Game accessibly is key if you want to create such a gorgeous game that everyone is going to play. It’s not just important, but it really brings together the majority and minority into one big clump, so that everyone is happy with their gift, their game.
Unfortunately, many people are either born or loose their eyesight at any stage of their life. Games made for the blind is one great example of how people can still play games, at their utter luxury, without worrying about seeing what is going on the screen. The games are based around different sounds and triggers which enables the person to locate what is what on the screen, by saying “There’s a box there!” or “Here’s a switch!“
I decided to give some a go, and they are all very well made, with easily accessible content for everyone.
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3D Snake
3D Snake isn’t actually 3D, it’s just a blank screen in a window, and greets you with a lovely “Hello!” then the voice explaining what exact key you will need to press to start the game. As you press the up and down key you flick through the certain options of the game, and then the Enter key to select that certain menu that you want to head into.
When you fall into the game, you are greeted with a couple of bleeping noises: One for movement and one for the fruit. You need to collect the fruit to win the game. Using the arrow keys to move around the stage, the bleeping for the fruit gradually gets louder/quieter, depending on how near/far you are from the fruit itself. Each tap of the movement noise, is one square of movement, so you know if you’re moving in the right direction towards the fruit or no. Whilst travelling around the board with your snake, you collect the fruit from the stage itself, it greets you will a lovely jingle to say you have collected a piece of fruit. But when the game is over, if you have eaten your tail or have run into the wall, the game gives you a crashing sound and clearly states “Game Over.” The person will then tell you your scoring and a congratulates you on your progress.
Dog and Cat
A chase between dog and cat, it’s a game where you have to capture the cat to win. This game was hard in itself, as the rules aren’t actually explained properly before gameplay, and there is a lot of guesswork as to what keys you need to press to get to the end of the stage.
You are the character Dog, and you have to capture the mewing cat. As you run around the stage by pressing the up and down key, left and right turns you 90° (The person then says the way you’re facing: “North“, “South“, “East” and “West“), and if you can hear the cat mewing, you press the forward key to get much closer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any where close to the cat, and the closest I got, I managed to skip past by one block on accident. There is also no noise for the down key, which could be due to the designer not actually wanting a double sounding key, as it would confuse the player. The cat is constantly moving, and you’re not told as to where the cat its actually gone to, and most button pressing is guess work. The sounds effect both sides of the headphones, depending on what side the cat is, or if he’s directly at front, but I found myself constantly battling towards both of them trying to understand whether it was on the side I was thinking or no.
Music Puzzle
This game is really dependent on how you press down the keys against the beat of the music. Again, this game requires you to use the arrow keys to get the pieces right for the music.
There is so much fun to be had with this game, as you are greeted with a very nice voice which begins to tell you the menu screen and how to select each piece of the menu screen. When you then start the game, you are asked how many pieces of the puzzle (in this case, music clips) of the song would you like, then select a song, and finally how long you want the game to go on for. From here, it’s a race against time to get in tune with the beat and keep in time with the music or else the clip ends and you have to reselect the keys to start again. But, if the time limit ends and you haven’t completed the pieces, then a horn sounds to explain that you didn’t complete the game. If you did get all the pieces down on the right rhythm, you are congratulated by the lovely voice at the start. It’s really a fulfilling game, and it’s not actually a game you can progress in, only with your love for music will you enjoy it.
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[Bonnie Simpson] - Games Design 