Welcome to LadiesGamers, the site that’s all about Indie & Wholesome Gaming. Our writers and readers are of different ages and genders, though we especially welcome older female gamers as that’s how the site started: with the views of a (now) 58 year old woman on the world of gaming.
We write from a family friendly perspective, reviewing games with the European age rating of 17 and below.
We promote and review Indie games which may not receive mainstream coverage and specialize in Wholesome Games (e.g. simulation, puzzle games, city builders). We consider all games on any handheld device worth playing as long as you enjoy them!
Contact details
If you need to get in contact with us, you can find us at:
yvocaro@ladiesgamers.com
or at
paula@ladiesgamers.com
The Ladies Behind LadiesGamers
I am Yvonne van Geloven, 59 years old, and I live in the Netherlands with my husband and daughter. Growing up, there was no Game Boy or other kind of video game at hand, so my first experiences in gaming started much later in life.
My first steps in gaming were in playing Animal Crossing Wild World together with my (then) 7-year old daughter in August 2006. She wanted a new game for her DS, and we thought this one looked cute. From then on I was hooked! When she had a sleepover and wanted to take her DS with her, it dawned on me that I’d better buy my own DS, because I really had to check up on my little town of Bearpath!
The rest is history: since then I’ve played all kinds of games, with a preference for simulation games, RPGs, and adventure games. Staying on top of gaming news is a hobby, as is writing!
Paula is 59 years old and a grandmother to seven. She lives in Northern Ireland with her partner. She started getting interested in gaming when the NES was released. Through the years she played all the home and handheld consoles from Nintendo, as well as Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
Nowadays, it’s the Nintendo Switch. She enjoys a good adventure/RPG game like Zelda or Dragon Quest, but she can also get into a sim game or puzzle game. As long as she can sink in hours of playtime it’s perfect!
Our Writers
James is 34 and lives out his days in the United Kingdom.
He has loved gaming since he was 4 years old, watching his mum play Rainbow Islands.
He has blogged and co-hosted a podcast about retro gaming for around six years. He feels there is something inherently special about video games and how they can bring people together through sharing stories and memories.
Mina is 36 years old and has been playing video games for all her life. Her first game was Pit Fall for her Commodore 64 back in the 1980s. Her favorite current consoles are Switch and PS5, her favorite types of games are puzzle, simulation, indie, open world, and unique games. Mina is a full-time writer and editor, writing mostly about video games. She loves Magic: the Gathering, writing, reading, cats, board games, long walks, and her local LGS. She lives in Richmond, VA, USA with her husband and cat-child Kaalia.
Yair is 30 years old, originally from Costa Rica, and is now a world traveler. Video games have been a big part of his life since he started playing A Link to the Past in the SNES and occasionally in arcades. Eventually he moved to the Nintendo 64 with the classic titles like Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, Pokémon Stadium and more. Currently he plays games on PC, the Switch and on the 3DS. He studied Psychology and recently started learning Game Design. He has a passion for drawing, illustration and music composing.
Caroline is 24 years old and lives in the Netherlands. Growing up, her mother introduced her to games on the Game Boy and she has been playing handheld games on Nintendo devices ever since.
She is a graphic designer and front-end developer by profession, which is why she is the designer of the LadiesGamers brand, the banners and some featured images. Occasionally, she also reviews her favorite type of games, mainly otome games!
Lynne started gaming in the 1980s when she was lent a BBC Micro to while away her summer holidays playing Elite. After many years playing and coding on an Amstrad CPC and then a PC, she discovered the wonderful world of Nintendo.
Now her time is spent, via her Nintendo Switch, tending her farms in Stardew Valley, dancing with Ooblets, catching the odd Pokemon and solving a shrine or mystery. All this is done in the beautiful surroundings of central England.
Lottie is 29 years old and from the UK. Ever since picking up a SNES controller at the age of 4, Lottie has been fascinated with games. This led Lottie to study Games Design within higher education. In her spare time, she continues to develop her own abilities to release a playable game demo. Meanwhile she loves games and how they can connect people through experiences. She has a soft spot for The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and Monster Hunter franchises.
Kalina used to play games back when she was in school, through the 90s and early 2000s in Bulgaria. She stopped playing regularly around the time The Sims 2 came out and just started again during the pandemic. Some of her earliest gaming memories are arguing with her sister about who got to play Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure first and being amazed by the visuals of Twinset’s Little Big Adventure and the original Monkey Island games. In her second go as a gamer, she is amazed by the technical and visual progress of gaming, the diverse characters, storylines, and art styles.
John was born in the US and spent his early gaming years on an Atari 2600 and a Commodore 64 and spent countless hours playing F-19 Stealth Fighter on his Tandy computer. He has played games on almost all consoles until the PlayStation 2 as well as games on every Windows operating system since Windows 3.1.
Now living in the Philippines, he spends most of his time as a technology writer with 14 years of experience and contributing in finance, freelance, and gaming communities. A lover of freebies and discounts, he has a vast gaming library filled with 250+ Steam games and 300+ Epic games and is slowly growing his PlayStation 4 library in hopes of discovering new and quirky casual titles.
