What is Equal-Play Game Design™?
Many accessible board games begin with an existing visual game and modify it so a blind player can participate. We want something more!
Equal-Play Game Design™ is a design philosophy developed by 2Play Games to create tabletop games that blind, low-vision, and sighted players can enjoy together as equals — using the same rules, components, and information, without special adaptations.
The Five Principles of Equal-Play Game Design
One Game for Everyone — Everyone is playing the same game; no adaptation is needed.
Information for Everyone — Important game information and the status of the game are available through more than sight alone.
Play Independently — Players shouldn't need another player to read, identify, or manage game elements for them. They should be able to make game choices on their own, with the information readily available to them.
An Equal Playing Field — Accessibility shouldn't give or take away strategically useful information.
Accessibility from the Start — Accessibility is part of the mechanics, components, and physical design from the beginning, not an afterthought.
How Is Equal-Play Different from Adapted Board Games?
Many people use “accessible games” and “adapted games” interchangeably. A simple search for “games for the blind” will find many games adapted from pre-existing games originally designed for sighted players. For example, you'll find many accessible versions of Connect 4. These make the game accessible by adding a hole or another tactile feature to one set of chips.
Whereas this will make the game "playable" for a blind player, I don't feel it is a good experience. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to offer these alternatives, but I want more.
Equal-Play emphasizes designing games from the beginning for blind and low-vision players, while making sure the play experience is just as good for sighted players as well – EQUAL. It includes designing game components that work for everyone: boards, coins, dice, tokens, and other components.
How Was Equal-Play Game Design Developed?
Equal-Play was developed over years of interactions and playtesting with people of all vision levels. This included summer camp sessions for blind and low-vision children; games at National Federation of the Blind conventions; game demonstrations at facilities serving blind and low-vision people in multiple states; and discussions with older adults in low-vision support groups. We also reinforced the design principles during playtests with many sighted players around the Midwest.
Equal-Play Game Design in Practice
Individual Game Boards
Individual game boards give each player all of the game information they need. A large, shared game board in the center of the table can be difficult for a blind or low-vision player to follow independently. We give each player their own board and include the game components they need to play.
Fate & Fortune: Tactile Coins and Independent Play
For our pirate-themed game, Fate & Fortune, each player has a board that includes a play area at the top and a score area at the bottom. The main components of the game are tactile gold coins. The face of the coins has a 3D compass star embedded in it, making it easy to identify which side is which. The other side of the coins includes raised lines: one line = 1 point; two lines = 2 points; three lines = 3 points; and an “X” of crossbones for the bust coin.
Playtesting helped us refine the designs so the coins can be easily differentiated by touch. The coins also have the point sides highlighted by black edges against the shiny gold coin, providing additional visual contrast for low-vision and sighted players.
Dragon's Nest: Accessible Game Boards and Components
For our dragon-themed game, Dragon’s Nest, each player has two game boards. The game is similar to Battleship. The game boards are 6 × 6 grids, with Braille labels along the sides: 1–6 and A–F. The player places tactile pieces on one board representing the dragon’s nest. The second board represents their guesses, where they place tactile pieces marking which locations they have called. Each player is in complete control of their own boards and can make their own strategic decisions.
The nest pieces include 3D tactile eggs, flames, stacks of gold coins, and traps. Each piece is created in bright colors, making them contrast against the black game board.
How Playtesting Improved Dragon's Nest
Early versions of Dragon’s Nest had a scoring board made from a Pop-It. While it functioned for blind and low vision, it wasn’t the easiest for them to use. It also slightly confused some sighted players.
Through playtesting, a more elegant scoring solution was developed by the players. They devised a second game board that mirrored the first “nest” game board. This made it easy to understand and learn for both blind and sighted players. Play-testers also developed their own sense of ownership when they found an item in their opponent’s nest. They began to give that piece to the other player so it could mark where it was found. This was a simple solution that also cut down the number of components needed, making the game less expensive to manufacture.
Many sighted players have commented on how much they love the tactile, high-contrast design of the game boards and components. Also at gaming conventions, sighted players are drawn to the bright colors and tactile pieces.
The final solution for Dragon’s Nest was simpler, easier to understand, and less expensive to manufacture; all great objectives for the game. Most importantly, it worked equally well for blind, low-vision, and sighted players—and that is the goal of Equal-Play Game Design™
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