The bold pleasure of Infinity Nikki: developing a game aimed at the female perspective.

      Envision, if you can, a standard open-world action-adventure game. Imagine players using magic to defeat monsters, navigating through decayed structures, and exploring rich, scattered lore. When you picture the protagonist of such a game, what do they look like? What are their traits? How do they dress? If you've experienced a game like this in the past, the first image that likely comes to mind is not that of a spirited, pink-haired teenage girl with a heart of gold and a keen fashion sense.

      However, that’s precisely what you find in the unexpectedly progressive Infinity Nikki. Created by Infold Games, Infinity Nikki is the newest title in the Nikki franchise, a series of free mobile dress-up games where players design outfits for the main character. The franchise is a hidden gem, boasting tens of millions of active players, even without the widespread recognition of titles like Mario or Call of Duty. Much of its success can be attributed to its appeal among women, who have long been drawn to a game that celebrates femininity in a medium that has historically overlooked it.

      With Infinity Nikki, Infold Games transformed its successful mobile format into a comprehensive open-world experience. Upon its launch in December 2024, the game quickly became a success, receiving over 20 million downloads in its first week—while maintaining its feminine essence. This success prompts a consideration for the gaming industry: Why did it take so long for a game like this to emerge when such a large audience was there for it? This inquiry provokes an examination of who games are intended for and how Infinity Nikki defies conventions.

      Genre and Gender

      Based on conventional genre and gaming studies, one might conclude that releasing a game like Infinity Nikki would be a financially risky decision. Numerous studies throughout gaming history have indicated that women are less attracted to such games than men. A 2017 study by Quantic Foundry analyzed survey data from over 270,000 gamers to chart genre preferences by gender. The findings revealed that men represented 82% of action-adventure players and 86% of open-world players. Such statistics might suggest that a game like Infinity Nikki would have a significantly limited potential player base. However, this was not the case.

      Does this signify that research studies have long relied on flawed data? Not necessarily. Quantic Foundry acknowledged at the time that the chance for games to deviate from those findings was greater than it appeared.

      “It’s also easy to interpret the genres in the chart and attribute the cause solely to gender differences in gaming motivations—e.g., women simply don’t prefer X or Y game mechanic—but there may be more at play,” Quantic Foundry noted. “For instance, games at the lower end of the chart often lack female protagonists, frequently involve playing with strangers online, and often have rapid 3D movement that can induce motion sickness (to which women are more prone). The low participation of female gamers in certain genres may be a historical product of how motivations and presentation have been packaged and marketed.”

      With that consideration, we notice a self-fulfilling cycle that has long been entrenched in the video game industry, one that Infinity Nikki breaks free from. Surveys and player data have led us to believe that some games are designated for “boys” and others for “girls.” Design choices have reinforced this notion, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

      Laura Mulvey’s concept of the “male gaze” can help explain this occurrence. Originally intended to critique cinema's biases, Mulvey's observations resonate in today’s video games. In her essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey discusses the subtle ways films assume that the viewer is male. This is reflected not only in the sexualization of women on screen but also in who propels the narrative, how the camera captures subjects, and how archetypes reinforce established gender dynamics. These principles are applicable to video games but adapted to the unique characteristics of an interactive medium.

      Breaking Barriers

      One can begin to appreciate what makes Infinity Nikki stand out by examining its protagonist, who is distinctive for a production of this magnitude. Video game history includes a variety of female heroes, but they often fit into categories crafted through a male perspective. In her 2013 video series Tropes vs Women in Video Games, Anita Sarkeesian identifies numerous recurring archetypes, from the damsel in distress to the “Ms. Male Character.” Many studios have sought to rectify this over the past decade, yet even well-intentioned efforts can fall into the trap of reversing tropes, stripping female characters of their femininity to make them feel like “one of the guys.”

      Infinity Nikki sidesteps this misstep. Nikki stands out as a rare video game heroine who can be compassionate and joyful while still commanding respect in Miraland. She is just as powerful as iconic characters like Bayonetta or Lara Croft, yet she can intimidate menacing thugs simply by using her words. Perhaps most importantly, she embraces fashion unapolog