdamsel in distress\u201d trope common to many early video games\u2014but not girl games. Furthermore, the late 19th<\/sup>– and early 20th<\/sup>-century games I surveyed don\u2019t feature the classic pink aesthetics typical of the girl game genre, nor do they include gameplay centered around fashion, beauty, or shopping. While most games featuring women from this period did include game mechanics and themes relating to marriage and courtship\u2014a staple of modern girl games\u2014the presentation of these themes and the lack of other important elements indicate that these early games don\u2019t belong to the girl game genre.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nCards from the Miss Popularity Game, 1961. The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
By the 1960s, however, the first obviously recognizable tabletop girl games entered the market. This marks an important shift in the history of analog girl games. While gender-neutral, family-oriented games were still designed and produced, games made specifically for girls appear now, advertised as \u201cFor Girls Only.\u201d One example is Miss Popularity Game (1961) where girls compete against one another in a popularity contest to win a bright pink trophy; \u201cThe game that all girls love to play!\u201d emblazons the box. The rules are straightforward: draw a card and see what happens. Cards like \u201cMost Attractive Teen\u201d and \u201cPretty Legs\u201d score girls popularity points. Breaking up with their boyfriend (\u201cBreak Up\u201d) and neglecting their personal appearance (\u201cCareless\u201d) loses them points. Drawing \u201cWardrobe!\u201d and gaining a full closet awards 100 popularity points, the highest possible in the game. With a girly pink aesthetic, a strong focus on appearance and fashion, and themes related to dating and marriage, Miss Popularity Games serves as a quintessential \u201cgirl game\u201d despite predating Barbie Fashion Designer <\/em>by 35 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miss Popularity Game is only one example among many. From 1960 to the mid-1990s, all board games branded as \u201cFor Girls Only\u201d use the same pop-pink aesthetics characteristic of girl games today. Again, like modern girl games, half of these earlier board games contain themes or gameplay related to marriage and dating. For example, the entire premise of The Bride Game (1972) is planning the perfect wedding; in multiple others, getting a steady boyfriend is required to win the game. Most strikingly, every single board game analyzed from this 30-year period drew attention to the player\u2019s appearance, discussing her wardrobe, body type, hair, makeup, and attractiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nCard from the What Shall I Be?: The Exciting Game of Career Girls, 1966. The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
Focusing on the player\u2019s appearance is necessary for dress-up and fashion games. However, many of these board games went a step further, punishing players for not being pretty enough, not doing their makeup well enough, or not being able to afford to go to the salon. In Girl Talk (1988), players must put a large red \u201czit sticker\u201d on their face, intended to shame her if she fails. In What Shall I Be? The Exciting Game of Career Girls (1966; 1972), drawing a \u201cpersonality card\u201d describing the player as overweight means that she is unfit for pursuing a career as an airline hostess or ballet dancer. Many of these early girl games do present a narrow ideal of femininity, and girls learn they must be young, thin, white, attractive, and at least middle-class to \u201cwin.\u201d This framing is tragic; no game designer should include mechanics that punish or shame players for failing to meet unrealistic beauty standards. No more zit stickers, please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, no genre of game is free from problematic titles. Despite the controversies, girl games tapped into experiences girls and women could relate to. Girl games established a new kind of engaging gameplay, which has maintained player interest for 75 years and counting. The aesthetics of girl games are eye-catching and vibrant; dressing up is a form of self-expression and engages the player\u2019s creativity; relationships are important to our lives and negotiating them in game spaces is fun, allowing us to experiment safely. It\u2019s not that we need to rid ourselves of girl games at all\u2014in fact, I think we need more <\/em>girl games, ones that broaden our understanding of what femininity is, and who it\u2019s for. Rather than depicting femininity as something you can \u201cwin\u201d and \u201close,\u201d girl games should give players a safe space to experiment with what gender means to them. Rather than being marketed only to girls, everyone should get the chance to dress up, play with romance, and wear whatever they want\u2014including boys. I hope the girl games of the future invite everyone to play with femininity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written by, Ashley Rezvani, 2025 Valentine-Cosman Research Fellow at The Strong National Museum of Play<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opening the 1989 Sears Christmas catalog and perusing the fifteen-odd pages of video game advertisements, filled with pictures of boys and accented with blue, reveals what many women have felt for decades: games just aren\u2019t made for us. Until the 1990s, video games were almost exclusively marketed to boys and men. Women, of course, can and did still play video games; but playing them meant wading through a swamp of sexist portrayals, if we were even lucky enough to encounter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"25432,7945,8967,8859,12005,7199","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47,48,46,369,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-brian-sutton-smith-library-and-archives-of-play-at-the-strong","category-electronic-games","category-games","category-guest-blogger","category-video-games","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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