Let’s talk about social gaming! Visually impaired gamers wanted.

By Jerry from Brightmir, 28 October, 2024

Forum
iOS and iPadOS Gaming

Hi everyone,

I'm Jerry, an accessible games developer. I’m developing an iOS social game designed for the visually impaired and I want to hear from you!

I'm at the beginning stages of development and want to understand what would make a great social gaming experience for people who are visually impaired.

I'm interested in hearing about your experiences with any type of social game:
1. What are some of the things you love about playing games with friends and family?
2. What makes social gaming frustrating or difficult for you?
3. What types of games do you wish you could play with your friends or family?

I look forward to hearing more about your thoughts and experiences here, or you can also email me: jerry@brightmir.ai !

I'm also happy to schedule a 30-minute phone call or online meeting to talk more in-depth about your experiences. Just let me know if you're up for it!
Looking forward to hearing from you!

Options

Comments

By Trung on Sunday, November 3, 2024 - 18:21

Hello.
I'm glad to hear from you. This means we might have new games in the future and I hope so.
Personally, I don't have much input. Just a suggestion that you can consider registering an account and asking this question at audiogames.net because there will be more people with experience playing games who can help you, perhaps.
https://audiogames.net/

By Jerry from Brightmir on Sunday, November 3, 2024 - 18:21

Thanks for posting DDt Trung, I’ll consider asking on there as well! I heard from my blind friend that AppleVis is a good starting place to get some diverse feedback.

Will try out both forums and see what kind of feedback comes back :).

By Faerie on Sunday, November 3, 2024 - 18:21

Just popping a note here to say thanks so much for asking this question! I just sent an email not too long ago with many ramblings on this topic. :) But more games are always good news!

By Jerry from Brightmir on Sunday, November 3, 2024 - 18:21

Hey Faerie!

Thank you for replying back! I got your email and I am reading through and writing you a reply right now! Your reply is very detailed, and I really appreciate the time you took to write about your experiences :).

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Most games that are for blind are not even fun. They also last for several years and they are discontinue. Do not know but had never seen a sport game, mostly managing it but not a real game. Football, basketball or baseball. I know now we sounds a game be created but do not know wy. Most like I said are not even long. Text base games but after several chapters done, the game disappear. You want to get people active a good football game where I can play against someone or a group can play against another group would be cool. Same for war games. think about this, you are driving a sub and other gamers trying to find you and dstroy you and you them, how cool could that be. Sad I am not a developer or have the skills to be.

By Brian on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Many, many, many years ago, before I ever had my first iPhone, I used to have a very old android device. It actually had an accessible game of pro golf, not mini golf, but actual pro golf. It was very accessible with the early versions of talk back. I know, I know, it's not football, but my point I was trying to make is that it is possible to have fully flushed out accessible games for the blind in the sports category. Also agree with you, would love to see more of these. For me, it would be basketball.
Just some food for thought ...

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Not just that but starships. GMA games had great games base on audio and they were cool. They were for windows. My favor is lone wolf a sub adventure. Also Tank command.

By Jerry from Brightmir on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Thanks for the responses!

@MikeTaku111, yes, I completely get the importance of high-quality graphics in multiplayer games like FIFA and COD, as well as the need for fun, family-friendly options that everyone can enjoy. What makes playing games with the family challenging at times?

@Holger, your point about accessible games for blind players is great, especially with your ideas for engaging sports and strategy games. Multiplayer concepts like submarines or war games with a group dynamic sound fascinating! What part of lone wolf sub adventure did you find to be most fun?

@Brian, your story about the accessible pro golf game shows the potential for well-designed sports games in this area — what parts of it made playing it enjoyable?

I'll take these into account when developing the game, thanks for the great responses :)

By Brian Giles on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

The social aspect of gaming is one of the things that makes me feel most excluded in life as a blind person. More game options are always great, but I wish there could be a way to make more of the same games the mainstream is playing accessible to us. Yeah, logically I know that's impossible for a lot of game genres, but emotionally I just want the choice of whether to participate based on whether I think I would enjoy a particular game or not.

In 2012 I went to a Super Bowl party with a friend from one of my college classes. I didn't know anyone else at the party, but when I sat down I recognized that a guy was playing Hanging With Friends on his phone and struck up a conversation. That led to my friend saying she also played, and then when I logged in to find her, I also discovered that one of my college profs also played. Later that week I ran into that prof on my way into another class and asked her if she saw my invite to play. She told me she stopped playing because it was getting too addicting and she recommended I do the same. It was a tiny thing that made me smile in an otherwise difficult time I was going through.

