Guidelines, suggestions and rules for games listed on Dress Up Games
These instructions are meant as suggestions for game designers and web owners who want to increase their chances of having their dress-up games listed on Dress Up Games. While following these suggestions will definitely increase your chances of getting your game featured on Dress Up Games, it does not guarantee it.
Last update: August 2, 2010.
GENERAL GUIDELINES 
ALL CATEGORIES:
Number of clothes: A good rule of thumb is not to go below 40 items of clothes and accessories in a game. Any less and it will seriously affect how playable the game is. It is possible to have a good game with fewer items but then you have to be really careful that everything matches with everything else. The most common mistake with smaller games is that each top only matches with one bottom (the style, the colors) so the outfits a user can put together are really limited. If your game has more than one dress, think about splitting them into tops and bottoms so each tops can be matched with more then one bottom. Do that and you've increased the size of the wardrobe!
Quality of graphics: It's always a good investment to take extra time to make sure that the graphics are as good as possible. In most types of dress-up games you want the clothes to look as real as possible. I have two pet peeves regarding quality of clothes in dress-up games:
1. When all the clothes are tight fitted. It's also the kind of clothes that's easiest and quickest to make, just trace the outlines of the doll base and fill it with color.
2. When there is no attempt to use folds and or shading. It is of course possible (and has been done) to make good games with clothes that are simply drawn but they almost always have something else that makes them good.
Age of users: Dress up games is aimed at 12-15 year olds. While there is no age restriction of course, surveys have shown that this is the biggest age group and that should be kept in mind. This means that games should not be too childish, teenagers are not interested in the same games as eight year olds, but it also means that games should not be too mature, for example using provocative clothes and suggestive poses.
Types of clothes: Besides poor quality, bad taste is the most often used reason I reject a game. I'm not sure why that is, but far too many dress up games have tops that are too high and pants that hang too low, leaving the doll looking, well, like she belongs in a profession that is forbidden in most countries... Come on people, exposed midriffs went out of style a decade ago!
Standing out: If your new dress up game has one girl with regular clothes, no special theme and is called "dress the girl" your art better be mind blowing! Try to make your games stand out from the rest. If you're having trouble coming up with ideas don't look at other dress up websites for inspiration. Instead, look at magazine for girls for what's popular, look at fashion magazines for trends and lifestyle magazines for general ideas. Or use your junk mail! The local store is having a sale on trampolines? Hey, why not make a game with summer clothes and the background with kids jumping on a trampoline?
Finding the game: I do reject perfectly good games when the user may have trouble finding the game because of too much advertising, a confusing layout and too much scrolling.
Snappy titles: So you spend time and money making a good dress-up game so spend a little time in coming up with a good title for your game. A good title is a good way the help the user remember your game and therefore making it more likely that she will search for it later. A good title can really set the tone or atmosphere of the game. Think about it, which is a better title for a movie "Dude, Where's My Car?" or "Comedy With Two Boys".
Other stuff we don't like:
- When the game is just a tiny portion of the screen. Some web owners are so focused on giving their ads so much space on their pages, that the games are barely playable and the details, not to mention small items like jewelry, are difficult to find.
- When links to sites in flash games are labeled "Dress Up Games" but the link doesn't actually go to Dress Up Games. If you don't want to use the name of your site (which makes no sense to me!), use general terms like "click here for more games".
GUIDELINES FOR ...
Anime
I prefer games from anime and manga that are popular with girls and games featuring female anime characters. I also accept well made games done in the anime style.
Babies & Moms
Also pregnant games, which have been gaining popularity lately. Even though I have linked to baby games drawn in chunky, cartoon style, I really prefer when the baby is more realistic. I'd love to see more games featuring the mom (or a babysitter) with a baby or a toddler.
Best Friends
For games that have two or more girls in the play space at the same time. Not games where you can only have one doll at a time. What I have done is making the dolls in the same pose so that they can share the clothes. Games with two or more dolls are very popular, especially if you can fit more then two dolls in there!
Cats & Dogs, Ponies & Pets
The best way to create pet and animal games is to keep the age group in mind. A twelve year old would enjoy a more realistic games, especially when you can also dress the owner, than a five year old would do. In my opinion older kids and teens are less likely to be interested in animals with human characteristics than younger kids, and games like that are being slowly weeded out of Dress Up Games.
Celebrities
First of all, only female celebrities please! And the doll has to look like the celebrity! I'm especially looking for young celebrities that are popular right now and popular with teenagers. I do my best to avoid celebrities that I consider bad role models, like if they have been involved with scandals, drug use, too much partying and things like that. I try to avoid singers who have released sexually suggestive music videos but if I were too strict on that, there would be virtually no-one left!
