Earlier this month, fellow GeekDad Jonathan Knudsen asked, “Where are the stories for girls?” That got me thinking, in large part because I have two young daughters myself and I certainly want to find stories for them that feature girls who are smart, funny, brave and not simpering fools who want nothing more than to find a cute boy. (I’ll allow that there’s room for romantic fantasies, but I still hope my kids will be more Mulan than Bella Swan.)
I’m going to spend a little more time compiling a list of books (the commenters on Knudsen’s post have provided a good start), but recently I’ve played a couple of iPhone apps that feature female heroines, so I thought this is a decent place to start. The Mystery of the Crystal Portal 2 is a hidden object game in which a young woman named Nicole looks for her father, and then tries to open a portal back home. Pixeline and the Jungle Treasure is a Mario-inspired platformer with a spunky little blonde girl as the main character. Scarlett and the Spark of Life is a point-and-click adventure featuring a witty princess attempting to outsmart and escape her kidnappers.
Follow the links below for more detailed looks at the three games, and be sure to enter to win download codes for Pixeline and the Jungle Treasure and Scarlett and the Spark of Life:
One thing to note: all three of these games are a little pricier—for apps, that is. That’s probably a discussion for another time, but how did we get to the point where paying more than $.99 for an app seems expensive? At any rate, all three of these games provide different types of entertainment, depending on your tastes; whether you think it’s worth the price probably depends on what you’re comparing them to.
Update: We actually have giveaways for both Pixeline and Scarlett, so be sure to read through and enter either or both contests!
Disclosure: I received download codes for these three apps.
