Playing roguelikes when you can’t see

Paul Bellow · Jul 11, 2017

For most of us, traditional roguelikes are intrinsically inaccessible. They’re notoriously difficult, their design is complicated and often opaque, they can have more hotkeys than there are keys on the keyboard, and their ASCII-based visuals mean that it’s often unclear what’s happening on the screen. It’s these exact qualities, however, that ironically make roguelikes accessible and even appealing to blind or low-sight players.

Moritz Wolfart, who lives in Germany, has been blind since birth. He started playing games at age 10, when his older brother brought home a copy of the first Prince of Persia. His brother narrated the events for him, and together they made each decision in the game. “When we were playing, we were talking. All the time. We were telling stupid stories about the characters or the enemies. We also wrote songs!” Throughout his life, Moritz has played games with sighted friends gathered around a screen. While playing Oblivion, he was “the brain in the background who says ‘HEY, HE SOLD THE BEST SWORD.’”
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https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/04/05/playing-roguelikes-when-you-cant-see/

Paul Bellow · Jul 11, 2017

http://www.roguelikeradio.com/2012/10/episode-48-designing-for-visually.html

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Playing roguelikes when you can’t see

Paul Bellow Forum Game Master Staff Member LitRPG Author Shop Owner Citizen Aspiring Writer

Paul Bellow Forum Game Master Staff Member LitRPG Author Shop Owner Citizen Aspiring Writer

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