Games for the Vision Impaired

Most of us take our vision for granted, and we tend to spend many hours viewing computer screens working on various projects, surfing the internet, and playing games.

Most computer based games, such as Second Life, rely on a rich variety of colorful visual images for the player to interact with, which is very unlike the dark or blank screen on the left, representative of what the sightless person sees.This made it seem logical to me that computer games would not be playable by those that are visually impaired or blind. Happily, this is not the case, as there are quite a few computer-based games developed and available for the blind.

Games for the visually impaired are based on sound, and make extensive use of audio voice commands and sound effects. Many different types of audio games are available. Blind-gamers offers Hearts and three varieties of Solitaire. The Blind Eye is a game where the users navigate 3D-soundscapes on a ordinary PC, and helps break down some of the social barriers between the blind and the seeing. The Audio Network offers games of chance, puzzles, music quizzes, and various trivia games.

Soundsupportnet offers Drive, which is a car racing game completely based on sound. The object of the game is to test the maximum speed of a newly developed vehicle by driving as fast as possible while being accompanied by co-pilot Bob and his obstinate comments. Audio Formula One, is a very realistic racing game based on the teams, drivers, and actual tracks of the 2002 Formula One racing season. An in-car co-driver helps guide the player and “3D sound” which supports full 5.1 Surround Sound systems is used on all cars.

Speaking strictly for myself, I have no desire to drive or ride in a car at maximum speeds with anyone, even if they have 20/20 vision!