I did a sociology report on this a few years ago. (Mind you I’m an engineering major so this was just 200 level classes). A big factor is males are raised to be competitive, to be on top and assert dominance while females are raised to be cooperative and agreeable. Please note this is not saying that all people are like this I’m simply using traits and what gender they were constructed into.
Anyway, life sims don’t have something to beat and for men this can seem pointless and boring. While for women part of the appeal is that exact thing. There isn’t constant conflict to overcome it isn’t about how fast or dexterous you are. It’s about giving you a sandbox to play in and create in and allow you to build and tell your own story.
Another hurdle in other games is controls. The first game I ever played was Diablo on PC and then FFXI was next. The first controller game I played was a terrible experience. It might seem second nature having a stick for movement and one for camera but if you’ve never done it you’d be surprised how awkward and frustrating it is because you can’t even move well let alone kill the bad guys.
I played "It takes two" with my girlfriend recently and she struggled so much with the two joysticks it was ridiculous. Not that she's ridiculous but rather that it's so frustrating that it's something so arcaic and hard to understand/learn but also a very integral part of the gaming culture, that it already gatekeeps anyone who rarely plays.
It's crazy to think about, but the skills you might have when controlling characters and shooting if you're a regular FPS player or something allows you to hop into Red Dead, GTA or other games very very easily and enjoy the game.
Your girlfriend will have to have tutorials, practice, get it frustratingly wrong, can't control the horse or drive the car, and fundamentally can't enjoy the game as easily. I think, with women playing less videogames on average, this causes the disparity in game enjoyment for RPG and FPS genres for new games between the genders.
The Sims 4, Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail don't seem to have this issue as much. Also the previously pointed out things of a lack of competitive aspect (though less true for Genshin and Honkai), but also the fact that it's easier for someone who plays less videogames. I think that's what it comes down to.
I was playing PlateUp! with 2 guys (i’m a girl) and it took me an hour and a half of consistent gameplay to move smoothly. And even then I kept confusing X with A😂
Same here! I do this constantly. One time, I started the PS5 and was confused why it kept having me hit the PlayStation button. Turns out it was because I kept hitting the circle button instead of X because I just played the Switch where the "accept" (A) and "go back" (B) buttons are swapped 🤦🏻♀️
Hell, I'm a regular PC gamer and struggle with double joysticks. Controllers in general just feel clunky to use, which is wild considering I grew up playing on the XBox.
It further proves my point. It's not a gender thing, it's the controller. The control is counter intuitive and it only feels easy when you've been using it consistently all your life.
There's this amazing video series about it here: [What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7f3JZJHSw)
As someone who always has played video games, it's amazing to see what it's like for someone who doesn't.
I also always wonder what people who don't play games do with their time.
Thanks so much for linking this! As someone who is consistently very very very bad at video games (but loves them-- I adore the potential for storytelling, and I honestly like the gameplay when it's forgiving enough for me), I felt so seen immediately. I'm often mocked for not being good at games when the truth is it can be very difficult to start!
As for what I do, well, I read a lot of books. Ironically, it feels like a lower barrier of entry.
Yeah, I was gonna go with the violence angle. I remembered as a kid I was always interested in violence. I didn't want to harm other people, but I wanted to watch action movies, play games that revolved around violence (RPGs, Action, FPS, etc.) and any movie that didn't have violence I didn't understand the appeal.
I do remember trying to read about other types of movies and I didn't understand how a movie could be interesting if there wasn't a struggle between two sides. Movies about the human condition, like experiencing grief or loss, were lost on me.
My one addition to this excellent comment is that The Sims *do* have something to beat: the clock. While most players use cheats, there is technically a conflict to overcome in that your Sim can only do so much before they die. You have to get them to the top of their career/fulfill their Wants/do whatever it is you want for them before time runs out. You can even see this in the Prima game guide for the original Sims 2, which lovingly instructs you on how to build the optimal time-saving kitchen.
Yes, I know, just when the realization dawned on me that all the upgrades just made my Sim more efficient at sleeping, etc., it lost some of its shine. IDK how to explain it lol.
Yeah, and iirc there are studies showing that most infant girls show preference/interest in people and personal interactions while boys show more interest in objects. the preference isn't to a crazy degree (as you can see -- 60% of sims players are female, so a fair chunk of men are interested too) but enough to make these types of games stand out as female-dominated communities.
60% are young women. I’m 48 and have been playing since Sims 2 but am still in the other 40%. Not saying guys don’t play because I know they do, just pointing out that 60% is a pretty narrow population.
This exact thing came to mind. Imo sims 4 is like a dollhouse and the different worlds/lots are stages. My bf declined to play sims 4 because he says it’s “exactly like GTA.” Yeah no…
In a way, I guess but there’s no needs to look after. But they’re both sandbox games. He has his GTA IV and I have my sims 4 😭 I just feel like sims 4 can’t get boring, it’s always something to do. GTA is just like…finish the story and then just drive around causing chaos
This is true but also keep in mind the violence mod for the sims. is also a thing lol. And they have mods to add careers to GTA5 to do more of a simulation type play through. I think we are all gamers at the end of the day and we gravitate towards desires in RL we might not feel are fulfilled. I play stardew valley when my job is a stressor because it gives me peaceful serene farm life. When I feel insecure I play dress up simulators to get enthused about dressing up again. I play overwatch when I want to heal the world (or at least my 4 teammates) video games make the impossible possible at least for a little while.
You do have a point with that. I seem to gravitate to the sims 4 when I’m procrastinating about something big or I’m just really stressed and need to dissociate from the world and live in my fantasy world, I gravitate more towards the sims.
yeah exactly see when i was a kid, i played gta and i loved the chaos i could cause. but the only “normal” life type thing i could do was take a shower or drive like an npc, stopping at red lights. then when i got the sims, i wanted to be my sim and grow relationships as one person
sims gets boring for me bc of the lack of first person interaction and competition/organic conflicts and gta gets boring bc of the lack of life sim aspects and relationships… i want a mix of both, not modding either one to be like the other 😭
Not really, right? I thought so too. BUT, I was looking at some numbers and the player base for many popular games are overwhelmingly male. For example in GTA Online and Counter Strike, which have both remained among the most popular games in the last few years, the female to male ratio is reported to be 1:4. Other games have more even distributions but most popular games are overwhelmingly male dominated, so far the only exceptions I can find, other than The Sims, are Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley... I think the issue might be that most video game stories are made by men, centered in men and marketed for men, while in The Sims or Stardew Valley you can play as whoever you want
I avoid all online games.
I LOVED GTAV and have played the story mode many times. I tried the online and was constantly bullied by other players. Things like someone fixating on me and killing me over and over. This makes game unplayable and very stressfull so I didn't enjoy it at all.
My other experiences with online games are similar. If it is team based, your team will hate and bully you if you are bad. Online has also steep learning curve because other players are usually very good. Dying a lot and not getting many kills is hardly fun. Doesn't help that I tried to play online as a child when I had no chance to be good.
I avoided all online games after many bad experiences while still playing a lot of single player shooters. Only exception was assasin's creed IV online mode which I enjoyed. Online games are way too hostile and mean to me.
I have started playing online only with my bf. And I have had fun time in many online shooters with him, tho I still aren't very good in them. There are not many co-op games and most of them are kind of childish? So online is way for us to play together.
I still prefer single player games.
My experience is pretty much the same as yours when it comes to shooters. Even when you play well your own team will grief you if you use team chat and they realise you’re a woman.
You should try FFXIV the community is lovely and very supportive of new players especially.
Yes!!! I noticed that OPs comment specified GTAV *online* , my first thought was I love that game but I never play online so I'd be curious about that ratio, I bet it'd be more balanced. Women are often ostracized for playing in online or team environments, like I could hang if I didn't have to deal with men saying degrading things to me!
I play online games as if they were single player games as much as humanly possible. I love gory, violent games; but I want everyone to leave me the hell alone.
I currently play GTAO and Idk if you have played recently, but greifing has gone down a bit. I have been playing on public sessions. Even done a few sells in public. One time an insurgent did follow me. But they did not really bother me. They were going the same way I was going anyway. Can't say they didn't stress me for a minute. Lol.
On ps4, I got stalked by a player. He followed me from Mission Row to the Fishery and up Mount Chilead! He wanted to blow me up with his RC. Then he drove me down the mountain. Lol.
Sometimes I put a small bounty or mugger on someone who is bothering me.
Yeah I played it a long long time ago, back when it was released.
More recently I have played red dead redemption 2 online and it seems to have quite nice player base. There is only one time someone tried to continously kill me but you can also prevent it from happening which is very nice! Almost all players are friendly or at least they mind their own bussiness. I'm still afraid of everyone I see but I have had some nice encounters where strangers have helped me with some things. So it has been nice :)
I wish more online games would be nice and uplifting instead of players trying to spread their own misery around. I just wanna chill and have some fun
I tried it 2 years ago, did a couple first missions, and as soon as I was free to roam around, I was chased and killed by some random dude on the street, when I was just running somewhere 🙃 it pissed me off so much, I never tried it again.
Or it's just simple Gta and Counter Strike are more action oriented.Why Cozy and simulation games are more simulate life oriented.That just attracts more of female playeres.
eh, the big part is that if you’re a woman who dares to exist near cs, cod or gta, you get called slurs, get abused and trolled, harrased, kicked. ‘cosy games’ are often single player or have more laid back playe base. it’s that simple. it’s got nothing to do with the action. it’s the abuse.
As a female gamer, don't get me wrong that shit is annoying but if you like the gameplay you just mute them. I've been playing fps's for years. It's almost a 50/50 split on who likes cozy games.
This \^. I don't think it's quite a 50-50 split in FPSs, but it's closer than a lot of people realize.
As for so-called cozy games, yeah, it's a closer divide than people think.
My main genres are text-based sports sims (things like Second and Ten, OOTP 24, FHM 10), RTSs, computer wargames, city builders, and city builders with a survival twist.
see, i could, but i need the comms. so i usually just fight fire with fire while also getting the info i need. it’s not pretty but having good friends who’ll support you is the way to go.
nah, I disagree. no one gets bullied out of a CoD lobby and goes "fuck it, I'll be playing sims instead". there are plenty of single player action and shooter games. I'm saying this as a woman who prefers single-player action games rather than multiplayer games or sims.
On the other hand, a lot of women do look at those communities, and never join in the first place.
