Over at The Daily Beast, there is an article reporting on the phenomenon of women and moms playing evil social games like Mafia Wars. Women not only like to make cakes (Café World) and raise virtual families (FrontierVille). They also like to role-play Mafia-style.
Over at The Daily Beast, there is an article reporting on the phenomenon of women and moms playing evil social games like Mafia Wars. Women not only like to make cakes (Café World) and raise virtual families (FrontierVille). They also like to role-play Mafia-style.
Though Mafia Wars appeals to men, 30% of game players are women. With 20 million + players a month, that’s a lot of women role playing in a violent game more associated with men.
The article goes into the psychology of why women play such a violent game. Some women like to play and keep tabs of their kids (it’s literally a “family” affair). Others like an escape from the boredom of their lives. The big reason, an expert in the article supposes, is that the game is designed to be addictive (go figure…needed a PHD to come up with that theory).
The real story behind this story about moms playing Mafia Wars is that it should not come as a surprise at all. Years ago, there were tons of stories about women playing Grand Theft Auto, which was strange, since women are only supposed to like Barbie Dolls and sugar and spice and everything nice in games.
True, many women like G or PG themes in games, but the same can be said for some men. Others like more adult-themes, in their movies, books, and games. Some of the hidden object download games that appeal to women are very dark thematically.
I guess the real story here is that women and moms like to play games that are addictive.