Excellent blog, sharing the gaming experience. Great reviews.
Thanks, this sort of thing is needed. More needs to be shared about
the gaming experience for mature ladies.
Thanks so much for your encouraging words!
I miss Mum!
Same here Jonah. Still can’t believe she could be gone just like that !
Agreed, since I will be 61 on Feb 20th and have been gaming all of my life…board games (when I could find someone to play with me), Card games thru my teens (Rummy 500, gin rummy, cribbage, solitaire and many more) and then early computer games such as Monkey Island, World of Warcraft (before it was a MMRPG). Then in my 30’s I discovered Everquest, then DAOC (dark age of camelot) and was hooked! I also raised 2 sons, and played every early pokemon game on the nintendo DS with them, then mario games, etc. I’m currently playing a lot of Nintendo Switch games because I like playing in bed a bit before I go to sleep. Gaming is for girls of all ages!!
Hi Nancy, thanks for reading and commenting! Of course, I couldn’t’t agree more. Playing video games is often depicted as something that’s addicting and leading people astray. I for myself have found only joy in it, finding like minded people across the globe and connecting with my daughter in a special way. Like you said, gaming is fun for girls of all ages!
I am so thrilled to have found this site, I knew I couldn’t be the only gaming gal over 50!! Well, over 60 now lol. I doubt i will give up gaming at any time in my life, so maybe I can set a record as the oldest female video gamer or something, now that makes me want to go on at least a few more decades!!! Then you youngers will have to outlive me to beat it haha!!! Seriously tho, love the site!
Nope, you’re definitely not the only gaming gal! And youngsters…it’s been a long time since Paula and I are right behind you in age! A good thing to strive for, being the oldest female gamer
You keep the fires burning, Yvonne – and your passion for gaming (and discussing them) is clear! I hope you always have such a yen for games. To not have blogging about your experiences..somewhere..would be unthinkable! B-)
I’ts really nice to see someone way older then me into gaming. Makes me feel good that anyone regardless of age or gender like to game.
Lol, I take it that you get asked in the stores if the game you buy is for your son or daughter too? Gaming is indeed for all ages!
I tend to get asked if I’m looking for a game for my Grandson or Granddaughter, it surprises them when I say it’s for me!
Hi there, as a new father, it’s great to see a gaming blog from someone who’s sharing these great experiences with their own progeny. There’s something encouraging about the goodness of that.
Welcome! And congrats on being a new father. Funny thing for me is that nowadays I’m even more enthusiastic about gaming then my daughter is, lol.
Hey thank you very, very much! Being a parent is awesome. I don’t know that my son will ever love gaming more than I, since it’s been a large part of my hobby-life for a majority of my conscious existence, but yeah, it’s all about sharing that experience, and technology today makes that easier than it’s ever been.
True, technology today makes it possible to connect like here on my blog. Thanks for reaching out!
That’s a really sweet way to get into gaming. I LOVE Animal Crossing. It’s such a fun series. I really hope they launch a updated core game for the NX.
Hi There!
You have a new follower!
For me my all time favourite was TSO!
I loved the social side the game! Such a shame it got shut down!
Thanks for the follow, always nice to meet new people!
TSO is the Sims Online? I was never able to get into the sims, but I know a lot of people who adore it. My daughter being one of them.
I added your North American friend code…I’m getting back to Animal Crossing after reading your latest entry!
Great! You’ll have to send me your code, so I can add you.
Aww, I hadn’t yet read/seen how you got into gaming, this is just adorable!
I wish my mom got into gaming on consoles or portables, but she sure loves playing Facebook games, so it’s all the same to me hehe, she’s more addicted than I am tbh!
Gaming is genderless and ageless, so power to everyone and you for getting on it
Thanks Cat! My daughter is almost 18 now, but still, the best games are the games we both enjoy.
Aww! That’s super nice and adorable, and playing together is fun, it’s why I wish my mom would get into games so she could play with me :’D
Hello i met you in animal crossing and i haven’t talk to you since then it was wild world but now i am back to gaming more specially new leaf i am pepe in your list of friends and just to let you know i will send you a message via swap doodle
Hi Jose! I remember you, we wrote back and forth in swapnote, right? How nice that you’re back to gaming after all these years. Wild World, what a fun game that was for connecting online with people.
I really love your story behind this site!
Thank you Jason!
Hi Yvo, long time no speak. Love your blog ✌
Hi Ben
Such fun to see you here again!! It’s been some time. I see since then your family has grown!
Hi Ben!
Wow, I found your site by accident. It’s really cool that adults play games too. I am 30 years old and I love games. I even write about them on my website. I myself am from Ukraine, thanks for your work
Nice to eMeet, Slava! Always fun to hear about other people enjoying games so much!
Hey Yvonne!
I love that your first gaming experience was with Animal Crossing. That game helped to keep my family and I occupied and connected during months of quarantine through this pandemic!
