Why It Matters
The episode underscores a growing trend in gaming to diversify protagonists, challenging age and gender stereotypes and offering fresh storytelling angles. For players and creators alike, Gertie's story demonstrates how personal experiences can fuel innovative game design, making the discussion timely as the industry seeks more inclusive narratives.
Meet Gertie
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The game designer I interviewed back in Los Angeles the morning after The Game Awards has been making video games for decades but had never previously tried to make one in which you play as an old lady.
This was a first for him.
His new game, Coven of the Chicken Foot, had just been shown to the world via a trailer the night before—a trailer that didn’t mention the designer’s name nor what he’d worked on, though it wasn’t that much of a secret because the show’s host name-checked some of that prior work.
Coven of the Chicken Foot is an upcoming single-player adventure about a past-her-prime witch and a monster. It is set in forests, dungeons and a fantasy world in decline.
Back in 2020 or so, that old witch initially was a boy. Then a girl. The point, during early brainstorming, was that there would be two lead characters in the game. They would be in an asymmetrical relationship, with players controlling this boy or girl as they interacted with a giant creature companion.
As the lead designer made sketches to visualize the human character, he began drawing an old lady.
He liked the name Gertie for her. He had good memories of his grandfather—raspy-voiced and maybe a bit creature-like himself—barking “Gert!” in the direction of his cheerful grandmother nearby, she with her purse full of weird things.
Video game Gertie had potential. She fit in well with ideas the designer had about finding different, less aggressive ways to depict a hero’s journey. Different ideas about who a hero might be.
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