This paper describes a preliminary study of how these CS educational games are designed in order to critically examine existing practices, given the importance of broadening participation in computing and especially improving gender diversity. With our research question “What are the common design features among games that teach computer science?” we have analyzed 36 games that have been used to teach CS, either in the classroom or in informal learning environments. We have identified 28 design features along which we compared the games. Several of these design features were chosen based on important features for gender-inclusive game design (Ray, 2004) as well as hypotheses for how women relate to CS, such as societal relevance (Denner & Campe, 2008; Denner, 2005).
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