It’s refreshing to find a blog that is run by an adult such as yourself! Sometimes older gamers have a hard time connecting with younger generations. I’m looking forward to following more of your content; keep up the great work!
Hi Nick,
Thank you for your kind words! Paula and I have a lot of fun running the site and as you can imagine, we think you are never too old to play video games.
And as for Animal Crossing: we love it, and have loved it for years. It was a difficult time during lockdown, but at least New Horizons brought a little ray of sunshine!
Hi Ladies! I was really surprised and happy, when I found your page! I thought, I am the oldest woman playing games – but now I know, there is something like a community (I am 57). I am a real Zelda-Fan, but every year I can`t wait to get the new Atelier game ore a new YS or Dragon Quest… all like this. So your page will be on my screen as a favourite. You are doing a really good job!
Hi there! How wonderful that you found us, and you’re even younger than we are! Gaming is just a wonderful pastime to relax and take a breather from the world.
Thank you for your kind words and feel free to chat with us through our articles
I just found this blog today while searching Google for information about 3DS Streetpass, so I could reminisce about my earlier adventures in gaming circa 7 years ago.
It really takes me back, seeing all the posts about 3DS from when it was still new.
I’ve added the site to my bookmarks, and I’ll keep following!
Thanks for your kind comments, Lee! We feel Streetpass should have been incorporated somehow in the Switch for players ( like me) that take it with them for commute or such. Good times right?
When you comment for the first time, a comment has to be approved here, just got up and saw yours!
Just saw this comment and wanted to point out that in many places if you go to a gaming, multi-genre, or Anime convention, you can still get StreetPasses! It’s not like the old days (I probably maxed out at about 30 different tags at one convention last year). Pretty low compared to years past), but it’s still possible.
Lovely, informative, casually friendly game blog with opinions. Thank you 🙂
Thank you for your kind words!
Stumbled across this site a few times trying to find cool indie games for my Switch. And each time I ended up spending ages digging through your extensive archive. So I figure why not bookmark it? Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks for visiting out site, James! We tried bookmarking it in the menu to genres of games, but it’s not an easy task! We will keep your tip in mind however.
Oh, sorry I meant that *I* bookmarked Ladies Gamers, since I wind up here so often 🙂
Oh lol, thank you!
This is an awesome site! I would love to contribute and write for you guys. Are you looking for more writers?
Hi Serena, thank you for your kind comment! Can you send us your motivation and some information to yvocaro@ladiesgamers.com? Thanks
You guys are doing a very good job! Thank you for including our games into your list!
Just found about this site, it’s great!
Thank you for your kind comment, we think it’s pretty great too 🙂
Hope an old man can chime in. Thank you for the reviews and great content. Great site.
Thank you John, and there’s no being old here!
I found your site while searching for some reviews of Bear’s Restaurant and so glad I found this site! I love that you give spotlight to many of the games I enjoy but no one has talked about. I am a bit of a completionist though, so when I find a review site I love, I usually try to read all their articles from the beginning by date of publication. However I couldn’t find any feature to access your archives or even a page button at the bottom, at least on the mobile page. Do you have any features like that?
Hi Hapsari, I’m glad you found us, and that you enjoy our articles! You would need quite some time to read everything from the beginning of LadiesGamers, as we have been around for 9 years now! You do make a valid point though, it’s always hard to make a good menu of articles so they can shine longer, not just on the front page. When you are on a computer, it should be easier to find old article. On the right side bar, you can see our last reviews, the most recent guides, our series of the Best Of articles and the articles that generate the most views. When on a mobile, you don’t see that. But what you do see is the menu under the three vertical stripes on the left top. Clicking that gives the same menu as on a computer: all the guides, all the Best Of, the reviews have a drop down menu showing the various genres, the editorials have a drop down menu showing all the different collections of interviews and other series of articles.
Using all of that is the best way to see our content!
Hi Yvonne! I just want to come back here to say that I found a way I can read all the posts in this blog from the beginning. While reading some reviews and features, I found your very first post, Mood Swing in Gaming, and realized that on the bottom of that post I can click next to read the next post chronologically. So I’ve been doing that and reading several posts a day while waiting or before bed and I’ve now reached January 2016 posts. So far I’m really enjoying your early posts, it also functions as a blast to the past for some topics. It’s funny reading your posts about the uncertain future of Nintendo for example, because of the failure of WiiU, knowing that Nintendo Switch is a huge success now! Also it tickles me to read your January 2015 post mentioning you spent that new year at the London Eye. I live in Indonesia but from 2014-2015 I studied in the UK and I also spent that new year at London Eye! Just funny to think that we might pass each other on the streets even though we came from thousand of miles away.
I look forward to keep reading your blogs until I caught up with it! It’s my little OCD quirk, if I find a blog that I love I usually read all the posts from the beginning (I read around 20 years worth of content from my favourite game review websites, rpgfan(dot)com and adventuregamers(dot)com before I caught up with it. Might take me months or even a year, but I’m enjoying my time with the contents on this blog!