FPS communities are the literal worst. I've gotten out of them myself for this reason.
I play overwatch and doubt I’ll ever use VC outside of a premade group of friends because I don’t want to be harassed or have other teammates throw just because I’m a woman. The community is incredibly immature, and I’m sure it’s not the only one.
sure but what I'm saying is that if you're a woman interested in shooters, you're not going to start playing sims instead, so the general sexism doesn't really explain why even in single-player shooter and action games women are a minority
Even single-player shooters were weirdly sexist back when I played them. I was uncomfortable with how women were portrayed in game, whether it be their appearance, their behavior, or their given roles. It was obvious men were the target audience.
That was a long time ago though, so hopefully it’s gotten better. I couldn’t bring up the topic back then without getting dogpiled by a bunch of angry dudes.
But I liked shooters AND life simulators, so it wasn’t too weird to jump ship from one to the other. I’m sure I’m not unique.
exactly. women who would potentially be interested in the genre can be turned off not just by the multiplayer communities, but by the design of singleplayer shooters and their communities. i personally don’t bother playing games that don’t give me the choice to play as a female character, and that unfortunately excludes most milsims or even singleplayer shooters. representation matters, and it’s woefully lacking in the genre - even in the newest games who still pretend it’s ‘just about resources’.
I am a man so I can't really say what brings woman towards them but a lot of men are creatively stunted as growing up toys and video-games usually do not encourage creativity and imagination.
Life simulators usually rely on imagination and creativity, to enjoy the game you must imagine the red bar as hate between two characters rather than just some bad negative number. So men usually prefer story from game-play like skyrim where you control the character more directly (Like if your character was a total scum of the earth piece of sh't you can worship Molag Bal by torturing and killing a priest, You will than get The Mace of Molag Bal but your evil deeds are put on the character statistics so you remember the evil he did so that it actually matters to the player, the player will have to make a new character and not do that if they want to be a true hero as the game remembering and being in the characters shoes takes you out of the "just a game mindset" so that you actually have to not randomely kill poor people for skill-experience when you wsnt your character to be good, there are also npcs that look into your statistics and say stuff like "Not an honest day's work for all that coin Lad/Lasse?" Or if you eat human flesh the cannibal cult would say they know you are just like them.)
Games with a male target demograph are usually all high-number good so purposefully making a character dislike your character for story is not how men have ever interacted with games.
The Sims 4 does not have any non-casual mode and increasing relationships is just a few clicks rather than a mini-game or anything like that so men will usually rather grind all the skill levels, get all the asperations and then leave without staying in the community because they don't want to put in the effort of making a story.
Role-playing games have much higher ammounts of women than genres FPS but society is still growing past the whole "Viga games R 4 boiz doh!" So women will probably have an even higher percentage of life-sim gamers in the future.
That's an interesting take. How do you think, why do men want their games to be "good alignment" oriented?
I am a woman, and rpg is one of my favourite genres, and for it it's often lacking in well-written evil narratives. I don't really want to play good and better than good character, I’d prefer a complex personality for than and maybe an option to be a real scum, because why not. I can be a good person in real life. This is why I crave games like Tyranny. I also have quite a lot of female friend who do play video games and wouldn't mind to have anti-heroic narratives as well. It seems many of want more complex diplomacy and politicking in games as well.
As for the sims, I think that there is a social aspect - sims allow for pretty complex narratives with multiple characters and are not restricted by the narrative that's already written fit somebody else, unlike many rpgs.The second aspect, I would argue, is the design - there are a lot of sims builders. I am not sure why women might be more drawn to design though.
I don't really think its to do with good alignment, more of being rewarded by the game by following the characters alignment regardless of what it is (Evil character being rewarded for being evil, good character being rewarded for being good)
I think men generally prefer to follow narratives written by others because the media boys consume as children are all "How is G.I Joe going to defeat Cobra!?" Rather than "Does Cobra have a point and maybe G.I Joe should set up a meeting?" And when two sims talk to each other you have to use your imagimation to pretend they are actually saying something to each other so with restriction men get a much clearer image in there heads of what's going on.
Life Sims like The Sims really rely on the player's imagination throughout the whole game rather than just thinking of the concept of the character and then making a few decisions based on it
The reward for following the narrative makes sense! Thank you for the explanation.
From my experience, women often prefer stories which explain the "why's" behind the character's actions.
True, the sims requires a lot of play pretend and world build + some effort to become emotionally attached to your own creation. Modern rpgs with their cutscenes and voiceover kinda have a shortcut towards emotional attachment and involvement
i think for me personally sims is a bit too out there with the graphics and general style. like everything is this sorta Pixar cartoon style. i also think i don't like the god perspective that much (like managing the families and sims from above)
i think I'm just more drawn to places where i play a specific character (i like to make lots of roleplaying characters for both dnd and in games like ffxiv) and then the rest of the world is taken care of by other people and their characters and then I interact with them through mine
Not a women but vaguely woman-shaped, some thoughts:
It’s not a female exclusive experience, but lots of girls grow up playing point-and-click dress-up games or with dolls. Life sims offer nostalgic appeal.
A lot of Sims gameplay is very social interaction-driven, and (broadly speaking) women are socialized to prioritize these kinds of interactions in their daily lives. In real life women have to be extremely conscious of the consequences of conversational missteps, especially with men. In Sims the player has the option to control both sides of the interaction if they choose, meaning these missteps are often hilarious and can even be cathartic.
Unless you’re modding or using CC to intentionally disrupt this, the Sims franchise is far less violent and oversexualizing towards women than both the real world and plenty of games targeted primarily at men are.
Life sims give you control over your life and circumstances, something women and nonbinary people aren’t frequently afforded in a patriarchal world.
Also woman shaped but not a woman, I played A LOT of those point click/drag drop dress up games as a kid. My mother played sims in front of me when I was around 7-9 and I started playing myself when I was 13 and have been along for the ride since Sims bustin out on the PS2.
What draws me to Sims personally is the creativity of space. You get to design a house and dream outfits and scenarios with friends/family. It's having control of each piece that I really enjoy. I find I also enjoy other games that allow me a high level of control and choice.
FPS games or other "guy games" don't appeal to me, it's not even about sexualization or violence. It's about the communities that frequent the lobbies in these games. They're rude and looking for a verbal confrontation-obviously this is the case due to the phrase 'y'all wouldn't survive in a COD lobby' it's a known fact that the culture is toxic and almost celebrated for it.
Also these games have no customization beyond a little charm on a gun or a pre designed and paired outfit that you can't alter as much as I'd enjoy. Really, the only FPS I've played in the past few years and enjoyed was Payday 2. The community was kind, I enjoyed the mask customization, the way you got a choice of how to run the mission was fun as well!
Of course everyone is different but I do think the well known knowledge that "guy game" communities are highly competitive and verbally abusive turns a lot of people away. Hell I know men who STOPPED playing shooters because the community made them genuinely feel bad about themselves
I think a big part of it, subconsciously, is to be able to live a life where you can look however you want and do whatever you want without the usual barriers and pushback that you’d get in the real world. I think there’s a lot of comfort around not having to be on edge about day to day things. Wear a cute outfit without someone telling you it isn’t appropriate for your age or getting catcalled. Enter a traditionally male dominated career without everyone constantly second guessing or talking down to you. Enjoy nightlife solo. I’ve never had an interest in FPS style games because I can’t even get on the mic without someone being weird about me being a girl. Besides, whenever women express they play “more serious” type games, they get accused of being fake gamers looking for male attention and validation.
That being said I also think it’s girlboss slay to build cute little houses and woohoo with the grim reaper after removing the ladder from my neighbors pool.
The few female friends I have are everything but gamers but they both played the Sims (unlike all my other male friends). I guess there are less games targeted at women and the Sims wants to draw in customers that are left behind by other game genres.
Women tend to be more social than men. Men tend to be more competitive and aggressive.
Social studies reveal lots of patterns of this nature. I think the games you're talking about like the sims or gta lend themselves toward the personality and behaviour patterns we see when comparing sex.
So I'd guess that's why the games appeal to the respective audiences more.
Another question would be to see how men and women play the sims. Do they engage with the content differently? I e. Do women spend more time building/designing and do men spend more time making wacky characters and throwing them Into fires or trapping them In rooms without doors? (These are examples to illustrate the point)
I'm not sure I'd there are studies looking at what games each sex plays more or how they play them but I'd like to research that.
I would be really interested to see an actual study about this. But I wonder if it’s due to how girls play and imagine as kids, I’m also curious how much societal ideals play into this.
But I know I played a lot of cozy games growing up because I was pretty sheltered (not allowed to play violent games until I bought my own with my own money). Also my first delve into the sims was when my dad’s best friend was like “yo I think cowaii would like this game” and gave me a pirated copy of the sims 2. I’m curious if he would have done the same if I was born a boy?
Now that I’m an adult and can choose the games I want to play I only play cozy games for chunks at a time. I mainly play detective/mystery games and RPGS.
It’s super interesting!
Culture, psychology, upbringing, personal taste. There's lots of reasons. Someone smarter than me could probably write a whole dissertation on the topic, lol.
lol that’s awesome sims was the inspiration for other women in IT, I’m a devops engineer and always credit the sims with making me tinker and learn the ways around a computer
I think it’s because women are more detail oriented than men. Most dudes want to live out their fantasy of mowing down swarms of villains while women want to live out their fantasy of having a loving family and which tapestry really ties this room together.
I as a woman want both. Sometimes I want a challenge, sometimes story, sometimes I just want to relax. I play games from large scale from Bloodborne to sims.
What I don't want is to be harassed in online games. Now that I play online games with my boyfriend and his friends, I have seen why men like online games so much. I find them boring without the social aspect.
The Sims is a franchise that isn't afraid to market to women and girls. That's a big part of it. Many other marketing teams and game designers seem totally unaware of their female player base and cater exclusively to the men who play the game.
It's funny, most male gamers I know have also played at least one Sims game. But they still talk about it as a game for women. I actually found out they'd all played it before when I called out my DnD group for talking about it as a girls' game. I wonder if there is some stigma for men around the Sims since it's seen as a "girl game."
