The Accessibility Illusion: Indie Games' Good Intentions Gone Wrong

June 27, 2025

Let’s talk about video game accessibility, shall we? It’s the darling of indie dev circles, the whispered promise of inclusivity, the shimmering beacon of “we care!” But, let’s be honest, sometimes it feels more like a hastily slapped-on sticker than a carefully considered design choice. We’re going to dive deep into the murky waters of well-intentioned but utterly disastrous accessibility features in indie games.

The Accessibility Illusion: Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough

Ah, yes, accessibility. The word that triggers a thousand eye-rolls from cynical gamers (and, increasingly, cynical disabled gamers too). See, it’s not enough to just say you’re making your game accessible. Thinking of slapping a colorblind mode on and calling it a day? Think again. You’re likely creating a more frustrating experience than if you’d done nothing at all. This is a problem.

The issue isn’t the desire to be inclusive. It’s the execution. Many indie developers, strapped for cash and time, rely on surface-level solutions without truly understanding the needs of disabled players. The end result? Accessibility features that are either useless, actively harmful, or so poorly implemented they’re basically performative allyship.

The Font Fiasco: A Visual Disaster

Let’s start with fonts, shall we? A beautiful, artistic, totally unreadable font might be aesthetically pleasing to you. But consider the player. Slapping a stylized font on your game is like throwing a visual grenade at anyone with dyslexia, low vision, or even just a slight headache.

The Pitfall: Prioritizing aesthetics over legibility. Consider “cool” fonts that are so visually cluttered they’re a chore to decipher.
The Solution: Offer a font selection option. Include at least one clear, sans-serif font designed for readability. This could include OpenDyslexic or similar accessible font options.

Case Study: Hypnospace Outlaw is great, but some in-game text is difficult to read. A future update allowing font options could improve accessibility.

Colorblindness Catastrophe: The Red-Green Apocalypse

Ah, colorblind modes. The classic accessibility checkbox that’s often ticked with the same enthusiasm as filing taxes. Too often, these modes simply swap out one problematic color combination for another, creating a different kind of visual hellscape. Red and green are not the only colors.

The Pitfall: Relying solely on color to convey important information. Imagine a puzzle where the solution is based on differentiating red and green tiles.
The Solution: Use shapes, symbols, or text cues in addition to color. This ensures that colorblind players can still access the information.

For example, consider Among Us. The game almost entirely relies on color. While simple, this is something that completely shuts out colorblind individuals.

The Audio Avalanche: Drowning in Sound

Sound design can make or break a game. But accessibility needs to be considered. Imagine a game with crucial audio cues that are either too quiet, easily drowned out by other sounds, or simply not accompanied by visual indicators.

The Pitfall: Assuming all players can hear and process audio information effectively. This fails to account for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and players with auditory processing disorders.
The Solution: Provide visual cues for important audio events. Use subtitles, visual effects, or even haptic feedback to convey information. Also, include volume sliders for individual sound channels to allow players to customize their audio experience.

Case Study: Rhythm games are tricky. Consider implementing visual indicators synchronized to the rhythm, which is a good start. This helps deaf or hard-of-hearing gamers access the music.

Control Chaos: The Button-Mashing Nightmare

Control schemes can be a minefield of potential accessibility issues. Imagine a game that requires rapid button presses, complex combinations, or precise timing. This can be a nightmare for players with motor impairments.

The Pitfall: Designing control schemes that are physically demanding or require precise dexterity. This creates barriers for players with conditions like arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or cerebral palsy.
The Solution: Offer fully customizable control schemes. Allow players to remap buttons, adjust sensitivity, and use alternative input devices like adaptive controllers.

Consider implementing features like auto-fire, button holds instead of mashing, and adjustable timing windows. This allows for a more forgiving experience.

The Text Tornado: Walls of Unbreakable Prose

Text-heavy games can be wonderful. However, consider a game that throws walls of unbroken text at the player, with no options to adjust font size, line spacing, or text contrast. This can be a massive barrier for players with visual impairments or reading difficulties.

