It’s a long-held stereotype that boys play shooters, racing games, and action games, while girls prefer quieter games. For example, The Sims. In reality, everyone has played The Sims, and boys are no exception. We asked girls who, in the 2000s, instead of going out and being a bad boy in the streets, about their favorite video games. Believe us, these stories will definitely surprise you!
Alina, whose track record of games inspires respect.
When my brother and I were still in elementary school, my dad gave us a Sega Mega Drive 2—a veritable Ferrari of consoles at the time. It was the perfect way to get through homework: just solve the math problems and you could grab the joysticks and start smashing the TV’s screen. Our first game was Mr. Nutz, a vibrant platformer about a squirrel with beautifully crafted locations, thoughtful enemies, challenging bosses, and awesome gameplay. Later, with the money we’d saved from lunch, we bought three Sonic games, Battletoads, Earthworm Jim, RoadRash 3… The list fades into memory, but our love for Mr. Nutz and Sonic has remained forever.
Then Sega went into console Valhalla, the cartridges were passed around to friends, and the PC era began at home. My brother was mostly in charge of the computer, so the games were appropriately “boyish.” And so Need For Speed: Underground 2 burst into my life with a loud “E-ron-don-don.” I launched it for the neon lights and car customization (oh, how I missed that in the later games!), and then suddenly became hooked: I played through the game again and again, always starting with the Peugeot.
At the same time, I was playing GTA: Vice City—at first, I was just following the story, but then I got so into it that I became a real terror of the virtual city. And then there were Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Prince of Persia, Need for Speed: Underground 2… But it was Need for Speed: Underground 2 that remained the symbol of childhood—noisy and neon-lit.
Evgenia, played on nitro in Need For Speed
In the late 2000s, I entered university, and they bought me a cool ASUS computer and a Logitech mouse with a really nice, velvety surface. So I could study well, of course, yeah. True, the PC was at my grandmother’s house in the village (yes, I used to tell my classmates, “I have a cool computer, but it’s at my grandmother’s!”). There was no internet there, but my uncle brought along a bunch of discs, one of which was Need for Speed Carbon. So, every weekend after class, I’d fly 100 km to my grandmother’s house to play NFS for two days (maybe it was a cunning plan to lure my granddaughter over—pies and a computer?).
I had the coolest cars there, and I completed the entire career several times, but my favorite mission was “Drift.” The game’s music was incredibly relaxing; many of the tracks migrated to my phone. Later, in a fit of nostalgia, I played it again on my Xbox and laptop, but it wasn’t the same, of course, not at all. And all the other NFS games didn’t appeal to me. It’s surprising that after that experience, I only took driving lessons almost 20 years later.
Anastasia tried on the role of a princess in armor
In sixth grade, I spent the summer at the dacha. I had a friend there, and I went to visit her again. Her dad was playing some computer game about a princess riding a horse across an island, fighting monsters. I loved it so much that I was glued to the screen for a long time. Of course, I asked what the game was called—it was “King’s Bounty: Armored Princess.”
When I got home, the first thing I did was run to the store to buy the coveted disc. And I really loved the game. The character development, the choice of class (I usually played as a mage), the turn-based combat, exploring a huge map with different biomes that determine the types of enemies you encounter, and even the flying horse—it all blew my 12-year-old mind.
Then I highly recommended “Armored Princess” to all my school friends. And they were thrilled, too. We discussed who had already completed each island, who had their favorite creatures, and, most importantly, what color their dragon was.
I must say, I didn’t quite get through the game the first time I played it. It was probably my first serious gaming experience, so I didn’t even realize I needed to complete quests to gain experience, rather than just wandering around the map and endlessly getting into fights. But I managed it a few years later. It’s still probably one of my favorite games, which I’ve replayed three times already. The last time was just a couple of years ago.
Ksenia played masterpieces while her peers drank beer.
I probably wouldn’t have gotten into video games if it weren’t for my uncles. They had a computer, and I spent hours watching them play games from the early 2000s. Max Payne, some soccer game (FIFA, most likely), Serious Sam, GTA: Vice City, the first Mafia, Postal… there was a lot going on!
