Theresa Duncan

What I appreciate most about Theresa Duncan is that the intent behind her work was very straightforward. She was a feminist and she created alternative video games for girls in a male dominated field. She furthered her aim in a genteel and welcoming way for young girls. Aside from being a feminist visionary, Duncan was also multi faceted. She did not just work on video game creation, she was also a writer, blogger, artist, and filmmaker.

Duncan is probably most known for her early CD-ROM point and click adventures like Chop Suey. She created this game so that girls could experience something as intricate and interesting as mainstream audiences (male) do. My fascination with her stems from the accessibility and realness of her work (which animated and childish, it has a very grounded feel to it), the nostalgia I get from the old CD-ROM game feel, and the materials she used. I could make a game like that, but hers are imbued with expressiveness and interesting facets and meaning.

Her CD-ROM video games were recently given new life by Rhizome and are playable online.