We Shouldn’t Feel Ashamed about Playing Games

(Header image credit: Evelina Ulickaite)

I’ve been playing games since my childhood, starting out on the PS2 and Nintendo DS. Now, I primarily play games on the Nintendo Switch and PS5, but for a lot of women, their game device of choice is their mobile. It makes sense; everyone has a phone, meaning you don’t need to spend extra on a console or powerful PC, and there’s a plethora of mobile games available in a variety of genres. I actually started out in one of my favourite genres by exclusively playing mobile game variants!

While I am happy to talk to others openly about my gaming habits, this isn’t the case for a lot of women. According to research from the University of Stirling which interviewed 1000 women in the UK who play games, more than 30% of women who play games on mobile felt too embarrassed to call themselves a “gamer”, and a third experienced guilt about using their time to play video games. This is depressing, but not surprising; as a large portion of women have had negative experiences in the gaming space, and gaming still being seen as a “male” hobby today despite the fairly even split between male and female gamers, it makes sense that women are feeling ashamed or even guilty when they spend time on their hobby.

41% of participants in the study said that they look forward to playing games each day, so why should they feel guilty or embarrassed about their hobby? In 2025, it is wild to me that a woman playing games can be seen as embarrassing or outside the norm. The media’s portrayal of video games, especially in the early days still lingers in the public conscience; many women feel that video games are too violent, and this may contribute to their feelings of guilt or shame as this makes gaming a more “masculine” hobby.

Video games have been a healthy coping mechanism for many people for many years now. They have helped us form friendships or even relationships, helped us navigate difficult feelings or allowed us to escape from reality for a little while. I’ve talked a few times about how women are excluded from the gaming sphere on this blog; I even experienced it first-hand when I created this blog at university, but it still hurts when research reveals the impact of exclusion like this. Women feeling embarrassed to like games, or guilty that they’re spending time on a perfectly normal hobby.

*Nearly half of all gamers are women, and the majority of mobile gamers are women. So why are we still excluded from gaming spaces and made to feel ashamed of our hobby? Source: Pixabay*

A lot of gamers, including the women who play mobile games, do not consider mobile gaming to be “real” gaming and this is also disappointing to see. There’s a reason why many popular games such as Genshin Impact are released on mobile devices; because using your phone is a legitimate way to play games! It doesn’t break the bank as you will likely already have a phone, and you can enjoy a wide library of games. Anything from puzzle games to action games can be played on a mobile, and they provide escapism and social connection in the same way that playing on a console or PC does.

When research like this emerges, I wonder how long it will be before women are comfortable and accepted in gaming spaces. Even though nearly half of all gamers are female, gaming is still widely seen as a male hobby and women are mocked, ridiculed and made to feel guilty or ashamed of a hobby that is meant to provide relaxation and fun. I would love to see more done to combat toxic masculinity and harmful stereotypes in gaming spaces in order to make all people feel welcome.