Gamification is an increasingly popular topic in manufacturing research, since it can enhance workers’ engagement and reduce their errors. Manufacturing is a traditionally male-dominated industry, however females face greater risks compared to their male counterparts, and the number of highly skilled female workers is increasing. This contribution presents the results from the pre-test of a gamified safety training app tailored for manufacturing context, focusing on gender-related preferences and perceptions. Different game prototypes were designed with one psychologist and two designers. Then game prototypes were tested with eight design students (4 males, 4 females) to identify common preferences and gender-related differences in the interaction. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Participants were engaged with four demos inspired by different game genres – puzzle, quiz, narrative, and location-based. Then, they were administered a questionnaire to rate (from 1 = very satisfied to 7 = not-at-all-satisfied) the playability component and learning content and how much they liked each game. In an open question, they explained the game they preferred the most and the least, and why. Positive results were reported for all items, with scores ranging from 1.50 to 3.62. Each game was perceived as highly satisfactory, but the narrative game was preferred more by men while the location-based game was preferred by women. The qualitative feedback aligned with the questionnaire results, highlighting areas for improvement, such as refining the call-to-action buttons and the need for a tutorial for each game. These results provided a strong foundation for improvements for the next test stage of development with manufacturing workers.