What Happened to Purple Moon Games for Girls?

Dec 3, 2025

In this engaging discussion, producer Maya Cueva shares her nostalgic memories of playing games from Purple Moon, a groundbreaking studio founded by Brenda Laurel. Brenda, a pioneer in interactive media, reveals how Purple Moon aimed to empower girls through narratives and emotional experiences. They discuss the male-dominated gaming industry of the '90s, the unique ways girls play, and the innovative features of Purple Moon's games. Brenda also reflects on the studio's sudden closure and its lasting impact on girls in tech.

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ANECDOTE

Nostalgic Replay Of Starfire Soccer Challenge

Maya Cueva recalls watching Starfire Soccer Challenge replays on YouTube because she can't run the original game anymore.
The replay triggered vivid memories of how the game's story and sounds shaped her childhood experience with computers.

INSIGHT

Girls Prioritized Social‑Emotional Play

Brenda Laurel studied how girls and boys play and found girls expressed social and emotional concerns more than interest in competition.
Those findings led Purple Moon to design games that prioritized emotional navigation and personal agency.

ANECDOTE

Rocket's New School Let Players Rewind Choices

Purple Moon's first released game, Rocket's New School, let players choose responses in social scenes and then retry outcomes.
Brenda describes this mechanic as teaching agency by letting girls change decisions and see different results.

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Editor’s note: We updated one line to add context about a character in one of the Purple Moon games, which may affect how the character is understood.

Thirty years ago, video games were predominantly marketed to boys. Nintendo and Sega ran TV ads featuring boys proclaiming how “awesome” and “powerful” the latest system was. And the biggest computer games tended to revolve around male-coded activities like shooting or combat. But in the late ‘90s, a small indie game studio called Purple Moon set out to change that — creating story-rich, emotionally complex games designed to welcome girls into the world of computers.

In this episode, Close All Tabs producer Maya Cueva looks back on her own childhood experience with Purple Moon and talks with founder Brenda Laurel about the company’s legacy, its impact on girls in tech, and how it all came to an abrupt end.

Guest:

Brenda Laurel, interactive games designer, creator and founder of Purple Moon

Further Reading:

The ‘Girl Games’ of the ’90s Were Fun and Feminist — Drew Dakessian, WIRED

Conscious UX: Leading Human-Centered Design in the Age of AI: Designing the Future of Artificial Intelligence with Compassion, Inclusion, and Openness — Rikki Teeters, Don Norman, Brenda Laurel

Brenda Laurel — Christopher Weaver, Smithsonian Institution, Lemelson Center for The Study of Invention and Innovation

Trailblazing Women in Video Gaming: Meet the Pioneers Who Shaped Design History — D.S. Cohen, Lifewire

Read the transcript here

Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

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Credits:

Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. This episode was reported and produced by Maya Cueva and edited by Chris Hambrick and Chris Egusa. Original music, including our theme song, by Chris Egusa. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

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