Which local games are doing accessibility well?

Local Games

We've talked to many studios around Australia, consulted with accessibility advocates, and even done some playtesting of our own.

Here are a few of our favourite local games with accessible features.

Submerged: Hidden Depths - Uppercut Games

Heavenly Bodies - 2pt Interactive
The Forgotten City - Modern Storyteller

Wayward Strand - Ghost Pattern

Cult of the Lamb - Massive Monster

Broken Roads - Drop Bear Bytes

Moving Out! - SMG Studio

Broken Roads

Drop Bear Bytes

Launching in 2023 Broken Roads is being built with accessibility top of line. The team said "In terms of accessiblity, everything in Broken Roads is turn-based as it is, so there's no twitch/fast responses needed. We designed with a colour-blind mode in mind from the outset, and it is also possible to play through the game without having to kill anyone (as in, it may not be simple to achieve, but there are multiple pacifist routes to complete Broken Roads). And let's see what happens - maybe something comes along where a community member suggests a particular change we can me, then great." Read full interview.

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The Forgotten City

Modern Storyteller

The Forgotten City offers many options to tailor gameplay. Subtitle size can be increased as well as placed on a solid background for better visibility. Field of view can be extended past 90 up to 110 degrees and motion blur can be reduced or completely removed. The audio tab has multiple sliders for different types of sound, such as ambiance, dialogue, and menu interaction. Controls can be rebound for controllers as well as mouse and keyboard, which this game fully supports. Sensitivity as well as looking can be inverted as well. The game is fully voiced in English only but offers text support for English, German, French, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Russian.

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Heavenly Bodies

2pt Interactive

Play as a cosmonaut in space, and assemble space telescopes, maintain solar arrays, and research cosmic bottany, all the while traversing the weightlessness of space.

This lovely title offers a lot of options across its emphasised weightless experience, offering a broad array of players the opportunity to experience space! Features include:

Changeable movement styles in the game to suit players
Removeable graphic options e.g film grain, motion blur
Non-timed gameplay
Rebindable controls
Optional button hints and control input indicators

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Moving Out

SMG Studio

This fun title (developed by SMG Studio) features players helping families move out of their houses as quickly as possible!

Over time the game has released updates, most notably the "Moving In" update, to improve accessibility. Some of the features include:

Skipping Levels on Fail
Adding extra time to levels timer
Dyslexic friendly font option
Option to remove obstacles
Diverse character customisation including a wheelchair

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Submerged: Hidden Depths

Uppercut Games

Hidden Depths is, “a relaxing, third-person exploration game set in a hauntingly beautiful world of water and ruins.” You play as two siblings navigating the water and exploring city ruins in this “relaxploration” title.

The lack of pressure in the game allows it to be open to a wide variety of players. Features include:

Non-consequential gameplay
One-handed gameplay option
Colour-blind modes
Customisable direction markers

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Wayward Strand

Ghost Pattern

Check out our interview above to learn more about how Ghost Pattern woked with accessible elements while developing Wayward Strand. Features include:

Game is entirely voiced and subtitled
Game is narrative-based - allows for more people to play
UI-scaling
Audio output options

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Cult of the Lamb

Massive Monster

This Melbourne made game has been topping the charts! Accessiblity features include:

Turn off screenshake
Turn off flashing lights
Control preset options and mapping
Reduce camera motion
Turn off visual effects including depth of field, bloom and chromatic aberration
Adjust Text size