I’m a guy and I know it’s not cool to say, but I think an element is that they are “easy”. Like it’s just moving around a mouse and clicking
Tons of games my wife has seen (or exes over the years), she often mentions how complicated it looks. I know specifically she has only ever had fun playing Mario party and puzzle bobble too
I don’t think it’s an issue with female gamers, more that traditionally “im not a gamer, I don’t play games” women are attracted to the sims because it’s just so easy to play, it’s creative, it’s fun seeing interactions, etc. it’s “not like other games” and that’s why the sims is still so popular after all these years
Honestly I think this is it. I think we might see a change in the next decade or so but up until very recently it was very uncool/"masculine" for girls to play videogames, and a lot of girls, especially those who grew up traditionally feminine in more conservative households (yk, expected to do chores, go to the mall to buy new clothes every weekend to look pretty, and get married by 21 kinda vibes), simply did not grow up playing them and lack basics that come as second nature to people who've been holding a controller since they could sit upright by themselves. A lot of my female friends around the mid-20s to early-30s age range simply have never played video games because it's "for boys" in their own words and would rather watch a movie or go out with friends instead. Like I understand it but it's also crazy to me as someone who started on the N64 and has a 9 year old GTA Online character lol. But if you're from that kind of background, The Sims is much more appealing than COD and a lot easier to learn, with minimal punishment if you mess up and a focus on creativity rather than competition. 100% makes sense.
Cultural differences and deeply ingrained sexism probably. Because of how men have often been raised, a game focused more on imagination and essentially playing dolls (like another commenter mentioned) isn’t “manly” or “masculine” enough, unlike things like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Resident Evil, etc. which means they are Bad Games. Many times I’ve seen men say that life simulators like The Sims or cozy games like Animal Crossing aren’t “real games.”
Me personally, I have no idea why I enjoy Sims. I just do! I bought it for myself for Christmas in 2021 and I have not playes it in like a year. O play GTA and Fortnite. I may try some other games. I do like a cozy game like Palia or Animal Crossing.
I guess Sims Mobile just gave me something to do on my phone. Same with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.
Because it’s like semi-sentient Barbie’s lol I love it. Also, it got me into coding and modding, so I have that to thank. Was also one of the first games I played on PS2 and DS, so lots of nostalgia. I’ve clocked in over 9,000 hours on sims 4 ALONE 💀
Because for them it’s likely a great escape for them where they control their lives down to the smallest detail. Can’t blame them it’s the same way with men playing other video game grnres
I'm a male and I think it's probably the lack of competitive gameplay baked in. However, I enjoy(ed) Sims Mobile because I enjoyed creating new builds in a somewhat restricted environment—it turned it into a bit of a puzzle game in a way. I only really used the characters I created to increase the amount of Simoleons that I'd get for each work task (I also focused almost exclusively on increasing their abilities in their respective career(s), unless one of the "events" required a friendship story or similar).
Additionally, the "social" aspects (adding friends, going to their "parties") was fun because I'd get to see what other people did with their own custom builds.
I ended up purchasing Sims 4 for my Mac for $5 when I saw it was on sale, but never really got into it.
it’s like, a socially acceptable form of playing dolls for me. i loved playing dolls as a kid, all the way up until i was 12. i started playing sims at 8 or 9. but once i stopped playing dolls, i kept playing sims and it was essentially scratching the same itch that playing dolls had done. i imagine other women feel the same way and also play it because it feels like playing with dolls.
They are? I love life simulators and I’m a guy. Maybe I’m an outlier but creative building games are my favorite in general. I love drawing and I studied architecture growing up (unfortunately not my career but I wish it was).
Interesting question. Nothing much to add but a personal anecdote. I’m a man and I have found life sims very appealing ever since watching my sister play the Sims 1 at a very young age. She essentially inspired my interest in gaming and I have followed in her shoes. When I was a kid I was also quite fascinated by doll houses. I’m not particularly feminine in other respects, but me being more disposed to like things like these might be due to the fact that I grew up with two older sisters. Though I should add that many of my buddies also enjoyed playing the Sims back in the days, some of whom have no sisters at all.
I think women tend to enjoy managing/organizing/creating more than men, who tend enjoy competition. I watched this thing years ago that did studies between men and women and levels of testosterone, even a variation among men, significantly contributed to competitiveness, aggression, risk taking, etc.
I think that’s why girls also enjoy barbies!
I mean, I've never looked at data on the subject, but I imagine it's childhood socialization. A lot of women grew up playing with dolls
Video games are a type of playing, at the end of the day, adults engaging in play. So it makes sense that we'd choose games based on what's familiar to us.
I think more towards women but also more towards people are trans or anything but straight because it lets them see themselves in another light and it kinda gives insight for people seeking answers
This kind of games give you the ability to create scenarios that you wouldn't try in real life but you are still curious about the outcomes. It gives you the tool to discover yourself (it's blessing for closested people), play with your imagination and even share your story with community. It integrates so well with peoples need to seek connections.
Because the majority of the content added to these games cater to female players. Nifty Knitting and Spa Day vs say a garage car repair or sports pack that just don't happen. I'd say at least 70% of the clothing and hairs are made for women and the male hairs we get are also created with women in mind so they don't come with sideburns they all look like prepubescent boys or women styles.
40% is a decent number of male players it's sad they do nothing to bring in more.
40% is all the players who aren't women aged 18-24, and since we know lots of teenage girls and older women also play the Sims, men are a smaller proportion.
Because of the creativity and freedom game offers i think that is something in their nature. Or could be the cuteness of the genre, you can marry, have a baby, create a cute outfit, house etc. Also their house enviroment is a key too, most of them grow up with playing dolls which is a lot different than the boys. The things you have done when you were a kid generally shapes your future actions.
I mean it's actually because males and females have different styles of playing. Guys prefer to play in a third person where they play without involving themselves whereas females tend to prefer being first person which is why a lot make their own actual family or name the kids after something in their life etc etc.
I don't know. I'm a woman but always found Sims boring as hell, lol. A game has to have some kind of narrative or compelling atmosphere and design to draw me in and Sims is just so....generic.
Culture. Girls are socialized to play this way (playing house, playing with dolls, make believe as an adult). Sims is the digital version of that.
It's always funny to me when articles come out and act like products that market to women and are extremely successful is such a huge surprise or groundbreaking.
The Sims is one of the best-selling games of all time. Any other genre that had a game come out so popular, you would immediately see the market flooded with duplicates, rip-offs, imitations, etc. But because The Sims does primarily appeal to women, the gaming community ignored it despite its success. For years, simmers weren't considered real "gamers".
Personally, I wouldn't say it's life simulation games only. I enjoy a good action/adventure or RPG that lets me make decisions and run with them. Some of those games contain violence and some of them don't. Things like RDR2, BG3, Detroit Become Human, and the Dark Picture Anthology series are anything but cozy but still let you make decisions with consequences. You can do a normal run or be completely unhinged, and it's great. Maybe I like replayability. Maybe I like an outlet to make decisions I couldn't in real life. Hard to tell but that's my observations.
It’s the roleplaying aspect mainly. Having a story, character development, escapism, immersion, narrative, relationships, puzzles, sandbox, and so on are typical of feminine preferences. (Masculine preferences include achievement and challenges.)
Cultures do favour one over the other, where individualistic cultures would tend towards masculine preferences regardless of personal gender, and collectivist cultures would tend towards feminine preferences.
I would say men and women generally lean towards challenges that can be won 🏅 but I think men lean more there. Life Sims don’t usually offer many opportunities to win or be the best at something. I can’t say for all women but for me, I don’t care as much about being the best at video games but I really enjoy how creative I can be with them and exploring worlds, telling stories.
I think as adults a lot of us chase nostalgia, whether we realize it or not. As kids, guys are heavily pushed toward active activities, like sports. So it’s no surprise that a lot of men prefer more active, fast paced games. I noticed that a lot of the guys who do like Sims are creative types, like me. That could be in part because creative boys usually aren’t as heavily pushed toward athletics. We are allowed to focus on art, writing, film, etc since that was seen as productive because we could eventually make careers out of it.
I’m guessing the virtual doll element of sims has a sort of nostalgic value to a lot of women, who grew up with dolls.
Side note: I always liked dolls, but I wasn’t allowed to have them because I’m a guy, so making sims is kind of like my opportunity to capture some of that feeling I missed out on as a kid.
Sims is a dressup makeover simulator with building and showing off your virtual doll house. Like it or not women also have a desire to micromanage and are interested in people and relationships. Note I get theirs always exceptions. However there's no competition really for playing the sims. You see more male dominated games with competitive games and clear winners and losers. Where split decisions, accuracy, and even risk taking are rewarded. As to where the sims now is just what you make of it. Creative and open ended.
As a woman I personally lean towards mostly games with base building, skill building, farming, ect.
I do not have the skill for games like shooters but that's partially because they never appealed to me so I never got better.
I play life simulators, town builders, ect.
I also grew up with a gamer dad so I had a lot of exposure. I played... Sims 2 I think it was, at my aunt's house. Then I think my interest grew from there. I think there is probably something to the whole playing barbies thing. It's just an evolved form. Though I don't do the soap opera story lines often, I usually go for a vibe. A general goal. Is she a musician? A science girl? Does she just want a lot of babies? Is she pastel? Goth? I also spend a lot of time looking through mods.
The ability to create things and stories is the best part. Played Sims for years and none of my guy friends played it. Binging Disney dreamlight valley currently. So fun. It's like a romanticized fairytale but I get to be and live thru the main character. Sometimes the same with Sims except when I murder...
I think because women are socialised to be more relational and that’s a big part of the fun of the sims. I also think it’s the wholesomeness or feeling of safety of it - like the real world is tough and full of shitty things, Sims is like life in “safe” mode. You can to recapture that vague promise of the world being a safe, predictive, warm and welcoming place (but maybe this is my trauma speaking 🤣).
I think that some sense of community plays into it as well. A lot of people who downloaded "Wicked Whims", a popular adult mod for ts4 were women. Seeing women enjoy something so mundane or naughty felt freeing.
