Gaming For All

Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025 Roundup

10Jun

By Cameron KeywoodNo Comments

Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025 Roundup

Laura Kate Dale is a prominent voice in the games industry and a full-time video game critic who focuses on accessibility and representation in video games. She hosted the 2025 edition of the Access-Ability Summer Showcase—a celebration of accessibility and representation in gaming. Sponsored by Many Cats Studios, the event once again celebrated developers who build inclusive games for all players. True to its name, the showcase offers high accessibility. Multiple formats were available, including versions with American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), and a fully audio-described edition voiced by accessibility consultant SightlessKombat. For anyone interested in how far accessibility in games has come—and where it’s headed—the full showcase is well worth watching. ...

Everyone Can Play: Highlights of Gaming Accessibility Conference Europe 2025

29Apr

By Cameron KeywoodNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming, Features

Everyone Can Play: Highlights of Gaming Accessibility Conference Europe 2025

When I walked into the hotel on day one of the Gaming Accessibility Conference (GASIG), I already knew I’d leave full of inspiration, information, and new connections. The organisers reserved a private guest space for us, and most of the action took place in a spacious area usually reserved for wedding receptions. My table sat right at the back and centre, surrounded by fellow attendees from all corners of the industry—from tech giants like Amazon to indie accessibility champions like Many Cats. Now, let’s get into the actual content. I won’t cover every talk in detail—just a few highlights—but if you want to catch any sessions from this year or past conferences, you’ll find them on the IGDA-GASIG YouTube channel. Ubi Gets Stuck In Jawad Shakil, QC Manager at Ubisoft India, showca...

31Oct

By StuartNo Comments

Features, Gaming For All

Thumb Soldiers – Accessibility For All

If you've been gaming for some time, you have probably seen accessibility products doing the rounds. Companies claim their products help people with accessibility issues, but many fall short. Now I will tell you right now, I am a perfectly able-bodied gamer. Albeit I wear glasses to play. My partner is a disabled gamer but again her accessibility needs are not physical. I love gaming and I am an advocate for bringing gaming to everyone. A dream that David Chapman, the Inventor and Founder of Thumb Soldiers sought to bring to reality. No Fingers All Thumb...Soldiers I could fill out the whole article with the backstory of the product, explaining why David created the Thumb Soldiers, what inspired him originally, and where it ended up. But that would just be a boring reiteration of their w...

GAconf Accessibility Conference Line-Up Announced

9Oct

By CharlotteNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming, News & Updates

GAconf Accessibility Conference Line-Up Announced

The line-up has been announced for accessibility conference GAconf. GAconf is a professional conference for the games industry, founded to advance the field of accessibility in game development. Suitable for all disciplines of the games industry, the hybrid event will take place on October 28th-29th. With both a free to attend online event held through Zoom and Discord, as well as an in-person gathering in Redmond. Accessibility Matters Awareness of the importance of game accessibility has increased hugely in recent years, with ever growing numbers of developers seeing the benefits. GAconf offers two days of talks and networking exploring recent and future advancements in the field of game accessibility. Event attendees can expect a wide range of topics from all sectors of the industry...

19Aug

By Gareth Trueman1 Comment

Features, Gaming For All

Top 10 Mobile Games To Play Offline

Playing games on your iPhone, or iPad, or Android device can be a great way to play games on the go. There are so many mobile game users out there that it will blow your mind. But with a mass majority of the games requiring the internet to play them. It can be a pain when you run out of data or lose an internet signal. But don't worry because we got you covered as we look into the Top 10 Mobile Games To Play Offline. If this list was something that you read through right to the end then why not check out my latest list here. You can also check out what the rest of the Thumb Culture team are up to on our social media. Anyway, let us dig in. 10. Solitaire Let's start with a good old classic, shall we? You can never go wrong with Solitaire (Patience to some). This goes right back to the ...

24Mar

By MikeNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming

Visual Impairment And Accessible Gaming

I am embarrassed but readily admit that I know very little about the struggle that exists. And I don’t always consider how difficult it can be for people not able sighted. Growing up playing video games, the name says it all, as to how prevalent the visuals are when playing. For nearsighted people, it is relatively easy to play games. For those who have low vision or are blind, I found that different ways have been found to still be able to play such as responding to audio cues. However, this is still far from ideal for visual impairment gaming and people within the visual impaired (VI) community. Listen out for how games can work for you I listened recently to The Tale of the Winter Sun, an audio play from Fowk Productions. I have included the YouTube link below. The team at Fowk h...

Colourblind Watch: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

27Nov

By Stu NNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming

Colourblind Watch: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

After my Colourblind and Gaming article a few weeks ago, I've decided to keep an eye on games that have or add Colourblind options to games. As part of a new series focusing on accessibility in gaming, I'm introducing you all to Colourblind Watch! Today, the topic is Colourblind Watch: Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Colourblind Watch: Assassin's Creed Valhalla - What's New? Recently I purchased Assassin's Creed Valhalla on PC and it's the first game on the Colourblind Watch list. As usual, the first thing I do it check for any colourblind options. As usual, when it comes to the majority of games, they change the way icons and health bars etc. are displayed. Before the latest patch of 1.0.4, you can see here, This is what you used to get: With Patch 1.0.4 they have now added: (A11y) ...

17Nov

By Stu N1 Comment

Accessibility In Gaming

Colourblind and Gaming

I first discovered I was colourblind at the age of 7 while in class at primary school, looking at a chalkboard and struggling to read the yellow writing. After this incident, I went to have my eyes checked and sure enough, I was diagnosed as colourblind. In this post, I'm going to be looking at what it's like being colourblind and being a gamer. What is ColourBlindness? Colourblindness affects 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. Until recently, I had believed that colourblindness only affected men. This was the common belief when I was growing up. But we now know that even though it is a lot less common for women, they can also suffer from this type of visual impairment. The classic colourblindness test can be carried out using Ishihara plates. If you can’t see the number 3, then you’re pro...

15Jul

By DanNo Comments

Accessibility In Gaming, Gaming, Gaming For All

Gaming and Epilepsy

More and more people are getting diagnosed with Epilepsy, yet there isn’t much awareness surrounding it – Especially when it comes to gaming! The Facts: In the UK alone there are circa 600,000 living with Epilepsy Around 87 people are diagnosed on a daily basis. Approximately 1,000 people die every year with around half of these been related to a sudden unexpected death in Epilepsy (also known as SUDEP) Photosensitive Epilepsy affects roughly 3% which is seizures triggered by flashing and/or flickering lights What is shocking is the fact that not many people are even remotely aware of the above or how serious Epilepsy can be. The effects it has on life alone, never mind the seizures can be extremely difficult to live with. For many people with Epilepsy gaming is a ...

16Jun

By TC Staff WriterNo Comments

Features, Gaming, Gaming For All

How Video Games Saved My Life And Helped My Mental Health – The Healing Power Of Gaming

We've heard it time and time again, "Video games make people violent", "Video games aren't a productive use of your time" and "Video games are a negative and angry place". These words are usually spoken by people who don't know a lot about the gaming world, who fear the unknown and adhere to all the misconceptions, typically brought to the world via the media or frustrated parents. All of these words you have undoubtedly heard, couldn't be further from the truth. How do I know that? Well, because I am a gamer and If it wasn't for video games I wouldn't be here talking to you today. In essence, gaming has saved my life and I'm here, thankfully, to tell you why. I would say that throughout my life Ive always been a very sensitive soul, prone to taking matters to heart hence leaving me quite...