Let's Talk About Me

Let's Talk About Me is a 1995 activity center video game aimed at girls, created by GirlGames Inc. and team smartyPants!, and released by Simon & Schuster Interactive for Macintosh, Windows, and Windows 3.x. A follow-up, Let's Talk About Me Too, came out in 1997.

Development

The game was GirlGames' first title. Software designer Lara Groppe founded the company in 1993 after researching how girls used computers, finding they preferred shorter sessions and content that was both educational and fun. Earlier proto-girls' games from the 1980s included Jenny of the Prairie, Cave Girl Clair, Kirsten and her Family, and Sara and her Friends.

Heather Kelley joined the team in October 1995 when the company relocated from Houston to Austin, Texas; her role was research. Groppe reportedly showed Kelley's resume to her mother, who immediately said "hire her." Kelley split her time between the game and the company's website. Unusually, the target market helped shape the product directly rather than just playtesting it after completion.

Gameplay

The game functions as an activity center for girls aged 10 to 14, featuring quizzes and minigames on topics like horoscopes and fashion. It has four sections: "My Personality," "My Body," "My Life," and "My Future"—the last based on conjecture, while the others mix education with fun. One game explores "the perils of puberty." The sequel includes sections called My Diary, My Hairmaster Deluxe, My Zodiac Zone, and My Personality. SuperKids called it an "interactive, multimedia version of Young Miss magazine."

Critical reception

SuperKids praised the game for giving girls a reason to use computers, seen as positive since girls lagged behind boys in PC use. Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World described it as a slow, girl-oriented counterpart to "twitch" games for boys.

New Trends in Software Methodologies, Tools and Techniques called it an excellent program for teenage girls. In its first eight months, the game sold half a million copies. Critical Readings: Media And Gender noted its market success proved young women were a viable target audience for video games.