Video games Rockett's New School, Secret Paths in the Forest | ||
Purple Moon was an American developer of girls' video games based in Mountain View, California. Its games were targeted at girls between the ages of 8 and 14. The company was founded by Brenda Laurel and others, and supported by Interval Research. They debuted their first two games, Rockett's New School and Secret Paths in the Forest, in 1997. Both games were more or less visual novels and encouraged values like friendship and decision making. Purple Moon's games were part of a larger girl games movement in the 1990s, initiated largely by the surprise success of Mattel's 1996 CD-ROM game Barbie Fashion Designer.
The company faced criticism including charges of sexism (mostly due to their belief that girls would not enjoy the more popular action-oriented games often associated with boys and young men) and ethnic stereotyping.
The company folded in 1999 and merged with Mattel, creators of Barbie, one of the most famous and well-known franchises aimed at young girls.