A Five-Year-Old girl and her Video Game

In case you haven't yet read this charming article, I thought I would share it. An adorable local five-year-old named Cassie created a video game with her father recently at Toronto indie Game Jam. The game (found here: http://www.untoldentertainment.com/blog/2011/05/24/sissys-magical-ponycorn-adventure/), centres around a little girl's search for ponycorns (ponies that are unicorns, in case you were wondering).

The game is sweet, full of logic only found in the brains of small children. What made me think, however, was that this little girl was actually having fun creating something (a video game), that is often only associated with men. The creation has become a form of play for her, as she illustrated all the graphics and voiced the main character.

So often, people bemoan that video games are anti-social. Not only does this ignore that playing video games is in incredibly social (as found in Bart Simon's article), but the creation of games is also. Games are rarely created by one person, but rather require teams of builders working in cooperation with one another. Events like game jams bring people together to bond over creating something they love. It's fantastic that Cassie's dad recognizes that events like this are creative opportunities and a chance for his daughter to learn. No little girls had ever attended the event prior to this, let alone made their own game. I'm hoping this inspired more parents to let their children see if they enjoy this sort of activity.

Something that's important to note is that Cassie was introduced to games and programming in a way that related it to something she liked (in this case, ponycorns). She got to pick the content of her work and think up the narrative. Rather than presuming that she wouldn't be interested in games or telling her what to do, Cassie got to carve out her own space. What's more is that her dad let her know that her success means more girls like her will be welcomed to the event. With the decline in women in programming,there needs to be attention put towards engaging young girls and women in fields that are typically not open to them. Doing this in a creative and fun way will hopefully start bringing women into the field more successfully than more traditional means.