Meg Schlaadt, Game Design Graduate 24.02.26

Kia ora! My name is Meg Schlaadt, and I recently completed my honours project, a prototype fashion-styling game for like-minded people with interests in both fashion and games. As a child, growing up playing games meant that I was lucky enough to gain computer literacy, which shaped my future interests and technology skills. I believe being exposed to fashion games as a child helped fuel my love of personal expression and imagination. I was intrigued by the gap between the two fields. An interdisciplinary space that felt full of potential, even if I wasn’t sure how to approach it. I chose to develop this prototype in order to combine my creative interests, but also because it offers a way to validate and celebrate play styles that are often coded as feminine.

Digital dress-up games can offer a platform where creativity, fashion experimentation, and identity expression are all at the forefront of imagined styling. Assembling outfits and exploring fashion virtually opens up possibilities for real-world fashion influences combined with playful game environments. To give my game a connection to my local environment and a unique context, I reached out to RUBY asking for permission to replicate some of their garments in 3D as well as their boutique design. I was super grateful to get the approval and got started immediately on sourcing the visual references from both social media and the official website.

My project served as a practice-based investigation into the development of a dress-up game prototype informed by literature on feminine play styles and the representation of women in gaming. The practice-based research approach meant that theoretical concepts were explored while simultaneously learning and applying new technical skills using various software. I found that while recent statistics indicate that women represent nearly half of the market, and there is a rise of women and non-binary game developers, the video game industry continues to struggle with the persistence of masculine dominance surrounding the culture. This is not merely about numerical representation but a deeply rooted systematic issue.

The premise of my game prototype centres on a player-created character who runs a boutique. As this project lasted only one semester, my final prototype is proof of concept; however, the full gameplay plan was a meaningful part of the process for me. Planned gameplay involved decorating the space, managing inventory, setting prices, and selecting clothing to stock. The player is responsible for coordinating outfits for customers based on their style preferences, budgets, and other criteria. Successful interactions earn money, increase reputation, and build friendships. As players progress, they unlock additional clothing and cosmetic items, as well as new features such as fashion shows and competitions that test their skills. These features were chosen specifically to match my research.

A key question I asked myself throughout this project was, “How is my work celebrating feminine-coded playstyles?” The answers included social interaction (building relationships with customers), a clear narrative (rising stylist storyline), realistic settings and characters, a predictable menu structure, character customisation, the absence of sexualised content, and puzzle-like problem-solving (selecting correct clothing pieces). Unfortunately, much of the academic research on feminine-coded play styles is outdated. However, I still believe that these qualities contribute to compelling gameplay, not only for women but for many players in general.

Written by Meg Schlaadt