The author of this book is currently a senior designer for Sony Online Entertainment. She has more than a decade of experience in game design and development, and is also the co-chair for the Women in Game Development committee of the International Game Developers Association. These credentials make the author well qualified to write this book on gender issues in game design.

One premise of the book is that the game market can be expanded beyond the primary target of “males ages 13-25”; today’s females are more technically aware than ever before, and currently make up 70 percent of casual online gamers. Ray claims that past failures in targeting females need not be a measure of future market potential, if game developers pay attention to the gender issues and barriers discussed in the book.

This book is just under 200 pages long, and is organized into 13 chapters. Conceptually, the book can be divided into three sections. The first section, which would include the first ten chapters, addresses issues related to game design and gender issues. The second conceptual section is on women in the game industry. This section includes chapters 11 and 12. The last chapter (chapter 13) can be considered a summary of the book as a whole, and would constitute the third conceptual section.

The book starts with a five-page introduction that outlines a brief history of the game industry’s attempts to expand toward covering female gamers, while summarizing industry tendencies that are not appealing to them. The 13 chapters of the book are titled:

“(1) Females and Machines”

“(2) Evolution of Female Characters in Computer Games”

“(3) Conflicts and Conflict Resolution Styles in Game Design”

“(4) Stimulation and Entertainment”

“(5) Learning and Communications Styles in Computer Game Development”

“(6) Reward and Gameplay”

“(7) Avatar Selection”

“(8) Puzzle Games”

“(9) Online and Wireless Games”

“(10) The Design Document - A Case Study”

“(11) Women in Game Industry Workplace”

“(12) Influential Women in Computer Game Development”

“(13) But What if the Player is Female?”

The first ten chapters cover 145 pages. The chapters are more or less equal in length, which means topics are addressed with a reasonable amount of balance. Chapter 10, “The Design Document - A Case Study,” is the only chapter that falls short of the expectation generated from its title. I had expected a much more comprehensive case study.

The back cover states: “The games industry is currently growing faster than the target market. To keep the industry strong and growing, game developers must start looking at expanding their market, which means designing titles that are accessible to the female audience.”

The author makes game developers think in gender-inclusive ways, by exposing gender issues and barriers such as entertainment criteria and responses, the differences in reward systems, game play preferences, and avatar (primary character) selection criteria.

The book covers topics related to game development in broad strokes; as such, it could be useful at many levels. This is not a technical book on game design and development. Rather, it outlines the broad requirements of gender-inclusive game design by pointing out past mistakes in game design and marketing, as well as research findings related to gender issues.

Although I do not work in this area, I found the book easy to read, thought provoking, informative, and entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in game design in general, and in gender inclusive game design in particular.