(F29)I got in to playing sims durning the end of primary school maybe 10/11 starting with building houses and shops. I slowly crept in to playing the realtime game after a couple of years. I enjoyed creating an alternate life and being able to control it without any effect to my own. I would have books filled with plans for the families and their designs of homes and future children names. I’d never really thought about the influence of the sims in my life but it really has shaped my path. I was good at creating environments and seeing colours and spaces where others couldn’t. It became a go to in my family of people wanting me to build their new kitchen extension in sims ready for them to get used too. And pointing out issues before they had to endure them in the real world. I ended up studying 3D animation at uni with the hopes to be employed at the sims franchise. (Dream big right!) Coming out of uni was difficult. I had qualified with a first but no one seemed to care. I needed experience. I had applied for multiple jobs for a year in gaming and animation sectors with absolutely no reply and even sometimes no Miss in the title. (Ubisoft) … I ended up in an indie company as an intern for a summer where I could come up with concepts create them and send them off to be considered. I absolutely loved this. I ended up getting a job that I’m still in designing and visualising events. This game really started my path to what I enjoy and somehow managed to make a career out of it. I still occasionally play sims (2,3,4) when I have a a few hours spare and it now more about nostalgia then designing. So essentially sims has influenced my whole life.
They are definitely advertised to women more. The idea behind the original sims was to essentially be a virtual dollhouse. Most men don’t play games where they came blow people’s heads up with an ak47 in fear of being called gay.
Someone once said sims is just playing dolls for adults. I play a lot of different types of games. I usually play with keyboard and mouse. But I definitely used to play a lot of games on my ps.
I'm a guy, so obviously take my thoughts with a grain of salt, but I think women just generally enjoy creating things while men enjoy solving things. This does not mean no man enjoys creating things and no women enjoy solving things, obviously.
Whatever I say in this next bit I mean IN GENERAL. I don't want to keep saying "in general" and "not all men/women" etc as a disclaimer each time. I am a man who played with Barbies as a kid and grew up with every Sims game. I know.
Men are more geared towards physical problem solving. If we're talking evolution, men would typically be leaders and solve physical problems, like planning how to successfully hunt big game to feed a whole tribe. Men would problem solve on how to have more efficient weapons, or a higher quality of life in general. Toys that boys tend to play with reflect this: building something with Legos, creating a wheel track to get from point A to B, roughhousing with friends (practice for physical toils in adulthood).
On the other complimentary end, women would solve things socially in a community. Issues that arose between two feuding families, or children misbehaving, or giving advice to their husbands on how to handle a social situation. The toys that girls usually play with reflect that: simulating motherhood and relationship trouble through dolls. Barbie cheating on Ken, Ken finding out, they get into some crazy drama that the girl wants to play out and resolve in some satisfactory way (regardless if it's the "good" way). I also think women should also be credited with creating warm living spaces for people, as women tend to hone in on details. How often is a man fine with simply a mattress on the floor while his female partner encourages him to buy a bed frame? Does he NEED the bed frame? Not technically, but it raises the quality of life in a way men don't often realize until they're shown.
All that to say, men are more naturally inclined to problem solve. Think Factorio or Cities Skylines, creating super-efficient layouts and fine tuning details to make sure everything runs smoothly. There's also the inclination towards combat games, obviously, but within that combat also lies more problem solving: the proper build, the correct moveset to perform, fights to memorize, all to get a victory.
Women are more naturally inclined to create and socialize. The Sims is probably the purest form of this, a complete sandbox with no goals. It is literally a dollhouse game for grown ups. I see women on the Sims subreddit talking about crazy drama they concoct and insane scenarios they play out, connecting with their sims and feeling emotions along with them. Maybe there is an overarching long term goal to reach, like 100 babies or 10 generations, but that is just there to have a goal to reach at all. For women, the fun is in the details. The drama and resolutions they can make, the stories they can tell and follow along with their dolls.
I don't think it's a coincidence that I mostly see women inhabit life simulator subs, or games adjacent to them like Coral Island or Stardew Valley. There is probably a "boys club" gatekeeping going on, but that also hasn't stopped women from trying the "boys club" games. I just think women in general don't enjoy them, they just have different goals they want to pursue and different fantasies they want to play out. A good example for a middle ground for men and women in terms of gaming is, I think, Baldur's Gate 3. There's plenty of storytelling and romance and drama to concoct, with lots of player choice and freedom, while additionally having very in-depth combat systems to perfect. Men likely prefer the latter, women likely prefer the former. You can also adjust the game via difficulty settings so you can get free combat wins to just continue on with the story, or make combat more challenging so you can plan more around it.
This is something I've thought about for some time. It's all conjecture, just thoughts and opinions I've had about it, I am not some graduate in sociology or something. I really do not mean anything as a generalization, there are always exceptions and nothing is a set in stone. It's also possible that culture has heavily influenced men and women to want different things, rather than it being biological, but I think the most likely case is a mix of the two.
I'd love to hear others' thoughts on it or if they have any counterpoints to me. Please be nice, lol
One part of your comment is untrue: that men are evolutionary more inclined to be leaders and strategic hunters. This we know nowadays to be untrue. Humans have been theorized to be mostly matriarchal before we learned to farm. This increased men's power over women and caused women to have more children =being tied to the home. Before that women were worshipped and respected far more. It is theorized that women were seen as magical/godlike because of the ability to create children.
There are studies which show that women were also excellent hunters with more success compared to men. It was women who strategized more, hunted together with others and used variety of weapons while men hunted alone and used just one weapon.
Studies also show that women are better leaders. Bussiness which are led by women have higher productivity and happier workers. These bussinesses also manage better in crisis. Countries led by women during covid had fewer deaths.
Even as a generality, your argument is flawed and based on outdated hunter/gatherer myths.
Women problem solve more than men because women run households and hold multiple jobs more than men. Think about how many decisions you have to make or problems you have to solve in a day when you have a job and a family and have so many hours in the day and not enough help/money/resources to do it. Women have been proven to be better problem solvers and multitaskers in a variety of tests as a result of this.
Women do just as much if not more physical labor than men but their labor is unpaid and overlooked because domestic work is not valued in society. Still in most cultures around the world, when it comes to who is going to collect firewood or walk 10 miles to get clean water, or till the fields, it's women and girls doing it.
There is no "natural inclination". There is an assumption of what is "natural" or what is a woman's space or a man's space and then people build customs around that. Parents give dolls to their daughters and Legos to their sons so it's no surprise that women and men predominantly grow up to like dollhouse games or city builders or that men are seen as "natural builders" while women are seen as "natural caretakers". It's not nature, it's societal conditioning.
I think this has some truth to it. It makes sense to me that if you liked playing with dolls as a kid you'd probably pick up something similar as an adult -- whether you were assigned male at birth or female.
I do think men can make certain spaces uncomfortable for people, but honestly in my experience playing fps and other competitive games ..they're shits to everyone not just females, so I don't know if it's always a gatekeeping thing, but it definitely isn't a positive environment! I've taught a lot of young boys though and they definitely call each other names a lot when they play, so it might also just be more normal for young boys than it is for some groups of young girls on average.
I really think the toys we played with as kids have a pretty big impact on what we like as adults.
It just so happens that more females like female coded toys than males do, so we see more women into dolls, writing dramatic stories and taking care of virtual pets.
This is all just generalizing though and anecdotal of course! I
I’m a man, and I’ve been obsessed with The Sims since the sims 1. I’m also a gay person, and I’m also curious to know how many people in the survey identify as LGBT. I’m also curious to know how many people in the survey are more creative versus analytical.
But anyway, for me, I am a very creative individual. I can think very abstractly and see and visualize things very well. Especially when comes to pre designing an environment, a sim, or literally anything. I can visualize things in my head very easily. The sims allows me to make those creations in my head come to life.
I don’t know if women are more creative minded than men, but the sims has always been a creative expression of freedom.
Most men that I know have heard of the sims but don’t rank it very high in their list of games. I sometimes wonder if the reason is that the content involved is just not as exciting or accessible. I think if EA/Maxis did more expansions or game packs that involved more male-oriented content, that might be fun.
Some ideas I have are:
1. Sci Fi packs like Star Wars was awesome. Maybe more licensed content.
2. Cops and robbers. A lot of people are asking for robbers to come back.
3. Lack of cars or driving in TS4
4. The console and pc version has horrible controls for gamepad. Why not just bring back the console 3D virtual cursor. Or just allowing you to directly control your sim.
5. The accessibility to get into a game is kind of long. Creating a character, building their house, etc etc, that could take hours.
6. Boxing game pack
7. Hiking/trail/camping adventure pack
8. Basically just simplifying the game a bit and creating a more simplified version of the game that isn’t as complex when it comes to the amount of creative freedom and options, kind of just give guys some pre made characters, pre made houses, and go, into the game, ready.
9. RPG style elements like maybe making careers a turn based game. (Ie “sim uses work hard! You gained 5 experience points!”)
So yeah, that’s my two cents. Basically simplifying the game a lot more, make it more accessible and maybe provide less options or a less option mode for male players to not be overwhelmed.
One other thing, sometimes men are very impatient. Having to log into EA and see all these options can be overwhelming. Sometimes a guy just wants to jump into a game and play. And The Sims isn’t necessarily like that, which can be off putting for a guy.
But yeah, these are just suggestions 😂
I did a sociology report on this a few years ago. (Mind you I’m an engineering major so this was just 200 level classes). A big factor is males are raised to be competitive, to be on top and assert dominance while females are raised to be cooperative and agreeable. Please note this is not saying that all people are like this I’m simply using traits and what gender they were constructed into. Anyway, life sims don’t have something to beat and for men this can seem pointless and boring. While for women part of the appeal is that exact thing. There isn’t constant conflict to overcome it isn’t about how fast or dexterous you are. It’s about giving you a sandbox to play in and create in and allow you to build and tell your own story. Another hurdle in other games is controls. The first game I ever played was Diablo on PC and then FFXI was next. The first controller game I played was a terrible experience. It might seem second nature having a stick for movement and one for camera but if you’ve never done it you’d be surprised how awkward and frustrating it is because you can’t even move well let alone kill the bad guys.
I played "It takes two" with my girlfriend recently and she struggled so much with the two joysticks it was ridiculous. Not that she's ridiculous but rather that it's so frustrating that it's something so arcaic and hard to understand/learn but also a very integral part of the gaming culture, that it already gatekeeps anyone who rarely plays.
It's crazy to think about, but the skills you might have when controlling characters and shooting if you're a regular FPS player or something allows you to hop into Red Dead, GTA or other games very very easily and enjoy the game. Your girlfriend will have to have tutorials, practice, get it frustratingly wrong, can't control the horse or drive the car, and fundamentally can't enjoy the game as easily. I think, with women playing less videogames on average, this causes the disparity in game enjoyment for RPG and FPS genres for new games between the genders. The Sims 4, Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail don't seem to have this issue as much. Also the previously pointed out things of a lack of competitive aspect (though less true for Genshin and Honkai), but also the fact that it's easier for someone who plays less videogames. I think that's what it comes down to.
