My last post touched on a few aspects of Video Game accessibility for the visually impaired. I love video games, so much in fact I have forgotten how much fun can be had after you peal the cellophane off, then lift the lid of a new board game for the first time, all the corners of the box still crisp and sharp. Or perhaps dusting off the old battered boxes from the top of the wardrobe and settling in for yet another Monopoly marathon, fighting for your favorite piece and dealing out the well worn bank notes. With these fond memories in mind, this time I’m putting down the pixels and picking up the dice and turning my attention towards table top gaming.

Help Finding The Right Game

I thought I was all set, having gathered together a healthy (or perhaps unhealthy) selection of my favorite drinks and snacks to sustain me during my gaming marathon. I’d Persuaded members of my immediate family, that a night of board gaming will be nothing like the last time I threw my toys out of the pram when losing at Monopoly. Then, heading over to Amazon, the realisation hit me, I know absolutely nothing about table top gaming.

What I needed was a resource equivalent to game-accessibility.com. I had to have an informed opinion, like they provide for video games only this time focused toward table top gaming. A place that would tell me not only what the game play was like but also how accessible it was for a visually impaired person.

Then I remembered, some time ago, while perusing Twitter for fun and interesting people to follow, I came across @meeplelikeus. The editor over at meeplelikeus is @DrMichaelHeron. A lecturer in the School of Computing and Digital Media at Robert Gordon University. Other contributors at the site include Pauline Belford and Hayley Reid . In their own words they are “a group of gaming academics, developers, hobbyists and enthusiasts”.

At meeplelikeus they carry out in depth “tare downs'” and reviews of table top games. Offering well informed and in depth commentary on their current levels of accessibility and providing possible improvements that can be made.

They also provide written reviews of the vast majority of table top games they do accessibility Tare Downs of, from a game play perspective. Providing you with all the information you need to make an informed purchase. That sounds like just what I needed.

I Didn’t Think Of That

Approaching game accessibility from a visually impaired persons point of view, I some times forget all the other limiting factors, that may effect other people from accessing video games and table top gaming alike.

Thankfully meeplelikeus and game-accessibility.com didn’t forget. They cover a wide range of factors that may limit access to the games that they review. Including but not limited to how accessible the games are for visually impaired people.

But, The Table Top Game I Want To Play Isn’t Accessible

Don’t write that game off just yet! That’s what I love about board games over video games. If a video game isn’t accessible you’re almost entirely reliant on the developer to resolve that issue. When it comes to board games it’s different, we have the option to change a lot of the constraining elements.

Rules Are Made To Be Broken

The easiest and least expensive thing you can do to solve accessibility issues with board games is implement house rules. This may include for example playing as a team of two instead of individually. A visually impaired person could team up with a sighted person to read the game cards and then make strategy decisions together. You should of course attempt to keep the rules as close to the original rule set as possible, as to experience the game as the author intended.

Accessibility Up Their Sleeves

If the accessibility issue can’t be resolved with a simple rule change, then there are ways around it, but it may involve you spending a penny or two. I was recently introduced to @64ozGames on twitter by @sedjtroll a game designer. On their website, they provide accessibility kits for a wide variety of games.

This site is run by Richard and Emily Gibs. They are both teachers and dedicated to making games accessible to the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Their Game Accessibility Kits include, but are not limited to, brailled sleeves, to get around the problem of text printed on game cards, such as those in Cards Against Humanity.

The Fun Factor

After finding all these excellent resources, offering expert and well informed opinions, my 3 year old daughter decided it was her turn to have her say. “Pig Goes Pop! Please!” she shouted, as I reeled off a list of games I would like to play. She was insistent, after every suggestion I made, “Pig Goes Pop! Please!”

Pester Power having seemingly increased in it’s potency since I used to whaled it as a child, I had no choice but to surrender. Although not being the most accessible game for a blind person. With it’s use of a small coloured die indicating the colour of the burger the player feeds to the pig. The barely tactile numbers on the base of the burgers, indicating the number of times you press down the piggies head. Not to mention the fact the game play only consists of feeding burgers to a pig. I just didn’t have the inner strength to resist the pestering, cuddles and kisses of a three year old, as she pleaded with her father (me) to give her what she wanted.

With the accessibility limitations in mind, my daughter and I came to an agreement. In exchange for my help in pressing down the piggies head, as she wasn’t quite strong enough to do it herself, she would help me identify the colours on the die after my role. My son and daughter then took turns in reading out the numbers on the base of the burgers after each of our turns. All the limitations overcome, we settled in for a game of Pig Goes Pop.

That’s what you need to remember when it comes to gaming, the most important thing when choosing a game to play is the fun factor. The game you are playing should be fun and inclusive for all the people playing it. And when you see the smile on a three year old’s face when a very full piggy bursts out of it’s jacket and throws it’s arms up in the air. And almost burst with laughter yourself as her infectious giggle spread around all the people playing, you can’t help but remember that fact.

Your thoughts?

Like always, if you have any comments, please feel free to leave them below r get in touch with me on Twitter or Facebook. Do you have any resources as far as accessible gaming goes that you haven’t seen me mention? What games do you like to play? Let me know I want to hear it all. Also if you like the post, please consider sharing using the social media links below. Thank you.