We discussed the treatment of gender extensively as we were planning our first game. I self-identify as a feminist, and I’ve worked to promote equality for the LGBT community in my non-gaming professional life. So I started off with a firm commitment to the idea that our games had to be good on gender issues.
Many video games assume a male protagonist, and I actively wanted to avoid that presumption. At the same time, our games require a certain amount of identification between the player and the character. A game that’s written in the second person runs into problems if the player can’t accept that “you” means both the character and the player.
Once we settled on a dragon as the protagonist of our first game, “Choice of the Dragon,” many of the gender issues became easy. No need at all for us to assign a sex to the player’s dragon—it’s perfectly easy to ask the player what their dragon’s sex is. Likewise, even the mating scene could be done in a purely gender-neutral way. Players who wanted to play a straight male dragon could. Players who wanted to play a female dragon seeking a female mate could. And people who wanted to leave that whole issue vague could as well.
The next step was simply being conscious about the genders we assigned to the various other characters that the player meets. We (or at least I, without objection from the rest of the team) wanted to make sure that we didn’t apply patriarchal assumptions about the gender of a knight or a wizard. We did end up switching around the genders of the dragon’s clutchmate and the evil wizard, but that was just because Dan thought that Axilmeus was more of a male dragon’s name.
The biggest sticking point was really the most iconic. Dan was committed to the idea that dragons kidnap princesses. From his perspective, that was a necessary trope in the fire-breathing dragon genre. I was equally committed to the idea that kidnapping princesses but not princes conveys a message of dependence and incompetence about women that was not acceptable. We ended up deciding to directly confront the player with it with a choice, which we thought was sufficiently amusing to put into our screenshots for promoting the mobile versions. Working on balancing the issues between using tropes and avoiding the long and ugly history of patriarchy in fantasy ended up producing fun gameplay.
Handling gender in our next game, where the protagonist is human, is a much more complicated issue. But that’s for another post…
{ 14 } Comments
I was linked to “Choice of the Dragon” today, and I’ve been enjoying it greatly! I definitely noticed the care you took on gender, and I really appreciated it. It’s always a breath of fresh air to see a game (or anything) that gets it right. Thank you!
And I’m looking forward to your next game already. :P
Funny thing: the issue of kidnapping princesses but not princes, is what drew me into this game… well that i the chance to BE the dragon ^_^
I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the option of playing either gender, and being allowed to choose the gender of the mate I chose. It might seem trivial to some people, but it’s SO rare in games that when I see sane, fun things like that I just become very happy. The game is awesome, too.
What’s the next game about?? :)
I agree. The question about sexism was one thing that really pointed the app out to me. It seemed to be full of humour, which it is.
“I was equally committed to the idea that kidnapping princesses but not princes conveys a message of dependence and incompetence about women”
SRSLY?
Yes, seriously. Storylines about men consistently rescuing women send messages about dependence and about appropriate gender roles. They implicitly assert that the appropriate gender roles for women are passive and as dependents, whereas the appropriate roles for men are active and as protectors (often with an implicit message of protectors and owners). I view that as wrong.
@Squirrel, I think your point is fair that Adam’s remark sounds silly. I think it’s partly because Adam is criticizing something “normal.” Usually we only criticize things that are abnormally bad; we often defend our own behavior by pointing out that we’re doing something “perfectly normal.”
People who try to hold us to an abnormally high standard sound “holier than thou,” by implying that they’re better than ordinary people who do normal things; all the more so when they have a rich vocabulary.
The question is: does Adam sound silly because he’s wrong? Or does Adam sound silly because he’s right? :-)
P.S. YA SRSLY.
Another fan of how sex and gender was treated in this game! Not only was it refreshing to a play a game with that take on the trope (as well as having a queen, female knights and wizards, etc), but also seeing how the creators discussed it openly and honestly was also great. The way it was all handled was also wonderful.
I was recommended this game by other friends of mine who told me about how it handled sex and gender – now I’m recommending it as well. You guys have done a great job making a fun, enjoyable game where I don’t have to pretend women are more than plot devices or objects.
I also really appreciated the variety of genders in the story – it actually added a lot of intrigue.
I just had to thank you for the gender considerations you made when creating this. You did a great job with it, and I liked the sense of humor you used in your approach. I was pleasantly surprised, and it’s little touches like that which made me love this little game so much! I’m often so frustrated by the patriarchial slants to games, that to see a little free online game try to correct that, actually gives me hope that more advanced games will take that under consideration.
I wish you luck with future games! I hope to see more.
This is one of the few games I’ve seen that deals with issues regarded as stereotypical and sexist properly. Not only that, you nailed it!
Most games seem to avoid the issue, treat something with the currently politically correct attitude no matter if it fits within the time and culture the game takes place, or word it vaguely.
I love that not only did you let the player decide how the character is going to be, but you did it without breaking the role-play, and making it FUNNY.
Great job on one of my new favorite games. Can’t wait for more!
Well done on what you’ve been able to achieve regarding genders and stereotypes. Allowing the player himself or herself to choose their own gender, the gender of their mate and even the gender of who they kidnap (heh) is definitely the way to go forward.
I really like the game, abit short maybe. Eagerly awaiting a followup!!
does it really matter?
{ 1 } Trackback
[...] it deals with sex and gender. One of the game designer self-identifies as a feminist, and he made a conscious decision to be progressive on sex and gender issues: Many video games assume a male protagonist, and I [...]
Post a Comment