Girl gamers are more likely to play at the office than a game centre.

MA Htay Htay Myint might be looking at the bean soup boiling away on the gas stove but she’s thinking about the game she paused on her personal computer. She has become addicted to computer games downloaded from the internet, despite often complaining to her husband that he is spending too much time on the computer.

She says she was introduced to the games by a work colleague, who sat next to her in the office.

“I saw her playing a game one day, shooting colourful balls by using the computer mouse. The game has eight levels to complete and then you can go to next difficult part. I watched her playing for about 30 minutes and then I wanted to play myself. I played it just for a while and took it home,” she says.
She says she loves playing these simple games but they have caused problems for her at work.

“The first few weeks were a little bit awkward as I wanted to play it at work whenever I got free time. Once, I almost had a heart attack when my boss caught me playing games,” she says.

“That’s over now, though. I still play games but just at home after I’ve done housework or cooking. While both men and women like games, men seem like they would play them without eating and sleeping. Women are different. Of course I play games but just within my limits,” she says with a laugh.

It has been about three years since Ma Thidar began playing games regularly at home. She says she never thought computer games could be so fun (or addictive). But she borrowed a memory stick from one of her friends and happened to see a game named jumping eggs, where the player puts eggs into a bag using the arrow keys.

“I was just curious about the game and tried it. Since then, I’ve been addicted to those small games and have never stopped. I’m not interested in playing the football management games or the strategy games boys are addicted to. I love games like scrabble, dominoes and rummy squares,” Ma Thidar said.

But while women and girls do play computer games, you won’t find them in Yangon’s many game centres, which are crowded only with boys and young men. Many are intimidated because there are no other girls playing.
But, of course, a large proportion of women have no interest in playing computer games, like office worker Ma Yin Mar.

“I’ve never played any video or computer games in my life,” she says. “I have always thought they are just made for boys. I often buy game CDs for my younger brothers but I’m not interested in playing them.”