Since the 1970s, women have had to fight to be included in the industry.
And some were very successful.
Their game,Mystery House, was an instant hit, and the graphical adventure genre was born.
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The couple formed On-Line Systems (later calledSierra), which became the dominant force in computer games.
Jane worked for Williams in the early 1990s.
Her work in classic games has molded how story and game design intertwine in modern point-and-click adventures.
Sierra
Jensen continued her work in computer adventure games with the line ofAgatha ChristieandThe Women’s Murder ClubPC titles.
Jenson also writes fiction under the nameEli Easton.
Carol Shaw had already left for Activision, so Bailey was the only woman game designer at the company.
Sierra
While there, she co-created and designed, along with Ed Logg, the classic arcade hitCentipede.
After its release to instant success, Bailey disappeared from the video game industry.
She resurfaced 26 years later as a keynote speaker at the 2007 Women in Games Conference.
Phoenix Online Publishing
Bailey revealed that the pressure and criticism from her male counterparts drove her from the business.
Today, Bailey encourages women to pursue careers in games.
She is a college instructor who teaches numerous courses on game design.
Atom
She entered the 1983Video Game Masters Tournamentand broke the world high score record for Q*Bertwith 1,112,300 points.
Although her score was beaten a few years later, Self continued to work towards conqueringQ*Bert.
She also co-founded Purple Moon, one of the first software companies to specialize in developing games for girls.
Laurel works as a consultant, speaker, and professor, teaching 2D and 3D interaction design.
In 1983, Briggs worked as a tester at the text-game adventure company Infocom.
After writing and designingHearts, Briggs co-wroteGamma Force: Pit of a Thousand Screamsand co-designed portions ofZork Zero.
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Briggs left the gaming industry in 1988, returning to school to earn her graduate degree.
Today, she continues to write and owns a company that specializes in human-factors engineering and cognitive psychology.