Well, I was hooked too. I played the same games, but eventually, something would fall away and only the very best remained. I won’t talk about The Sims 1 and 2—they’re the foundation, and “The Sims” is probably ingrained in the DNA of every girl who owned a PC in the 2000s. I really liked Vice City, even though I never finished it. I’d restart it a hundred times, open the cheat book, give Vito Sca… oh, Tommy Vercetti a huge arsenal of weapons, and start wreaking havoc. Contrary to the popular belief that video games make children violent, I can say that I grew up quite normally. I don’t notice any maniacal tendencies in myself.
What else was significant? At some point, Bully captivated me. It’s like GTA, but about a troubled teenager at school. Towards the end of the 2000s, I drooled over the Hollywood cinematography in Mafia II and cried over the ending, where someone wasn’t part of the deal. Around the same time, I was enjoying Dragon Age: Origins—I replayed it many times as an adult. I barely finished Dragon Age: Inquisition on my third try, only in 2024, and I don’t even want to touch Dragon Age: The Veilguard with its storyline.
Now I’m a big girl and I play whatever I want, whenever I want. Besides my PC, I have an Xbox Series X with a Gamepass Ultimate subscription—I play a ton of great modern games on it, and sometimes I revisit the classics.
Eva, who was lured to the PC by “Harry Potter”
I wasn’t the kind of teenager who spent hours in front of the computer. But for New Year’s 2008, my parents gave my sister and me that very game… Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. With cool (well, for 2008) graphics, my favorite characters, and all the spells you could find in the books… As you can imagine, I was hooked. The game was original, with English voiceover and text, so the process would occasionally stall due to unfamiliar expressions. Usually, my mom would come to the rescue and explain where to go to complete the next task.
To be honest, I didn’t finish the game. But that wasn’t my goal. I enjoyed the characters’ interactions, the recreated scenes from the books, the magical soundtrack, and the walks through the Hogwarts grounds. Incidentally, from what I remember, the game was generous with locations and interactions. You could not only wander through the castle’s offices and corridors, but also venture beyond its boundaries. For example, to the boat dock (where Snape will utter the heartbreaking “Always” at the end of the saga) or to Hagrid’s hut. The game actually began in the Black family’s apartment—I vividly remember learning the Reparo spell there and practicing it on broken dishes.
In fact, as far as I remember, the main goal of the game was learning more and more spells. I often had to use combat techniques in duels—both training and otherwise. But the coolest and most appealing thing was the abundance of features specifically from the books. For example, in the castle courtyard, you could play gobstones, which weren’t featured in the film series. In short, after such memories, I finally wanted to open Hogwarts Legacy and compare the two Hogwarts with a Potter-like perspective.
Polina grew up in a computer club
As a teenager, I somehow ended up hanging out mostly with boys. Not because I was obsessed with love, but because my peers seemed a bit backward to me. Honestly, twenty years later, I can say that boys weren’t very smart either, but I didn’t think so back then.
Be that as it may, my hobbies were mostly boyish. And in the 2000s, I went to computer clubs with them. Of course, there were plenty of single-player games there, which I also played, but for some reason, the thrill always drew me online. So I played the first Dota (back then, it was a custom map for Warcraft III) over and over again against bots, so that later, in a real battle with the guys, I could show who was boss. And by the way, I was really good at it, really good—they always wanted to drag me into their team. Interestingly, the second Dota never really hooked me—I tried to return to it several times, but it never felt right.
What else was there? Counter-Strike. First, we played 1.5 (old-timers should cry here), then the slightly more advanced 1.6. All subsequent installments were dismissed by our community as modern versions for little girls.
And at the end of the decade, I got hooked on StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. We weren’t going to clubs anymore; I played online at home. Custom maps like DotA weren’t my thing anymore—I played classic ranked matches, mostly as Zerg. I still occasionally go back to SC2, play a couple of evenings, and quell the nostalgia. My free time has significantly diminished since then, but I still try to find free moments to play something. But I’m not drawn to competitive modes anymore—I guess I’m getting old.
