The Hidden History of Women Game Designers
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers
The Hidden History of Women Game Designers
Carmel Raz
November, 26, 2025
Summary
Educational games flourished from the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, reflecting new ideas about learning through play. Although women were largely excluded from formal education, educational games offered them creative and intellectual opportunities. Women such as Margaret Bryan, Alicia Mant, and Elizabeth Rowse designed board and card games to teach science, grammar, and mythology. Music theory became a particularly important area, with Anne Young’s patented Musical Games (1801) standing out for their complexity and influence. Despite later gendered critiques, women dominated the design of music educational games. This tradition continues today in modern digital music-learning games.
Reference
Raz, C. (2025, November 26). The hidden history of women game designers. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-history-of-women-game-designers/