Condé Nast’s Fashion Hazard Challenges What Games Should Look Like for Girls

Condé Nast, the publisher behind top fashion magazines like Vogue, has launched its first mobile game on the iPhone with a new take on gaming for girls.

The game, called Fashion Hazard, challenges players to walk down catwalks in New York, London, Paris and Milan. But unlike other girly games that mostly focus on playing dress-up, this game requires players to swipe, tilt and tap their phones to collect coins while also dodging random obstacles in the way.

Objects often include hissing snakes, old-school stereos or other models. And if walking in stilettos wasn’t difficult enough, the players also occasionally get splashed with paint, obscuring their vision (maybe they were wearing fur?).

Juliana Stock, Condé Nast’s senior director of business and product development for its interactive product group, said she got the idea watching her 11-year-old daughter enjoying action games, “and yet, when we started to look at action and adventure with her interests in mind, which are girly, we didn’t find any.”

Stock said: “There was a need in the market to create an action game that was challenging, and yet still feminine and visually appealing to this demographic.”

She said they plan to continue to fully support it with more content updates for every season, and in the future, could advise other Condé Nast brands on how to make games. The game costs 99 cents and players will be able to purchase additional items, like wallpapers and ringtones, from the virtual boutique.

To help with promoting the game, Condé Nast has partnered with Frenzoo, which has developed a “Me Girl” game series. The two companies will create special challenges that players in each other’s games will have to complete in order to win special bonuses. For example, in Frenzoo’s Style Me Girl game, players will be invited to dress their avatars up for a Fashion Hazard runway show. Additional promotions, including social media efforts and a sweepstakes, will launch later this month.

Here’s a trailer for the game:

Fashion Hazard 2012 from Fashion Hazard on Vimeo.