Girl gamers: the controversy of girl games and the relevance of female-oriented game design for instructional design

Digital games have typically been considered a male leisure activity; however, recent statistics indicate that increasing numbers of females are now playing games. The purpose of this review is to investigate how the influx of girl gamers and the emergence of female-oriented game design can inform instructional design for the construction of interactive learning environments. This review presents an overview of digital games and gender, an outline of girl games and ‘pink’ software, a discussion of the controversy of girl games, and a review and discussion of the research and implications of female-oriented game design for instructional design. The goal of this review is to examine the influx of girl gamers into a male pastime and to analyse the implications of this for the design of interactive learning environments.