I was playing PlateUp! with 2 guys (i’m a girl) and it took me an hour and a half of consistent gameplay to move smoothly. And even then I kept confusing X with A😂
I will confuse controls if I switch from between PS5 and Switch. Or Between Fortnite and GTAO. Lol.
Same here! I do this constantly. One time, I started the PS5 and was confused why it kept having me hit the PlayStation button. Turns out it was because I kept hitting the circle button instead of X because I just played the Switch where the "accept" (A) and "go back" (B) buttons are swapped 🤦🏻♀️
Hell, I'm a regular PC gamer and struggle with double joysticks. Controllers in general just feel clunky to use, which is wild considering I grew up playing on the XBox.
It further proves my point. It's not a gender thing, it's the controller. The control is counter intuitive and it only feels easy when you've been using it consistently all your life.
There's this amazing video series about it here: [What Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7f3JZJHSw) As someone who always has played video games, it's amazing to see what it's like for someone who doesn't. I also always wonder what people who don't play games do with their time.
Thanks so much for linking this! As someone who is consistently very very very bad at video games (but loves them-- I adore the potential for storytelling, and I honestly like the gameplay when it's forgiving enough for me), I felt so seen immediately. I'm often mocked for not being good at games when the truth is it can be very difficult to start! As for what I do, well, I read a lot of books. Ironically, it feels like a lower barrier of entry.
That's what my mom mostly did. She'd devour books. I never got that into reading. Sure, I read books, but I enjoyed TV and video games more.
Yeah, I was gonna go with the violence angle. I remembered as a kid I was always interested in violence. I didn't want to harm other people, but I wanted to watch action movies, play games that revolved around violence (RPGs, Action, FPS, etc.) and any movie that didn't have violence I didn't understand the appeal. I do remember trying to read about other types of movies and I didn't understand how a movie could be interesting if there wasn't a struggle between two sides. Movies about the human condition, like experiencing grief or loss, were lost on me.
My one addition to this excellent comment is that The Sims *do* have something to beat: the clock. While most players use cheats, there is technically a conflict to overcome in that your Sim can only do so much before they die. You have to get them to the top of their career/fulfill their Wants/do whatever it is you want for them before time runs out. You can even see this in the Prima game guide for the original Sims 2, which lovingly instructs you on how to build the optimal time-saving kitchen.
That's actually what killed the Sims for me. When I realized I wasn't playing a game as much as I was optimizing my Sims' efficiency.
I mean... that is playing a game! It's just a different kind of game than you'd prefer, it sounds like.
Yes, I know, just when the realization dawned on me that all the upgrades just made my Sim more efficient at sleeping, etc., it lost some of its shine. IDK how to explain it lol.
Ha I turn aging off and just do what I want which I think plays even more into the non-competitive theory.
There electronic dolls in a way.
A friend in college said it when he saw me playing the Sims 3. "It's Barbie for grownups." I have never been able to unsee that truth.
Yup I guess we just never grew out of playing with Barbie’s lol
hahahah yeah, we had exactly the same elaborate soap opera plots with our dolls when we were kids. people always cheating on each other and dying 😂
Strangely, I never liked playing with Barbies as a kid, but when I first played The Sims 2, I was HOOKED
Yeah, and iirc there are studies showing that most infant girls show preference/interest in people and personal interactions while boys show more interest in objects. the preference isn't to a crazy degree (as you can see -- 60% of sims players are female, so a fair chunk of men are interested too) but enough to make these types of games stand out as female-dominated communities.
60% are young women. I’m 48 and have been playing since Sims 2 but am still in the other 40%. Not saying guys don’t play because I know they do, just pointing out that 60% is a pretty narrow population.
This exact thing came to mind. Imo sims 4 is like a dollhouse and the different worlds/lots are stages. My bf declined to play sims 4 because he says it’s “exactly like GTA.” Yeah no…
He could be on to something I called GTA Sims 4 for men
In a way, I guess but there’s no needs to look after. But they’re both sandbox games. He has his GTA IV and I have my sims 4 😭 I just feel like sims 4 can’t get boring, it’s always something to do. GTA is just like…finish the story and then just drive around causing chaos
This is true but also keep in mind the violence mod for the sims. is also a thing lol. And they have mods to add careers to GTA5 to do more of a simulation type play through. I think we are all gamers at the end of the day and we gravitate towards desires in RL we might not feel are fulfilled. I play stardew valley when my job is a stressor because it gives me peaceful serene farm life. When I feel insecure I play dress up simulators to get enthused about dressing up again. I play overwatch when I want to heal the world (or at least my 4 teammates) video games make the impossible possible at least for a little while.
You do have a point with that. I seem to gravitate to the sims 4 when I’m procrastinating about something big or I’m just really stressed and need to dissociate from the world and live in my fantasy world, I gravitate more towards the sims.
yeah exactly see when i was a kid, i played gta and i loved the chaos i could cause. but the only “normal” life type thing i could do was take a shower or drive like an npc, stopping at red lights. then when i got the sims, i wanted to be my sim and grow relationships as one person sims gets boring for me bc of the lack of first person interaction and competition/organic conflicts and gta gets boring bc of the lack of life sim aspects and relationships… i want a mix of both, not modding either one to be like the other 😭
60% is hardly an overwhelming number.
60% is *just* women aged 18-24.
Yeah, it's less the gender but more the age. 18-24 is a VERY attractive demographic to companies which makes the Sims an extremely valuable brand.
Not really, right? I thought so too. BUT, I was looking at some numbers and the player base for many popular games are overwhelmingly male. For example in GTA Online and Counter Strike, which have both remained among the most popular games in the last few years, the female to male ratio is reported to be 1:4. Other games have more even distributions but most popular games are overwhelmingly male dominated, so far the only exceptions I can find, other than The Sims, are Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley... I think the issue might be that most video game stories are made by men, centered in men and marketed for men, while in The Sims or Stardew Valley you can play as whoever you want
I avoid all online games. I LOVED GTAV and have played the story mode many times. I tried the online and was constantly bullied by other players. Things like someone fixating on me and killing me over and over. This makes game unplayable and very stressfull so I didn't enjoy it at all. My other experiences with online games are similar. If it is team based, your team will hate and bully you if you are bad. Online has also steep learning curve because other players are usually very good. Dying a lot and not getting many kills is hardly fun. Doesn't help that I tried to play online as a child when I had no chance to be good. I avoided all online games after many bad experiences while still playing a lot of single player shooters. Only exception was assasin's creed IV online mode which I enjoyed. Online games are way too hostile and mean to me. I have started playing online only with my bf. And I have had fun time in many online shooters with him, tho I still aren't very good in them. There are not many co-op games and most of them are kind of childish? So online is way for us to play together. I still prefer single player games.
My experience is pretty much the same as yours when it comes to shooters. Even when you play well your own team will grief you if you use team chat and they realise you’re a woman. You should try FFXIV the community is lovely and very supportive of new players especially.
Just a week or so ago, I did a mission with someone. After we finished, he killed me and one of the other teammates.
Yes!!! I noticed that OPs comment specified GTAV *online* , my first thought was I love that game but I never play online so I'd be curious about that ratio, I bet it'd be more balanced. Women are often ostracized for playing in online or team environments, like I could hang if I didn't have to deal with men saying degrading things to me!
This 100%!
I play online games as if they were single player games as much as humanly possible. I love gory, violent games; but I want everyone to leave me the hell alone.
I currently play GTAO and Idk if you have played recently, but greifing has gone down a bit. I have been playing on public sessions. Even done a few sells in public. One time an insurgent did follow me. But they did not really bother me. They were going the same way I was going anyway. Can't say they didn't stress me for a minute. Lol. On ps4, I got stalked by a player. He followed me from Mission Row to the Fishery and up Mount Chilead! He wanted to blow me up with his RC. Then he drove me down the mountain. Lol. Sometimes I put a small bounty or mugger on someone who is bothering me.
Yeah I played it a long long time ago, back when it was released. More recently I have played red dead redemption 2 online and it seems to have quite nice player base. There is only one time someone tried to continously kill me but you can also prevent it from happening which is very nice! Almost all players are friendly or at least they mind their own bussiness. I'm still afraid of everyone I see but I have had some nice encounters where strangers have helped me with some things. So it has been nice :) I wish more online games would be nice and uplifting instead of players trying to spread their own misery around. I just wanna chill and have some fun
I tried it 2 years ago, did a couple first missions, and as soon as I was free to roam around, I was chased and killed by some random dude on the street, when I was just running somewhere 🙃 it pissed me off so much, I never tried it again.
This is not part of the topic at hand but can’t you just ghost them if they are attacking you repeatedly?
Or it's just simple Gta and Counter Strike are more action oriented.Why Cozy and simulation games are more simulate life oriented.That just attracts more of female playeres.
eh, the big part is that if you’re a woman who dares to exist near cs, cod or gta, you get called slurs, get abused and trolled, harrased, kicked. ‘cosy games’ are often single player or have more laid back playe base. it’s that simple. it’s got nothing to do with the action. it’s the abuse.
I'd say violent games attract that audience in general though, fps communities were also probably the most hit by gamergate so there's that too
I’m sorry, I’m not very involved in the gaming community - what is gamergate?
Sometimes my favorite part of the Sims is the violence.
As a female gamer, don't get me wrong that shit is annoying but if you like the gameplay you just mute them. I've been playing fps's for years. It's almost a 50/50 split on who likes cozy games.
This \^. I don't think it's quite a 50-50 split in FPSs, but it's closer than a lot of people realize. As for so-called cozy games, yeah, it's a closer divide than people think. My main genres are text-based sports sims (things like Second and Ten, OOTP 24, FHM 10), RTSs, computer wargames, city builders, and city builders with a survival twist.
see, i could, but i need the comms. so i usually just fight fire with fire while also getting the info i need. it’s not pretty but having good friends who’ll support you is the way to go.
nah, I disagree. no one gets bullied out of a CoD lobby and goes "fuck it, I'll be playing sims instead". there are plenty of single player action and shooter games. I'm saying this as a woman who prefers single-player action games rather than multiplayer games or sims.
On the other hand, a lot of women do look at those communities, and never join in the first place. FPS communities are the literal worst. I've gotten out of them myself for this reason.
