Play Like a Feminist

Shira Chess' book begins brightly. She has taken on a difricult task – combining feminist theory with game theory to argue for more feminists in video games. The task is certainly not beyond her expertise or ability, and in the first two chapters the combination works well, with well-presented thoughts on the privilege of leisure and the bias of what "play" means.

From then it unfortunately falls into its own pits. Chess admits that she is a white, middle-class person in the USA and wants to avoid generalising feminism, but simultaneously she uses a very universalising "we" throughout much of the book and makes broad statements ("49% of adults play games") without considering the western or wealthy bias in these statements. It's a pity because her analyses and thoughts on play are well presented (and playful!), but in the end the book doesn't live up to its promise.