The 2021 video games that pushed accessibility farther

With each year that inclusive gaming becomes a stronger focus for studios, we see incredible and creative innovations that push what’s possible in accessible gaming. The industry made up the difference with many more accessible games as the year progressed, despite a disappointing start to 2021. This year’s seven accessible games were a major step forward in accessibility gaming.

Horror Tales about the Wine

Image: Carlos Coronado

We’ve seen countless indie games implement various accessibility features over the last few years. Accessibility features include: Horror Tales about the Wine, developer Carlos Coronado built on his already great record with accessibility features, going so far as to mention them in the game’s official description on storefronts.

This game is a great choice for visibility upgrades. There are many text sizes to choose from, as well as eight different visual styles for subtitles. Examples of each can be found in the menu. My personal favourite is that there are numerous options for object outlines or crosshairs. They range from simple lines or crosseshair dots to thick, bold lines. Horror Tales about the WineIt is truly rare to find a horror video game that has been designed with accessibility in mind.

Ratchet and Clack: Rift Apart

Insomniac is no stranger to making accessible games — Marvel’s Spider-Man Spider-Man: Miles MoralesAt the time they were released, both Insomniac and Spider-Sense were leading in accessibility. Insomniac has pushed the boundaries with this year’s release. Ratchet and Clack: Rift ApartThis makes it among the most easily available releases for 2021.

Ratchet and Clank created some very beneficial options. High-contrast mode is similar to the one of Spider-Man: Miles Morales() The simplified controls and the D-pad allow you to play the game entirely using the face buttons, R2 and the D. Apart from the Rift also implements a “simplified traversal” feature that binds all traversal to the circle button. Apart from the Rift’s standout feature, however, is game speed, which allows players to essentially play in slow motion, giving them more time to react and make decisions in combat and during world exploration.

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

Image: Falling Squirrel/Creative Bytes Studios

The Vale: Shadow of the CrownIt is a fresh take on the genre of audio-game RPGs. The sound design and voice acting are AAA quality. Designed to be fully playable — and even more than that, enjoyable — For blind players The ValeOnly two senses are required to play: touch and hearing. Players must be able to hear the subtlest sound cues in order to play well. This will help them predict when an enemy might attack. World traversal also relies on sound alone: The only way for players to tell they’ve gone the wrong way and need to redirect themselves is to listen for the heroine’s nuanced comments. These are all common principles for audio games. The Vale Falling Squirrel, the developer of these games, was able to bring them to a larger audience. The Game Awards nominated the game for Innovation in Accessibility.

Some sighted gamers may find audio-only gaming difficult due to a lack of visual anchors. The ValeUse tiny light orbs to illuminate the screen. These tell sighted players if they’re indoors or out, and whether it’s night or day. The story is as engaging and difficult as any RPG. The Vale is particularly challenging in how it flips the script on sighted players, removing sight from the equation, and thus, the chief sense many of us have relied on to be “good” at games. It is an excellent RPG that modern consoles can play and which also makes it accessible to blind players.

Chicory is a Colorful Story

Image by Alexis Dean Jones/Chicory Team

Chicory: The Colorful Story revolves around painting a world that’s been stripped of its color. While this might sound difficult for colorblind gamers, Greg Lobanov created it. ChicoryTo be inclusive. It features a robust set of stard accessibility features — including text legibility and text effect options — but it also introduced some new accessibility considerations.

The eye-strain settings make the stark white world in its uncolored state much more bearable, and the painting mechanic is bound to both the PlayStation 5’s DualSense touchpad andRight stick makes painting much easier than if you were using a touchpad. ChicoryYou also have many cognitive and emotional accessibility options. You can switch between skipping boss fights and limiting the number of hits your character can take. Players also have the ability to toggle warnings about content when depression is near the story. Inspired by work on, the content warnings were created. Ikenfell, a great example of how developers are learning from and building upon each other’s accessibility successes.

Truly Amazing Colors: Life Is Strange

Image: Deck Nine/Square Enix

Life is Strange is known for telling emotionally charged stories via short-term events. These events, which are often difficult to find, can also be very inaccessible. However, the availability of Truly Amazing Colors: Life Is StrangeDeck Nine was able to overcome this enormous barrier and introduce both skippable QTEs as well an adjustable timer that allows for key dialogue choices.

Square Enix made Life is Strange more accessible by adding new options such as volume and brightness warnings. They also added configurable text presentations, hold and tap toggles and an indicator when players make a story-changing decision.

Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 comprises a visually stunning world that’s also a thrill for many players to explore. Playground Games’ latest release is also the best-selling open-world race series game.

Apart from the ability to make avatars using prosthetic limbs for players, Forza Horizon 5 also Features include configurable game speed, steering and braking assist, as well as multiple subtitle options. Crucially, Forza Horizon 5Players can also progress in the story, even if the stories are difficult. These are just a few of the many features that these new additions offer. Forza Horizon 5This is the first Horizon game in which disabled people can compete with non-disabled players.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

Image: Eidos Montreal/Square Enix via Polygon

Marvel’s Guardians of the GalaxyIt was the unexpected feel-good video game of 2014. Yes, the narrative is light, funny, and well written — but the game’s accessibility allows many disabled players to feel good while playing it. Guardians of the GalaxyIn some cases, inclusive design was preferred to what may feel like a Band-Aid version. Chief among them is the fact that Star Lord’s visor mode doubles as high-contrast mode, improving visual accessibility in a foundational, rather than additive, way.

Guardians of the GalaxyIt is the first game with closed captions that match the high quality of TV and movies. Players who are deaf or hard of hearing can be more immersed in the game world with “overheard subtitles,” resizable subtitles, and closed captions. Cognitive accessibility options include the sound focus mode which reduces any unnecessary sounds. You can also extend the goal-reminder timer to make the object visible longer. Guardians of the Galaxy set a new bar in the industry for deaf and hard of hearing accessibility and showed what’s possible with inclusive design ideas applied to video games.

Courtney Craven was the co-founder and director. This is a game you can have fun withThey also lead workshops, write reviews, and feature on accessibility. The team also provides accessibility consulting for the gaming industry. They published their findings. First fiction novel2020.