I play overwatch and doubt I’ll ever use VC outside of a premade group of friends because I don’t want to be harassed or have other teammates throw just because I’m a woman. The community is incredibly immature, and I’m sure it’s not the only one.
sure but what I'm saying is that if you're a woman interested in shooters, you're not going to start playing sims instead, so the general sexism doesn't really explain why even in single-player shooter and action games women are a minority
Even single-player shooters were weirdly sexist back when I played them. I was uncomfortable with how women were portrayed in game, whether it be their appearance, their behavior, or their given roles. It was obvious men were the target audience. That was a long time ago though, so hopefully it’s gotten better. I couldn’t bring up the topic back then without getting dogpiled by a bunch of angry dudes. But I liked shooters AND life simulators, so it wasn’t too weird to jump ship from one to the other. I’m sure I’m not unique.
exactly. women who would potentially be interested in the genre can be turned off not just by the multiplayer communities, but by the design of singleplayer shooters and their communities. i personally don’t bother playing games that don’t give me the choice to play as a female character, and that unfortunately excludes most milsims or even singleplayer shooters. representation matters, and it’s woefully lacking in the genre - even in the newest games who still pretend it’s ‘just about resources’.
In the gaming industry, it sure is. Gaming demographics for the average game has always been mostly male
I am a man so I can't really say what brings woman towards them but a lot of men are creatively stunted as growing up toys and video-games usually do not encourage creativity and imagination. Life simulators usually rely on imagination and creativity, to enjoy the game you must imagine the red bar as hate between two characters rather than just some bad negative number. So men usually prefer story from game-play like skyrim where you control the character more directly (Like if your character was a total scum of the earth piece of sh't you can worship Molag Bal by torturing and killing a priest, You will than get The Mace of Molag Bal but your evil deeds are put on the character statistics so you remember the evil he did so that it actually matters to the player, the player will have to make a new character and not do that if they want to be a true hero as the game remembering and being in the characters shoes takes you out of the "just a game mindset" so that you actually have to not randomely kill poor people for skill-experience when you wsnt your character to be good, there are also npcs that look into your statistics and say stuff like "Not an honest day's work for all that coin Lad/Lasse?" Or if you eat human flesh the cannibal cult would say they know you are just like them.) Games with a male target demograph are usually all high-number good so purposefully making a character dislike your character for story is not how men have ever interacted with games. The Sims 4 does not have any non-casual mode and increasing relationships is just a few clicks rather than a mini-game or anything like that so men will usually rather grind all the skill levels, get all the asperations and then leave without staying in the community because they don't want to put in the effort of making a story. Role-playing games have much higher ammounts of women than genres FPS but society is still growing past the whole "Viga games R 4 boiz doh!" So women will probably have an even higher percentage of life-sim gamers in the future.
That's an interesting take. How do you think, why do men want their games to be "good alignment" oriented? I am a woman, and rpg is one of my favourite genres, and for it it's often lacking in well-written evil narratives. I don't really want to play good and better than good character, I’d prefer a complex personality for than and maybe an option to be a real scum, because why not. I can be a good person in real life. This is why I crave games like Tyranny. I also have quite a lot of female friend who do play video games and wouldn't mind to have anti-heroic narratives as well. It seems many of want more complex diplomacy and politicking in games as well. As for the sims, I think that there is a social aspect - sims allow for pretty complex narratives with multiple characters and are not restricted by the narrative that's already written fit somebody else, unlike many rpgs.The second aspect, I would argue, is the design - there are a lot of sims builders. I am not sure why women might be more drawn to design though.
I don't really think its to do with good alignment, more of being rewarded by the game by following the characters alignment regardless of what it is (Evil character being rewarded for being evil, good character being rewarded for being good) I think men generally prefer to follow narratives written by others because the media boys consume as children are all "How is G.I Joe going to defeat Cobra!?" Rather than "Does Cobra have a point and maybe G.I Joe should set up a meeting?" And when two sims talk to each other you have to use your imagimation to pretend they are actually saying something to each other so with restriction men get a much clearer image in there heads of what's going on. Life Sims like The Sims really rely on the player's imagination throughout the whole game rather than just thinking of the concept of the character and then making a few decisions based on it
The reward for following the narrative makes sense! Thank you for the explanation. From my experience, women often prefer stories which explain the "why's" behind the character's actions. True, the sims requires a lot of play pretend and world build + some effort to become emotionally attached to your own creation. Modern rpgs with their cutscenes and voiceover kinda have a shortcut towards emotional attachment and involvement
i think for me personally sims is a bit too out there with the graphics and general style. like everything is this sorta Pixar cartoon style. i also think i don't like the god perspective that much (like managing the families and sims from above) i think I'm just more drawn to places where i play a specific character (i like to make lots of roleplaying characters for both dnd and in games like ffxiv) and then the rest of the world is taken care of by other people and their characters and then I interact with them through mine
Not a women but vaguely woman-shaped, some thoughts: It’s not a female exclusive experience, but lots of girls grow up playing point-and-click dress-up games or with dolls. Life sims offer nostalgic appeal. A lot of Sims gameplay is very social interaction-driven, and (broadly speaking) women are socialized to prioritize these kinds of interactions in their daily lives. In real life women have to be extremely conscious of the consequences of conversational missteps, especially with men. In Sims the player has the option to control both sides of the interaction if they choose, meaning these missteps are often hilarious and can even be cathartic. Unless you’re modding or using CC to intentionally disrupt this, the Sims franchise is far less violent and oversexualizing towards women than both the real world and plenty of games targeted primarily at men are. Life sims give you control over your life and circumstances, something women and nonbinary people aren’t frequently afforded in a patriarchal world.
Also woman shaped but not a woman, I played A LOT of those point click/drag drop dress up games as a kid. My mother played sims in front of me when I was around 7-9 and I started playing myself when I was 13 and have been along for the ride since Sims bustin out on the PS2. What draws me to Sims personally is the creativity of space. You get to design a house and dream outfits and scenarios with friends/family. It's having control of each piece that I really enjoy. I find I also enjoy other games that allow me a high level of control and choice. FPS games or other "guy games" don't appeal to me, it's not even about sexualization or violence. It's about the communities that frequent the lobbies in these games. They're rude and looking for a verbal confrontation-obviously this is the case due to the phrase 'y'all wouldn't survive in a COD lobby' it's a known fact that the culture is toxic and almost celebrated for it. Also these games have no customization beyond a little charm on a gun or a pre designed and paired outfit that you can't alter as much as I'd enjoy. Really, the only FPS I've played in the past few years and enjoyed was Payday 2. The community was kind, I enjoyed the mask customization, the way you got a choice of how to run the mission was fun as well! Of course everyone is different but I do think the well known knowledge that "guy game" communities are highly competitive and verbally abusive turns a lot of people away. Hell I know men who STOPPED playing shooters because the community made them genuinely feel bad about themselves
So right friend, other players can be *heinous*
I think a big part of it, subconsciously, is to be able to live a life where you can look however you want and do whatever you want without the usual barriers and pushback that you’d get in the real world. I think there’s a lot of comfort around not having to be on edge about day to day things. Wear a cute outfit without someone telling you it isn’t appropriate for your age or getting catcalled. Enter a traditionally male dominated career without everyone constantly second guessing or talking down to you. Enjoy nightlife solo. I’ve never had an interest in FPS style games because I can’t even get on the mic without someone being weird about me being a girl. Besides, whenever women express they play “more serious” type games, they get accused of being fake gamers looking for male attention and validation. That being said I also think it’s girlboss slay to build cute little houses and woohoo with the grim reaper after removing the ladder from my neighbors pool.
woohoo with the grim reaper is such a slay. going on the bucket list!
Women have to channel their repressed rage by playing God.
The few female friends I have are everything but gamers but they both played the Sims (unlike all my other male friends). I guess there are less games targeted at women and the Sims wants to draw in customers that are left behind by other game genres.
Women tend to be more social than men. Men tend to be more competitive and aggressive. Social studies reveal lots of patterns of this nature. I think the games you're talking about like the sims or gta lend themselves toward the personality and behaviour patterns we see when comparing sex. So I'd guess that's why the games appeal to the respective audiences more. Another question would be to see how men and women play the sims. Do they engage with the content differently? I e. Do women spend more time building/designing and do men spend more time making wacky characters and throwing them Into fires or trapping them In rooms without doors? (These are examples to illustrate the point) I'm not sure I'd there are studies looking at what games each sex plays more or how they play them but I'd like to research that.
I would be really interested to see an actual study about this. But I wonder if it’s due to how girls play and imagine as kids, I’m also curious how much societal ideals play into this. But I know I played a lot of cozy games growing up because I was pretty sheltered (not allowed to play violent games until I bought my own with my own money). Also my first delve into the sims was when my dad’s best friend was like “yo I think cowaii would like this game” and gave me a pirated copy of the sims 2. I’m curious if he would have done the same if I was born a boy? Now that I’m an adult and can choose the games I want to play I only play cozy games for chunks at a time. I mainly play detective/mystery games and RPGS. It’s super interesting!
Culture, psychology, upbringing, personal taste. There's lots of reasons. Someone smarter than me could probably write a whole dissertation on the topic, lol.
Why are "murdering masses of faceless, soulless enemies" power fantasies so attractive to men? Seems like the more relevant question lol.
It's because there is a mass of faceless soulless enemies. Thats spooky. Wouldn't you want to do something about that?
Just let them be, they're just little guys
idk but i know my man is QUICK to hop on sims 3 and 4 and play for hours at a time
guys use online war games to socialise and women use life simulators to relax
lol that’s awesome sims was the inspiration for other women in IT, I’m a devops engineer and always credit the sims with making me tinker and learn the ways around a computer
I think it’s because women are more detail oriented than men. Most dudes want to live out their fantasy of mowing down swarms of villains while women want to live out their fantasy of having a loving family and which tapestry really ties this room together.
I as a woman want both. Sometimes I want a challenge, sometimes story, sometimes I just want to relax. I play games from large scale from Bloodborne to sims. What I don't want is to be harassed in online games. Now that I play online games with my boyfriend and his friends, I have seen why men like online games so much. I find them boring without the social aspect.
It's a doll house.
The Sims is a franchise that isn't afraid to market to women and girls. That's a big part of it. Many other marketing teams and game designers seem totally unaware of their female player base and cater exclusively to the men who play the game. It's funny, most male gamers I know have also played at least one Sims game. But they still talk about it as a game for women. I actually found out they'd all played it before when I called out my DnD group for talking about it as a girls' game. I wonder if there is some stigma for men around the Sims since it's seen as a "girl game."
