How women play mobile games differently than men

Women spend significantly more time and money on their favorite mobile games than men, according to new research.

Mobile analytics firm Flurry studied behavior across a variety of games and platforms, and found that women and girls spend 35 percent more time in gaming apps than men and boys. Women also make 31 percent more in-app purchases and show a 42 percent higher seven-day retention on average versus men.

"The fact that females invest more time in gaming apps, especially in management and simulation games, has rarely been disputed, the fact that females also outspend males in in-app purchases came as a surprise to us," stated the report.

Concerned that the numbers might be skewed by the phenomenal success of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, the researchers looked into individual genres associated with its back-end services. Below is the chart, which shows genres color coded in pink if the category skews female, blue if it skews male and gray if it is neutral.

"Nine categories skew female, including the top two categories from a time-spent perspective. Six categories skew male and four categories are split almost evenly between males and females," stated the report. "Males have kept their dominance in card/battle games, strategy, tower defense, sports and action/RPG."