‘I think it takes balls, girl balls, to challenge those stereotypes’: Women’s perceptions of board game culture

Despite growing sociocultural interest in, and engagement with, tabletop hobby games, and in particular board games, the surrounding culture(s) remain underexamined. Drawing from 43 semi-structured interviews, this article explores board gaming culture from the perspective of women who play modern board games. The findings highlight women’s experiences as a minority and the difficulties they face when entering board games spaces – often perceived as ‘male spaces’ and associated with geek masculinity. The findings also show a ‘gender-gap’ in board games, where women’s reduced levels of experience, awareness and integration into board game culture act as a barrier to their participation and negatively impact their sense of belonging. Despite these barriers, the presence and experience of other women helped to deconstruct the notion that board games were solely for men. Furthermore, the findings also show how men and women are actively constructing newer, more inclusive board games cultures which eschew exclusion and challenge board game’s associations with geek masculinity. This research provides insight into some of the barriers to entry women face as well as the changing nature of contemporary board game culture.