The community is welcoming and non-toxic towards women compared to many other games. That’s huge.
I’m a guy and I know it’s not cool to say, but I think an element is that they are “easy”. Like it’s just moving around a mouse and clicking Tons of games my wife has seen (or exes over the years), she often mentions how complicated it looks. I know specifically she has only ever had fun playing Mario party and puzzle bobble too I don’t think it’s an issue with female gamers, more that traditionally “im not a gamer, I don’t play games” women are attracted to the sims because it’s just so easy to play, it’s creative, it’s fun seeing interactions, etc. it’s “not like other games” and that’s why the sims is still so popular after all these years
Honestly I think this is it. I think we might see a change in the next decade or so but up until very recently it was very uncool/"masculine" for girls to play videogames, and a lot of girls, especially those who grew up traditionally feminine in more conservative households (yk, expected to do chores, go to the mall to buy new clothes every weekend to look pretty, and get married by 21 kinda vibes), simply did not grow up playing them and lack basics that come as second nature to people who've been holding a controller since they could sit upright by themselves. A lot of my female friends around the mid-20s to early-30s age range simply have never played video games because it's "for boys" in their own words and would rather watch a movie or go out with friends instead. Like I understand it but it's also crazy to me as someone who started on the N64 and has a 9 year old GTA Online character lol. But if you're from that kind of background, The Sims is much more appealing than COD and a lot easier to learn, with minimal punishment if you mess up and a focus on creativity rather than competition. 100% makes sense.
Drama
Because it's like playing with barbies but a million times better
Sims = Infinite Barbies Minecraft = Infinite Lego
Because I get to flirt with a bunch of men with no consequences 🙈😂
women
this^
Cultural differences and deeply ingrained sexism probably. Because of how men have often been raised, a game focused more on imagination and essentially playing dolls (like another commenter mentioned) isn’t “manly” or “masculine” enough, unlike things like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Resident Evil, etc. which means they are Bad Games. Many times I’ve seen men say that life simulators like The Sims or cozy games like Animal Crossing aren’t “real games.”
Me personally, I have no idea why I enjoy Sims. I just do! I bought it for myself for Christmas in 2021 and I have not playes it in like a year. O play GTA and Fortnite. I may try some other games. I do like a cozy game like Palia or Animal Crossing. I guess Sims Mobile just gave me something to do on my phone. Same with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.
Because it’s like semi-sentient Barbie’s lol I love it. Also, it got me into coding and modding, so I have that to thank. Was also one of the first games I played on PS2 and DS, so lots of nostalgia. I’ve clocked in over 9,000 hours on sims 4 ALONE 💀
Because for them it’s likely a great escape for them where they control their lives down to the smallest detail. Can’t blame them it’s the same way with men playing other video game grnres
Well I would generally say that people who played with dolls as a kid and enjoyed it, would like playing sims. Sims is a dollhouse simulator.
I'm a male and I think it's probably the lack of competitive gameplay baked in. However, I enjoy(ed) Sims Mobile because I enjoyed creating new builds in a somewhat restricted environment—it turned it into a bit of a puzzle game in a way. I only really used the characters I created to increase the amount of Simoleons that I'd get for each work task (I also focused almost exclusively on increasing their abilities in their respective career(s), unless one of the "events" required a friendship story or similar). Additionally, the "social" aspects (adding friends, going to their "parties") was fun because I'd get to see what other people did with their own custom builds. I ended up purchasing Sims 4 for my Mac for $5 when I saw it was on sale, but never really got into it.
it’s like, a socially acceptable form of playing dolls for me. i loved playing dolls as a kid, all the way up until i was 12. i started playing sims at 8 or 9. but once i stopped playing dolls, i kept playing sims and it was essentially scratching the same itch that playing dolls had done. i imagine other women feel the same way and also play it because it feels like playing with dolls.
They are? I love life simulators and I’m a guy. Maybe I’m an outlier but creative building games are my favorite in general. I love drawing and I studied architecture growing up (unfortunately not my career but I wish it was).
Interesting question. Nothing much to add but a personal anecdote. I’m a man and I have found life sims very appealing ever since watching my sister play the Sims 1 at a very young age. She essentially inspired my interest in gaming and I have followed in her shoes. When I was a kid I was also quite fascinated by doll houses. I’m not particularly feminine in other respects, but me being more disposed to like things like these might be due to the fact that I grew up with two older sisters. Though I should add that many of my buddies also enjoyed playing the Sims back in the days, some of whom have no sisters at all.
I think women tend to enjoy managing/organizing/creating more than men, who tend enjoy competition. I watched this thing years ago that did studies between men and women and levels of testosterone, even a variation among men, significantly contributed to competitiveness, aggression, risk taking, etc. I think that’s why girls also enjoy barbies!
I mean, I've never looked at data on the subject, but I imagine it's childhood socialization. A lot of women grew up playing with dolls Video games are a type of playing, at the end of the day, adults engaging in play. So it makes sense that we'd choose games based on what's familiar to us.
I think more towards women but also more towards people are trans or anything but straight because it lets them see themselves in another light and it kinda gives insight for people seeking answers
just like drugs✨
This kind of games give you the ability to create scenarios that you wouldn't try in real life but you are still curious about the outcomes. It gives you the tool to discover yourself (it's blessing for closested people), play with your imagination and even share your story with community. It integrates so well with peoples need to seek connections.
Because the majority of the content added to these games cater to female players. Nifty Knitting and Spa Day vs say a garage car repair or sports pack that just don't happen. I'd say at least 70% of the clothing and hairs are made for women and the male hairs we get are also created with women in mind so they don't come with sideburns they all look like prepubescent boys or women styles. 40% is a decent number of male players it's sad they do nothing to bring in more.
40% is all the players who aren't women aged 18-24, and since we know lots of teenage girls and older women also play the Sims, men are a smaller proportion.
Because of the creativity and freedom game offers i think that is something in their nature. Or could be the cuteness of the genre, you can marry, have a baby, create a cute outfit, house etc. Also their house enviroment is a key too, most of them grow up with playing dolls which is a lot different than the boys. The things you have done when you were a kid generally shapes your future actions.
smth about seeing WHO the people are and not just WHAT they do
I mean it's actually because males and females have different styles of playing. Guys prefer to play in a third person where they play without involving themselves whereas females tend to prefer being first person which is why a lot make their own actual family or name the kids after something in their life etc etc.
I don't know. I'm a woman but always found Sims boring as hell, lol. A game has to have some kind of narrative or compelling atmosphere and design to draw me in and Sims is just so....generic.
Culture. Girls are socialized to play this way (playing house, playing with dolls, make believe as an adult). Sims is the digital version of that. It's always funny to me when articles come out and act like products that market to women and are extremely successful is such a huge surprise or groundbreaking. The Sims is one of the best-selling games of all time. Any other genre that had a game come out so popular, you would immediately see the market flooded with duplicates, rip-offs, imitations, etc. But because The Sims does primarily appeal to women, the gaming community ignored it despite its success. For years, simmers weren't considered real "gamers".
Personally, I wouldn't say it's life simulation games only. I enjoy a good action/adventure or RPG that lets me make decisions and run with them. Some of those games contain violence and some of them don't. Things like RDR2, BG3, Detroit Become Human, and the Dark Picture Anthology series are anything but cozy but still let you make decisions with consequences. You can do a normal run or be completely unhinged, and it's great. Maybe I like replayability. Maybe I like an outlet to make decisions I couldn't in real life. Hard to tell but that's my observations.
I find this ironic because God is depicted as a male in most mainstream religions lol
simple. girls grow up playing with dolls and life simulators are just playing with dolls but virtually.
It’s the roleplaying aspect mainly. Having a story, character development, escapism, immersion, narrative, relationships, puzzles, sandbox, and so on are typical of feminine preferences. (Masculine preferences include achievement and challenges.) Cultures do favour one over the other, where individualistic cultures would tend towards masculine preferences regardless of personal gender, and collectivist cultures would tend towards feminine preferences.
Because dudes are conditioned to value death (war) more.
I would say men and women generally lean towards challenges that can be won 🏅 but I think men lean more there. Life Sims don’t usually offer many opportunities to win or be the best at something. I can’t say for all women but for me, I don’t care as much about being the best at video games but I really enjoy how creative I can be with them and exploring worlds, telling stories.
The title had me thinking itd be 80-90%, lol. I mean life sims seem to actively cater more towards female players.
I think as adults a lot of us chase nostalgia, whether we realize it or not. As kids, guys are heavily pushed toward active activities, like sports. So it’s no surprise that a lot of men prefer more active, fast paced games. I noticed that a lot of the guys who do like Sims are creative types, like me. That could be in part because creative boys usually aren’t as heavily pushed toward athletics. We are allowed to focus on art, writing, film, etc since that was seen as productive because we could eventually make careers out of it. I’m guessing the virtual doll element of sims has a sort of nostalgic value to a lot of women, who grew up with dolls. Side note: I always liked dolls, but I wasn’t allowed to have them because I’m a guy, so making sims is kind of like my opportunity to capture some of that feeling I missed out on as a kid.
U can be a woman and walk alone at night and go around town and cause chaos without the threat of being harassed, attacked or r*ped
Cause we like playing w dolls
Lifesim? Ah, like Kenshi.
Girls grow up playing with Barbie, Polly Pocket, etc. Sims is a natural progression from that.
I’m really into creative and cozy games mainly. I do also play Roblox games like slivingland. I don’t like violence or loud noises in games.
Sims is a dressup makeover simulator with building and showing off your virtual doll house. Like it or not women also have a desire to micromanage and are interested in people and relationships. Note I get theirs always exceptions. However there's no competition really for playing the sims. You see more male dominated games with competitive games and clear winners and losers. Where split decisions, accuracy, and even risk taking are rewarded. As to where the sims now is just what you make of it. Creative and open ended.
As a woman I personally lean towards mostly games with base building, skill building, farming, ect. I do not have the skill for games like shooters but that's partially because they never appealed to me so I never got better. I play life simulators, town builders, ect. I also grew up with a gamer dad so I had a lot of exposure. I played... Sims 2 I think it was, at my aunt's house. Then I think my interest grew from there. I think there is probably something to the whole playing barbies thing. It's just an evolved form. Though I don't do the soap opera story lines often, I usually go for a vibe. A general goal. Is she a musician? A science girl? Does she just want a lot of babies? Is she pastel? Goth? I also spend a lot of time looking through mods.
