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Two B.C. women are making gaming more accessible with Simply Sweet Games

Women changing gaming

Sarah Crookall

Simply Sweet Games is on a mission to revolutionize the game of gaming in the South Okanagan and beyond.

Two B.C. women, Tina Merry and Carina Kom, are creating spaces for diverse gaming audiences after years spent in high-profile and male-dominated work environments.

"There are very few women-led studios, and a fraction of game devs globally are building games," said Tina Merry, Co-founder of Simply Sweet Games.

"My first meeting, I was in the room with a group of 30 men, and that was it — that was me. So that would be an example of a challenge that I faced. It's hard to stay relevant when you're the only woman in the room."

After working in cultural inclusion globally at Electronic Arts, Osoyoos’ Merry keeps her past experiences with diversity in mind.

"There are two specific challenges here. One is related to diversity and inclusion for the talent coming into the industry. It's one of the reasons we started the business. We want to show women we can be in charge too. We can run studios. We can build games. So we need to create safe places, build psychological safety," Merry added.

"We also need to think about the diversity of our audiences, right? We have a lot of different people who want to play games, it should be a safe place for them. Somebody who has dyslexia should still be able to enjoy a word puzzle game."

The company is bringing accessibility with its first game launch, Criss Cross Castle; through customization, enhanced audio features, and testing among neurodivergent people.

Word games are popular among women. It's a type of game that has been traditionally classified as "casual" as opposed to "hardcore," however, Merry noted that's changing.

Criss Cross Castle is a unique adventure word game.

"The Lords of Illiterati have stolen all the words from the world, and so you're on a mission as a hero to transverse the realm," Merry said.

"You're trying to solve puzzles and challenges and uncover hidden knowledge and bring back the magic of words to the world."

Simply Sweet Games plans to launch Criss Cross Castle in spring of next year, with an eventual aim of creating a global brand.



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