While many of us pick up video games daily with little to no thought about the people behind them, we here at NAG thought that Women’s Day was the perfect excuse to delve into who the creators behind some of our favourite video game titles are.
If you’re looking for ideas on what to spend your public holiday playing or just looking to learn a bit about the people behind the games, here are eight amazing games created by women.
Portal – Kim Swift
Kimberly Swift is a video game designer best known for her work at Valve. Kim was the lead designer on Portal, a game that Valve picked up after noticing a game Kim had developed called Narbacular Drop, a game which used all the portal-based mechanics Portal would become synonymous with.
While working on Portal, Kim worked as a team leader and level designer. Later, she would be awarded the Game Developers’ Choice Award for Best Narrative. Since working on Portal, Kim has also worked on the Left 4 Dead franchise and was featured by Fortune as one of the “30 Under 30” influential figures in the video game industry.
Journey – Robin Hunicke
Robin Hunicke began her career working for Electronic Arts in their Maxis division. Credited as the designer for The Sims 2: Open for Business, Robin would go on to become the lead designer for MySims on the Nintendo Wii. Robin would later produce Boom Blox and its sequel, Boom Blox: Bash Party.
After leaving her position at EA after multiple career successes, Robin was hired by thatgamecompany where she produced Journey before starting her own company called Funomena. Over the years, Robin has been widely recognised for her contribution and support of independent game development and her advocacy of women within the games industry.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Aya Kyogoku
It’s always inspiring when a woman goes into an industry and turns it on its head. Such is the case with Aya Kyogoku. Aya is currently credited with being the manager of Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning and Development Group, which oversees the Animal Crossing, Splatoon and Wii Sports franchises. However, Aya first made a name for herself in the industry with Animal Crossing, where she served as producer, director and supervisor.
Before joining the Animal Crossing team, Aya was a scriptwriter for both the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Aya was also the first woman to direct a video game at Nintendo Entertainment. After noticing that she was the only woman on the development team for Animal Crossing, Aya hired a new team that was half female. Aya everyone on her team to contribute game ideas, regardless of their role.
Uncharted – Amy Hennig
Credited as one of the most influential women in the video game industry by Edge magazine, Amy Hennig is no stranger to the world of video games. Amy started in the industry writing for Nintendo back in the late 1980s and is currently working as a game director and scriptwriter for Naughty Dog.
While her most notable work is undoubtedly the Uncharted series, of which she is the creator, Amy has many beloved games under her belt. From Jak and Daxter to Legacy of Kain and even the upcoming Forspoken.
BioShock and BioShock 2 – Alyssa Finley
Few franchises have experienced the same love and longevity as the BioShock franchise. Almost two decades on, the first BioShock game is still considered a “must play” by gaming enthusiasts worldwide.
Not only did Alyssa Finley work on the first two BioShock games, but her CV also includes classics such as Batman: The Telltale Series; The Walking Dead; Tales from the Borderlands and Minecraft: Story mode. Currently, Alyssa is credited as a producer at ILMxLAB, the company creating Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series.
Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider – Rhianna Pratchett
Rhianna Pratchett is a video game writer and part of writing royalty. Daughter of renowned fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, Rhianna’s CV includes Heavenly Sword, Overlord, Mirror’s Edge, and the first two games in the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy.
As part of her work on the Tomb Raider franchise, Rhianna Pratchett won an Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing at the 68th Writers Guild of America Awards in 2016 and Outstanding Achievement in Character for Lara Croft at the 19th annual D.I.C.E. Awards that same year. Rhianna has also written a bunch of Tomb Raider comics for Dark Horse.
Fran Bow – Natalia Figueroa
Fran Bow is considered one of the last decade’s most successful break-out indie games. Fran Bow was created by a Swedish gaming company known as Killmonday Games, which consists of two people, a husband and wife team.
A documentary for the game revealed that many of the dark overtones that define Fran Bow were based and borrowed heavily on Natalia’s own experiences growing up. Since Fran Bow, Natalia has also been listed as creator, writer and director for Little Misfortune and Different Galaxy.
Celeste – Maddy Thorson
In 2016, Celeste was developed for the PICO-8 virtual console during a game jam. After the event, Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry went to work on polishing and fleshing out the game, leading to the wildly popular Celeste we have today.
Over the years, Maddy Thorson has made a name for herself as one of Celeste’s lead creators and the lead creator for TowerFall. Forbes has also recognised Maddy as one of their 30 under 30 in the gaming category.
With that, we here at NAG would like to take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate all those in our lives who make every day just a little bit brighter, whether directly or indirectly. We hope everyone has a fantastic Women’s Day and that you get the chance to play all the games that your heart desires.