A couple years later, Trivia Crack was all the rage and I started playing with a friend who I always ran into who worked at Subway. I had a joke where I would tell her it was her turn before I told her what kind of sandwich I was going to order. It felt wonderful to be included like that in the larger gaming world, which is too rare.

Games made with accessibility in mind first are all well and good, but they end up being limitted. As great as Dice World is, I would bet most people who play that are playing with other blind players. I haven't been able to get any sighted friends/family interested enough to play when I've tried showing it to them.

By Chris on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Jerry, I sent you an email on October 28, butn ever received a response.

I agree with Brian. The best thing to do is make games playable by everyone from the ground up. Sadly, this isn't really happening. The big companies don't care, so we're left withthe wonderful indie developers that truly want to make a difference.

By Jerry from Brightmir on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Hi Chris, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had missed your email! Thank you for reminding me - I didn't mean to make you wait. I found the email in my inbox and I'm writing up a response now.

And I agree - I think it's fairly hard to add accessibility after the fact - so I'm focusing on doing my research and playtests as I develop the game.

By Jerry from Brightmir on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

@Brian Giles, thank you for sharing your experience with me. I understand the frustration of wanting to connect with a broader community of players in mainstream games but feeling excluded due to barriers like time, cost, or accessibility.

Recently, I spoke with a blind fitness advocate who shared a vision that deeply resonated with me: when developing new activities or games, can we ensure they are accessible enough for blind and visually impaired individuals to participate and feel included, and also enjoyable for everyone? Even more importantly, can these activities empower them to join and engage with the larger community afterward?

I hope that the research done will help us create a game that can fulfill this task - to make a game that lets sighted, VI, and blind individuals play and socialize together without needing to consider accessibility as an issue.

By Brian on Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 18:21

Keep in mind, this was probably about a decade or so ago, but from what I can remember, the thing that made this game so great, was that it was in fact accessible, and that I could play it at all from a completely blind perspective.
It felt, at least at that time, like it was done pretty well. You had gauges for your swing, and you had to deal with things like wind, and weather in general. You had to navigate around sand traps, etc. The game had all sorts of audio cues for helping players to guide the ball into the hole, including vocal cues. And if I am remembering correctly, it even had a brief description of each course at the start before you begin your run.
I'm not even a golf person, but again, it was a game that was available and accessible for me at that particular time. So I played it a lot. Ha ha ha

By Ayub Abraham Flores on Sunday, November 24, 2024 - 18:21

Hi there,

I have a cool suggestion. Why won't you create a boxing wrestlling game? I'd like to see a boxing game!. Thanks

By Jerry from Brightmir on Sunday, November 24, 2024 - 18:21

Hi Ayub, thanks for the suggestion! What draws you to a boxing/wrestling game? Have you played something similar, and would this be something you see yourself playing with your friends or family?

By al-Salil on Sunday, November 24, 2024 - 18:21

Back in the days with sight I loved playing the original Championship Manager and later Football Manager developed by Sports Interactive.
I also really enjoyed Command and Conquer and C&C Red Alert; was that by Westwood studios? :-)
Don't forget the brilliant Civilization series by Sid Meier.
Starcraft was also good fun.
Railroad Tycoon and Transport Tycoon as well.
For FPS type of games: Doom 1 and 2, Wolfenstein and Duke Nukem LOL
Yeah, that's a few examples of games I loved playing on my computer back in the 90s.
Yep, I especially enjoy sports strategy like managing a football club (soccer) and war strategy.

Now as a blind person I really enjoyed playing these games on my iPhone:
Football Chairman Pro
Soccer Boss
Soccer Tycoon.

On my laptop:
Lone Wolf by GMA Games; would love to see a game like this on my iPhone.
Both single player and multiplayer and also playable by the sighted.
Time of Conflict by GMA Games.

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, November 24, 2024 - 18:21

Already gave some good one. Boxing is a cool one also. I remember a friend who play with windows did a cool boxing game. A cool game also be star trek. You can run your starship and others can tried to find you and blow you up. The question is someone who have the skills will do so. We gave many suggestion that will keep developer busy.

By Brian on Sunday, November 24, 2024 - 18:21

Somebody has made an accessibility mod for the original doom for PC. Illegally Sided talks about it on his YouTube channel.