Non-competitive gaming and casual gaming inherently rival the negative connotation to the term ‘noob,’ and cosy games like Stardew Valley and Spiritfarer sit firmly in this category. These games have encouraged a new group of people who had little interest in competitive, online games such as Fortnite or Call of Duty, or even more intense RPGs like The Last Of US or Red Dead Redemption. According to the London Evening Standard, Cosy games are games that emit a feeling of peace and non-competitiveness, usually through the aesthetics of the game design, softer music and low stakes.
But Colin Campbell wrote in Games Industry: “discussion of gender and cosy games can easily devolve into tired gender-essentialism. The limited patriarchal view of women scans closely with the profile of cosy games- nurturing, social, creative and empathetic,” but that “a recent study showed marked genre-preferences between genders.”
So although cosy games encouraging more women into gaming, as well as creating non-competitive communities is a positive thing for the industry, are the tags that associate themselves with this, problematic?
Abigail from the UK says: “I really try to reject the ‘casual gaming’ name tag even though I constantly introduce myself with it. It almost feels like because you’re a woman, you have to defend your inclusion in the gaming space with ‘I’m just a casual gamer.’”
She adds: “The creation of the ‘cosy games’ tag gives women almost a safe space to talk about games without needing to admit that they’re just a ‘casual gamer.’ But I do think there’s a risk in reiterating the fact that ‘cosy games’ are for women because they’re unserious, unthreatening, ‘easy’ and not stressful.”
Somewhere along the way women feel somehow that they’re not qualified to be a gamer, or that being a gamer involves a type of personality or activity that they don’t want to be associated with
-Sean Roberts, Linguist
Daria from Lithuania thinks that the gamers she knows are equally excited for AAA games, no matter their gender. She says: “Some niches are very popular among women; I see many more cosy gaming or life simulators among women. The same goes for men, for example, I noticed that warfare-themed multiplayers are much more popular for men’s audiences.”
She thinks the reason behind this is because you need much less time for cosy games and can play in short sessions. She explains that statistics still show women have more chores and activities related to their household than men, and being able to play for shorter periods between other tasks may encourage women to play cosy games more. This is perhaps emphasised by the fact that online games such as Call of Duty or Fortnite usually require set periods of around 45 minutes for a match, where quitting early can result in you losing your streak and the gear that you’ve collected over a number of games, being lost.
Ana from the UK says: “I won’t lie I’m not sure I love the trend of cosy gaming ‘for’ female gamers. There are certain ones I’ve loved. I've played Animal Crossing since its Wild World days, but I have concerns about segregation in the ways they’re developed and marketed, and the genre’s potential use to further dismiss female gamers.”
Sean Roberts, a linguist from Cardiff University, has recently produced research with Steph Rennick looking at gender and gaming.
He explains that upon asking if women play video games, many will say no. But ask about mobile games like Candy Crush and they’ll say they do. Despite playing these games, they still won’t see themselves as gamers. He said that asking about the first video game they ever played often leads to women excitedly talking about Crash Bandicoot or similar games, and their memories of enjoying themselves with friends and family through video games.
“Somewhere along the way women feel somehow that they’re not qualified to be a gamer, or that being a gamer involves a type of personality or activity that they don’t want to be associated with, perhaps, quite understandably,” he adds.
Sean’s research found that a third of women feel guilty about taking the time to play video games, which links to the way women are expected to spend their leisure time productively. “There’s this idea that women are supposed to do certain kinds of leisure activities, so knitting is great, because you’re producing something. And so, women feel guilty about taking the time to play video games and about a third would be embarrassed to be called a gamer. One in six keeps gaming a secret from their family for fear of judgement, even though 41% of women feel that playing games was a highlight of their day.”
He explains that by combining these expectations for leisure time with expensive consoles and hundreds of hours to complete a video game, it's understandable that some women feel guilty for playing. “It’s probably not actually that much different in terms of time investment compared to watching a big TV series. But perhaps it’s just a harder hobby to justify because a lot of non-gamers see it as time-wasting.”
The judgement of others could absolutely be a reason that women don’t game as much, or feel uncomfortable about admitting they game.
Lois from Yorkshire, UK says: “I think a lot of women who don’t game perceive that it’s a nerdy or antisocial hobby, or that all games are war-based or sport-based. Often, women don’t know that there are a wide array of games and a wide array of gamers. There’s a stigma amongst women of playing three hours of games a night is concerning or weird whereas three hours of Netflix isn’t. So I think a lot of women just don’t know enough about what’s out there, or that other women do play.”
Playing mystery games and Animal Crossing after school wasn’t ‘gaming’ but something else entirely
-Abigail, UK gamer
Abigail agrees. She says: “I think overall gaming still has negative connotations, adults spending time playing games can seem pointless to many. I think a lot of gaming spaces do seem ‘boy-ish’ and growing up I felt that to enjoy gaming was something that made me weird. It was the boys in class who could have in-depth conversations about Skyrim and Call of Duty, and that was totally fine, but playing mystery games and Animal Crossing after school wasn’t ‘gaming’ but something else entirely.”
She adds: “I do think there’s a difference in the sorts of games that men and women play, but crucially, not a difference in the games they would play if the concept of gender didn’t exist. I think this probably applies to male gamers not wanting to play ‘female’ games as well. The cosy game community is definitely women-majority, I would say, and internalised misogyny might also put guys off from picking up something described as ‘cosy’ even if it's a genuinely well-received game with top reviews.”
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Something I’ve learnt:
Games reputations don’t tell you much about what the game is actually like. Sure, ones that get a lot of hype are probably pretty good, but that doesn’t mean you should instantly dismiss games that don’t. Give them a go and you might be surprised by how much you like them!
What I’m playing now:
The chill game: Mario Kart
The intense game: Helldivers 2
The Solo game: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
What I’m looking forward to playing:
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League