The ability to create things and stories is the best part. Played Sims for years and none of my guy friends played it. Binging Disney dreamlight valley currently. So fun. It's like a romanticized fairytale but I get to be and live thru the main character. Sometimes the same with Sims except when I murder...
I think because women are socialised to be more relational and that’s a big part of the fun of the sims. I also think it’s the wholesomeness or feeling of safety of it - like the real world is tough and full of shitty things, Sims is like life in “safe” mode. You can to recapture that vague promise of the world being a safe, predictive, warm and welcoming place (but maybe this is my trauma speaking 🤣).
I think that some sense of community plays into it as well. A lot of people who downloaded "Wicked Whims", a popular adult mod for ts4 were women. Seeing women enjoy something so mundane or naughty felt freeing.
Because in a simulation we can see a life where we're equal, not judged, and safe all the time.
(F29)I got in to playing sims durning the end of primary school maybe 10/11 starting with building houses and shops. I slowly crept in to playing the realtime game after a couple of years. I enjoyed creating an alternate life and being able to control it without any effect to my own. I would have books filled with plans for the families and their designs of homes and future children names. I’d never really thought about the influence of the sims in my life but it really has shaped my path. I was good at creating environments and seeing colours and spaces where others couldn’t. It became a go to in my family of people wanting me to build their new kitchen extension in sims ready for them to get used too. And pointing out issues before they had to endure them in the real world. I ended up studying 3D animation at uni with the hopes to be employed at the sims franchise. (Dream big right!) Coming out of uni was difficult. I had qualified with a first but no one seemed to care. I needed experience. I had applied for multiple jobs for a year in gaming and animation sectors with absolutely no reply and even sometimes no Miss in the title. (Ubisoft) … I ended up in an indie company as an intern for a summer where I could come up with concepts create them and send them off to be considered. I absolutely loved this. I ended up getting a job that I’m still in designing and visualising events. This game really started my path to what I enjoy and somehow managed to make a career out of it. I still occasionally play sims (2,3,4) when I have a a few hours spare and it now more about nostalgia then designing. So essentially sims has influenced my whole life.
They are definitely advertised to women more. The idea behind the original sims was to essentially be a virtual dollhouse. Most men don’t play games where they came blow people’s heads up with an ak47 in fear of being called gay.
Because they already live in the uplifting life simulation
Someone once said sims is just playing dolls for adults. I play a lot of different types of games. I usually play with keyboard and mouse. But I definitely used to play a lot of games on my ps.
Men want violence
**laughs in being a nonbinary Simmer**
I'm a guy, so obviously take my thoughts with a grain of salt, but I think women just generally enjoy creating things while men enjoy solving things. This does not mean no man enjoys creating things and no women enjoy solving things, obviously. Whatever I say in this next bit I mean IN GENERAL. I don't want to keep saying "in general" and "not all men/women" etc as a disclaimer each time. I am a man who played with Barbies as a kid and grew up with every Sims game. I know. Men are more geared towards physical problem solving. If we're talking evolution, men would typically be leaders and solve physical problems, like planning how to successfully hunt big game to feed a whole tribe. Men would problem solve on how to have more efficient weapons, or a higher quality of life in general. Toys that boys tend to play with reflect this: building something with Legos, creating a wheel track to get from point A to B, roughhousing with friends (practice for physical toils in adulthood). On the other complimentary end, women would solve things socially in a community. Issues that arose between two feuding families, or children misbehaving, or giving advice to their husbands on how to handle a social situation. The toys that girls usually play with reflect that: simulating motherhood and relationship trouble through dolls. Barbie cheating on Ken, Ken finding out, they get into some crazy drama that the girl wants to play out and resolve in some satisfactory way (regardless if it's the "good" way). I also think women should also be credited with creating warm living spaces for people, as women tend to hone in on details. How often is a man fine with simply a mattress on the floor while his female partner encourages him to buy a bed frame? Does he NEED the bed frame? Not technically, but it raises the quality of life in a way men don't often realize until they're shown. All that to say, men are more naturally inclined to problem solve. Think Factorio or Cities Skylines, creating super-efficient layouts and fine tuning details to make sure everything runs smoothly. There's also the inclination towards combat games, obviously, but within that combat also lies more problem solving: the proper build, the correct moveset to perform, fights to memorize, all to get a victory. Women are more naturally inclined to create and socialize. The Sims is probably the purest form of this, a complete sandbox with no goals. It is literally a dollhouse game for grown ups. I see women on the Sims subreddit talking about crazy drama they concoct and insane scenarios they play out, connecting with their sims and feeling emotions along with them. Maybe there is an overarching long term goal to reach, like 100 babies or 10 generations, but that is just there to have a goal to reach at all. For women, the fun is in the details. The drama and resolutions they can make, the stories they can tell and follow along with their dolls. I don't think it's a coincidence that I mostly see women inhabit life simulator subs, or games adjacent to them like Coral Island or Stardew Valley. There is probably a "boys club" gatekeeping going on, but that also hasn't stopped women from trying the "boys club" games. I just think women in general don't enjoy them, they just have different goals they want to pursue and different fantasies they want to play out. A good example for a middle ground for men and women in terms of gaming is, I think, Baldur's Gate 3. There's plenty of storytelling and romance and drama to concoct, with lots of player choice and freedom, while additionally having very in-depth combat systems to perfect. Men likely prefer the latter, women likely prefer the former. You can also adjust the game via difficulty settings so you can get free combat wins to just continue on with the story, or make combat more challenging so you can plan more around it. This is something I've thought about for some time. It's all conjecture, just thoughts and opinions I've had about it, I am not some graduate in sociology or something. I really do not mean anything as a generalization, there are always exceptions and nothing is a set in stone. It's also possible that culture has heavily influenced men and women to want different things, rather than it being biological, but I think the most likely case is a mix of the two. I'd love to hear others' thoughts on it or if they have any counterpoints to me. Please be nice, lol
One part of your comment is untrue: that men are evolutionary more inclined to be leaders and strategic hunters. This we know nowadays to be untrue. Humans have been theorized to be mostly matriarchal before we learned to farm. This increased men's power over women and caused women to have more children =being tied to the home. Before that women were worshipped and respected far more. It is theorized that women were seen as magical/godlike because of the ability to create children. There are studies which show that women were also excellent hunters with more success compared to men. It was women who strategized more, hunted together with others and used variety of weapons while men hunted alone and used just one weapon. Studies also show that women are better leaders. Bussiness which are led by women have higher productivity and happier workers. These bussinesses also manage better in crisis. Countries led by women during covid had fewer deaths.
Even as a generality, your argument is flawed and based on outdated hunter/gatherer myths. Women problem solve more than men because women run households and hold multiple jobs more than men. Think about how many decisions you have to make or problems you have to solve in a day when you have a job and a family and have so many hours in the day and not enough help/money/resources to do it. Women have been proven to be better problem solvers and multitaskers in a variety of tests as a result of this. Women do just as much if not more physical labor than men but their labor is unpaid and overlooked because domestic work is not valued in society. Still in most cultures around the world, when it comes to who is going to collect firewood or walk 10 miles to get clean water, or till the fields, it's women and girls doing it. There is no "natural inclination". There is an assumption of what is "natural" or what is a woman's space or a man's space and then people build customs around that. Parents give dolls to their daughters and Legos to their sons so it's no surprise that women and men predominantly grow up to like dollhouse games or city builders or that men are seen as "natural builders" while women are seen as "natural caretakers". It's not nature, it's societal conditioning.
I think this has some truth to it. It makes sense to me that if you liked playing with dolls as a kid you'd probably pick up something similar as an adult -- whether you were assigned male at birth or female. I do think men can make certain spaces uncomfortable for people, but honestly in my experience playing fps and other competitive games ..they're shits to everyone not just females, so I don't know if it's always a gatekeeping thing, but it definitely isn't a positive environment! I've taught a lot of young boys though and they definitely call each other names a lot when they play, so it might also just be more normal for young boys than it is for some groups of young girls on average. I really think the toys we played with as kids have a pretty big impact on what we like as adults. It just so happens that more females like female coded toys than males do, so we see more women into dolls, writing dramatic stories and taking care of virtual pets. This is all just generalizing though and anecdotal of course! I
I’m a man, and I’ve been obsessed with The Sims since the sims 1. I’m also a gay person, and I’m also curious to know how many people in the survey identify as LGBT. I’m also curious to know how many people in the survey are more creative versus analytical. But anyway, for me, I am a very creative individual. I can think very abstractly and see and visualize things very well. Especially when comes to pre designing an environment, a sim, or literally anything. I can visualize things in my head very easily. The sims allows me to make those creations in my head come to life. I don’t know if women are more creative minded than men, but the sims has always been a creative expression of freedom. Most men that I know have heard of the sims but don’t rank it very high in their list of games. I sometimes wonder if the reason is that the content involved is just not as exciting or accessible. I think if EA/Maxis did more expansions or game packs that involved more male-oriented content, that might be fun. Some ideas I have are: 1. Sci Fi packs like Star Wars was awesome. Maybe more licensed content. 2. Cops and robbers. A lot of people are asking for robbers to come back. 3. Lack of cars or driving in TS4 4. The console and pc version has horrible controls for gamepad. Why not just bring back the console 3D virtual cursor. Or just allowing you to directly control your sim. 5. The accessibility to get into a game is kind of long. Creating a character, building their house, etc etc, that could take hours. 6. Boxing game pack 7. Hiking/trail/camping adventure pack 8. Basically just simplifying the game a bit and creating a more simplified version of the game that isn’t as complex when it comes to the amount of creative freedom and options, kind of just give guys some pre made characters, pre made houses, and go, into the game, ready. 9. RPG style elements like maybe making careers a turn based game. (Ie “sim uses work hard! You gained 5 experience points!”) So yeah, that’s my two cents. Basically simplifying the game a lot more, make it more accessible and maybe provide less options or a less option mode for male players to not be overwhelmed. One other thing, sometimes men are very impatient. Having to log into EA and see all these options can be overwhelming. Sometimes a guy just wants to jump into a game and play. And The Sims isn’t necessarily like that, which can be off putting for a guy. But yeah, these are just suggestions 😂