The Pitfall: Neglecting text customization options. This means failing to account for players with low vision, dyslexia, or other reading-related challenges.
The Solution: Provide comprehensive text customization options. Allow players to adjust font size, font style, line spacing, text color, and background color. Consider adding text-to-speech functionality. This allows players to listen to the text instead of reading it.

Example: Visual novels often excel in this, with extensive options. RPGs often fail miserably.

The Cutscene Conundrum: An Unskippable Nightmare

Imagine a cutscene that’s essential for understanding the plot, but can’t be paused, skipped, or subtitled properly. This presents all sorts of problems. Players could need to use the bathroom, be experiencing a seizure, or be unable to hear it.

The Pitfall: Failing to provide options for managing cutscenes. This alienates players who may need to pause, skip, or reread cutscenes for various reasons.
The Solution: Allow players to pause, skip, and replay cutscenes. Ensure that all cutscenes are fully subtitled with adjustable text size and contrast. Provide a text log of all dialogue.

For example: Final Fantasy XIV does this well.

The Difficulty Deception: Easy Mode Isn’t Always Enough

Difficulty settings are great. But a basic “easy mode” often doesn’t address the specific needs of disabled players. A difficulty setting doesn’t address physical impairments.

The Pitfall: Assuming that a single difficulty setting can solve all accessibility issues. This fails to recognize the diverse range of challenges faced by disabled players.
The Solution: Offer granular difficulty settings. Allow players to customize individual aspects of the game’s difficulty, such as enemy health, damage output, and reaction time. Include options to disable certain mechanics or challenges altogether.

Consider the Celeste assist mode. It is an excellent example of granular difficulty settings.

The Map Maze: Navigational Nightmares

Navigating complex game worlds can be challenging for any player, but even more so for those with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities. Imagine a game with a sprawling, intricate map that’s difficult to interpret. There is no way to get around.

The Pitfall: Designing maps that are visually cluttered, lack clear landmarks, or provide insufficient information. This creates navigational challenges for players with visual or cognitive impairments.
The Solution: Offer customizable map features. Allow players to zoom in, add labels, highlight important locations, and use different color schemes. Consider providing audio cues or haptic feedback to guide players through the environment.

For instance, Metroid games are infamous for this.

Beyond the Checklist: Embracing Genuine Inclusivity

True accessibility isn’t about ticking boxes on a checklist. It’s about fundamentally rethinking your design process to prioritize the needs of all players. So how do we actually, you know, do this right?

Talk to Disabled Players: Engage with disabled gamers throughout the development process. Their feedback is invaluable in identifying and addressing accessibility issues.
Playtest Rigorously: Test your game with a diverse group of players, including those with disabilities. Get feedback on all accessibility features.
Embrace Iteration: Be prepared to revise and improve your accessibility features based on player feedback. Accessibility is an ongoing process, not a one-time fix.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment: Try new approaches and technologies to make your game more accessible. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, so be creative and innovative.

The Cost of Inaction: Why Accessibility Matters (Beyond Morality)

Beyond the obvious moral imperative, there’s a compelling business case for accessibility. Ignoring the needs of disabled players means excluding a significant portion of the gaming market.

Expand Your Audience: By making your game accessible, you open it up to a wider audience, including millions of disabled players.
Improve Your Reputation: Demonstrating a commitment to accessibility can enhance your reputation and build goodwill within the gaming community.
Drive Innovation: Designing for accessibility can lead to new and innovative game mechanics that benefit all players.
Avoid Legal Trouble: As accessibility standards become more prevalent, developers may face legal challenges if their games are not accessible.

The Future of Accessible Indie Games: A Call to Action

The future of accessible indie games is bright. With greater awareness, better tools, and a growing community of passionate developers and players, we can create games that are truly inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. So what can you do to help?

Educate Yourself: Learn about the diverse range of accessibility needs and best practices for inclusive game design.
Advocate for Accessibility: Speak out about the importance of accessibility and encourage other developers to prioritize it in their work.
Support Accessible Games: Buy and play games that prioritize accessibility, and let the developers know you appreciate their efforts.
Share Your Knowledge: If you have experience with accessible game development, share your knowledge and expertise with others.

Let’s move beyond performative allyship and create a gaming landscape where everyone can play. After all, isn’t that the point?