[UbuntuWomen] What makes a video game "female friendly"?

[Thierry]

Hi. I'm rather new here (first mail I ever sent to a mailing list, too) so 
excuse me if I do something wrong or unusual. :)

I'm currently in the process of making a video game with some friends. It will 
be complety cross-platform, and mostly (not all, it uses a closed engine) 
open source.

Details on this game are currently very sparse as we're in the very first 
phase. However, a blog where we (mostly I) dump all our ideas is available at 
http://atheagame.blogspot.com

We are trying to make this this game as enjoyable as possible for both 
genders. Which means we are working hard to make sure there's nothing 
offensive for female players. We also try hard not to include any content 
that is specific to one gender.

However, we've had long discussions about what exactly would be considered 
offensive, or what in a game would be too direct at one gender (mostly 
males).

We came up with some obvious things such as how many games show women as sex 
objects, by focusing on their sexuality, their breasts, or having them wear 
little to no clothing. That's the one thing we're working on to avoid; but 
I'm sure there's more than that.

So I was hoping to find some answers here. What do you think would make a game 
interesting for both male and female players? Or rather, what would make sure 
that nothing stands out as only interesting for one group? And what has 
bothered you in games so far?

Greets,
Psy