"Not without my kitties": The old woman in casual games

Digital games have become a mainstream medium used by players of all ages and genders. Yet, aging adults are still relatively seldom featured in digital games as game-controlled or player-controlled characters. The representation of old women featured as player-characters in four casual digital games is here analyzed through a close playing. In their portrayal of the four player-characters, the games reinforce existing understandings of old women as unimportant, homebound, lonelyand child-like. Yet, the player-characters are simultaneously portrayed as highly capable and resisting victimization. During play, it is in fact the player who may be left wanting, while the old women contain all the potential for progression. This ambiguity can be understood in several ways. Firstly, it may serve to position the old women of the games as Others who must contain both the hope and fears for old age. Secondly, the games can be read as parodic texts; humorous comments on both previous digital games, in particular hyper-masculinity and militarized settings, as well as on notions of active aging.