Characters
For characters from movies, TV shows, books and video games, everything except anime characters who have their own categories. Basically, I'm looking for female characters from movies etc. that are popular now with teenagers and older kids. Also, characters from movies etc. that are a bit older but always popular, for example Clueless, Enchanted and Aquamarine, movies I consider classic girl films!
Cooking
Generally speaking, I'm more interested in games where you get to design and decorate food in your own time and to your own taste, rather than games where you're competing with time.
Couples
OK, I have a "couple" of pet peeves regarding couple games:
1. When the game starts out with the girl in her underwear and the guy fully dressed.
2. When the stated goal of the game is for the girl to make herself pretty enough to win the date's affection. Come on! These games are for girls and the girls should be the hero of the game!
Emo & Punk
This is a category for all clothing styles that are out of the norm, like punk, emo and goth clothes. It's a treat to discover a game featuring a clothing style that hasn't been done before! Not to be confused with trends which has games with styles based on more mainstream clothes. Don't worry about that though, I'll do the sorting!
Fall & Winter and Spring & Summer
Both categories are always accessible but the winter games are promoted more heavily from late September to late March and summer games the other part of the year. To make your games stand out from the rest, consider using the background for more or something else than just a field of flowers or a ski slope.
Fantasy
The main thing with creating a fantasy dress up game is making it stand out. Be creative. Maybe your mermaid can be lounging at at the pool instead of on the beach? Or a modern fairy with jeans and studded belts?
Fashion
For games set in the fashion industry, like fashion shows and magazine cover models. Also games featuring real brand clothes. It's not obvious but there is room to be creative here. Could the fashion show include fun extras like a dog, an ipod or flash of a camera? Dress a fashion photographer? Backstage at a fashion show?
Fashion Trends
Games that focus on special type of clothes or special style so virtually anything goes! For example, one of the game I had designed for me is Bold Bags which is basically a fairly normal dress up games but with an extra dose of bags in bright colors and patterns.
Girls
This remains the most popular category on Dress Up Games and I've set the standard pretty high. I'm looking for good art, lots of clothes and an all around good game! But for this category there is no need to come up with a special theme.
Hairstyles
I love hairstyle games and wish there were more! Because there is a need for more hairstyle games I'm sometimes a bit lenient with standards but I really prefer more realistic games over clunky, cartoon ones. More hairstyle games please!
Junior Girls
A category for general dress up girl games, but where the girls (dolls) in the game are younger and the art and atmosphere more "young". Think about the age group 8-10 for this category.
Makeover
Makeover games are always in demand, but you really need to add some extras besides a few hairstyles and lipstick colors. I look for hair extras, jewelry and well drawn hairstyles. Extras like phones and headsets are a plus, also glasses. I really dislike fake looking eye shadow and blush and strange color choices for eyes (red and yellow) and for lipstick, green and blue lipstick don't really go with all occasions!
Miley Cyrus & Selena Gomes
Most decent Miley & Selena games are likely to be accepted but there has to be a likeness! Be aware thought that this category is not likely to remain permanent as we might add or remove stars at any time.
Nails
Manicure and pedicure games. The challenge here is coming up with extras, like having the hand holding something (or some things) and cute shoes for pedicure games.
Princess
Everything from a classic fairytale princess to a more modern princess. But for it to be a princess game there has to be some princess type features like a castle in the background or a tiara. As with all categories, I love extras so be creative!
Prom & Wedding
Also bridesmaids, ring bearers and flower girls. To make games in this category more playable think about splitting the dresses into tops and bottoms that can be mixed and matched to create more dresses. Just be careful with the colors and styles so that they match.
Rooms & Houses, Scenes and Towns & Gardens
With this type of games the rule always is the more items the better! And as always, be creative! There is definitely a market for more realistic design games out there but a shortage of people making them.
Simulation - Virtual Worlds and Virtual Pets
Besides being fun and good games I do require that they be free (at least a portion of it), not require any downloads, appropriate for older kids and teenagers and most importantly that they have a dress-up feature available within the game.
Showbiz
I really have a soft spot for this category and it's sometimes quite difficult for me to reject a game because of my standards - but I still do! The most common showbiz type games are probably red carpet and singer games but you can also do actresses on stage or in front of a camera, dancers, general TV shows and programs and all sort of performers.
More Games
The categories listed on this page, are categories that turned out to be less popular or maybe were never large enough to validate a whole category in the first place. While these pages have good traffic while a link to them is featured on the front page, the traffic drops as soon as it is removed.
Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day and Easter
These holiday categories are heavily promoted during and before the time they are celebrated, especially the first three. I rarely update them during the rest of the year but you're welcome to submit them at any time, I'll keep them until I'm ready. Try and have you Holiday games ready at least a few days before the Holiday starts!
Questions regarding these guidelines? Please submit them and I'll do my best to answer!