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Breaks down our idea of symbols which get in the way of drawing! I know in drawing on the right side of the brain they suggest drawing the negative space around the eye instead of the eye itself.

I always enjoy the comments on this blog :-)

If you want to paint an eye, concentrate on the ear.

Kees Vollemans (I think)

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. -C.S. Lewis

I understand what you mean, though. I am male myself and none of these games that are supposedly designed for males appeal to me. I don’t like action, I don’t like combat, I don’t like sports or competition. The problem is that games, for the most part, are just business. And as such, the companies that make games, don’t care about what any individual likes, they just care about what products they can shift in large amounts. So only things that appeal to a) large groups of people and b) very low common denominators get made. This is another reason why it would be nice if games would be treated more as an artistic medium than consumer products.

Anyway, as for The Endless Forest, like I said, we didn’t intend to make a game for girls. It just turns out that the majority of players is female. So while these large corporations apparently seem to have trouble accessing theis “demographic”, we did it by accident. Proving that it isn’t hard at all. Perhaps they shouldn’t be trying so hard.

GAMES FOR GIRLS usually involve magic, animals and RPG PC type games which I think is so sterotypical of people to think. I know for a fact girls love to be scared by horror games + have fun with action beat em’ ups. *shudders* Just a lil annoyed I guess… I hate when peolpe think you can create a game for GIRLS as if every girl will like it. It’s certainly not the case with guys and guys!

I think Ben got it right suggesting that “more ’spectacular’ things” could attract more male players, without making the game violent, competitive or what have you. More generally speaking, I think possibilities for exploration would attract a subset of male gamers. This could include a larger topology of the forest, or a more dynamic one, or one where you can manipulate objects more. A while ago I made a ‘forest archaeology’ post and that would be an example.

This comes from the stereotype that women like interaction with people more, and men interaction with things. Oversimplified yes, but perhaps somewhat true? I for one would probably stay longer in the forest if there were more things to explore with (or without) folks rather than mainly folks to ‘hang out’ with. Particularly since the no-chat feature (which is cool by itself) limits the depth of hanging out.

And I believe that there’s a majority on dA that’s American too, so that might be connected to each other.

You are correct, Jen, I think, that the audience has become younger, and perhaps also more female, over time. But I’m not sure if this is related to The Endless Forest itself or simply to the increased use that young females have been making of the internet and computer games in general (and I guess the failure of our “competitors” to cater to their wishes and desires). One thing that we haven’t mentioned yet, e.g., is that almost half of the people who took the survey are located in North America. That’s probably not insignificant.

I’ve also noticed that the community site is filled mostly with young teenage girls. It’s possible that the survey did not reach the players who aren’t apart of the community but play the game. Maybe a mass email would help to reach everyone?

In any case, I myself would enjoy a more balanced male to female ratio, I guess it goes back to the whole ‘guys don’t find it interesting because it has no violence or sex in it’ debate. If the number of females and males was equal, it would make sense that more male ‘teenagers’ would be playing the game. And when you think about that, most male teenagers are off playing Halo and Grand Theft Auto.

I have also found it curious that there is such a large amount of female teenager players. I think in the last year the numbers of female teens has greatly increased (what with the whole ‘oh we’re does now’ and ‘we have mates’ evolving over the past year). Maybe these factors have scared away potential male players? I would definitely enjoy seeing the game become more ’sexless’, as Auriea said.

Maybe if there was some more “spectacular” things, like volcanoes, cliffs, ice, dead trees. Or is there and i’ve missed them? Guys might also be turned off by the body language system.

I’m honestly not surprised by these numbers (if they are accurate). Of course, now i feel uncomfortable in game, lol.

Anyway, you’re right, it is a piece of cake! People who are puzzled by how to make games for girls just aren’t looking in the right places for inspiration. There’s quite a lot of places with a lot more female players than male players (Gaia Online, TEF, etc.). If you can get why those are fun, it shouldn’t be so hard to come up with something of your own that girls will like. :)

Interesting results so far! Does this mean you are going to add changes to the game, making it more attractive for guys?

it does kind of explain why my brother doesnt get the point of the game (if there is one). well, either way, interesting. i wanted to see what the results would bring out XD

I really need to leave the forest and get back to making my game levels and 3D models!

It wasn’t designed specifically for adults. We always thought of it as open to any age. But it was originally commissioned by a -very adult- museum of modern art, that is still hosting the server. And it has been developed with arts funding, also very serious and grown-up. But we don’t mind the kids playing at all. I’m a parent myself. I want there to be games like this for them. And I like the idea of children and adults playing together on equal footing (since this kind of thing cannot be expressed in the game).