Women are sadly under-represented in the gaming world. Many women who may otherwise be interested in playing video games aren’t entirely sure where to start, and the world of gaming forums is not exactly the most welcoming of places. As a woman who loves gaming, I want to help any women who may be interested in gaming, and I wanted to help others get into gaming and give some ideas of games I enjoy. Now, I’m not the authoritative voice on this (and I’m sure many people would disagree with me), but here are some fun ideas.
Tomb Raider: If you’re into roleplaying games, why not start with the classic Tomb Raider franchise? You get to explore uncharted territory as archeologist Lara Croft while fighting off enemies and partaking in a compelling storyline. The rebooted series is probably the best one to start with, since the PC controls for the original games are quite janky and frustrating. The new series also has more storyline, so it’s much more compelling. New Lara also has a more realistic looking body, far from the triangle boobs she had back in the day.
Borderlands 2: This game will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the game that made me truly realize my love for gaming and my love for first-person shooters. Now, you could start with the first Borderlands as well, but the second one has more of a storyline; whereas, the first one has minimal plot and more difficult controls. You can easily understand what’s going on by starting from the second one. Borderlands 2 also has two playable female characters (although you can only get one of them in a downloadable content package) who are just as badass as the male characters. It has decent representation of diverse women as well, having multiple bisexual women and a larger woman who is not ashamed of her body. There’s also the hypermasculine Mr. Torgue in a DLC campaign who yells that there’s “nothing more badass then treating a woman with respect.”
Civilization V (or VI): If you’re less into fighting and more into strategy games, then the Civilization franchise is for you. This is definitely one of the simpler games of the strategy genre with easy controls, good tutorials, and different levels of difficulty. You play as a famous historical ruler chosen from a list that includes many well-known women, such as Wu Zetian and Queen Elizabeth I. The goal is to capture as much territory as possible, fighting over land with various other factions. There are many ways to achieve a victory, from capturing all factions’ capitals to spreading your cultural influence far and wide. Just make sure you get nukes before everyone else, or you’re screwed.
Super Smash Bros: If you’d prefer a one on one or multiplayer battle style game, smash bros is a classic. You can play as your favourite Nintendo character and try to outlast everyone else playing. It can take a bit of getting used to, but button mashing, at least at first, is actually quite effective.
Goat Simulator: The gaming community would likely crucify me for suggesting this outdated meme of a game, but if you just want to have fun make a mess of a town while playing as a goat, Goat Simulator is your game. This intentionally glitchy game rewards you for causing as much destruction as possible and doing as many weird goat things as you can think of. The simulator genre is full of weird jokey games, but this one is a memorable part of that genre.
I can think of so many more fun games and genres, but hopefully, one of the games on this list peaks your interest!
Photo courtesy of Pexels.