Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2024 Roundup

Here at Phenixx Gaming, we all staunchly advocate the idea that gaming should be accessible to and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of any disabilities or other difficulties that might hinder those who wish to play video games. Since many of our writers (myself included) have some form of disability that might be problematic for our gaming endeavors, it brings me joy to see an entire showcase of titles made by developers dedicating themselves to making their games accessible to all. I’m here to provide you with a quick roundup of 2024’s Access-Ability Showcase. Let’s begin, shall we?

Elsie – Developed by Knight Shift Games & Published by Playtonic Friends – Release Date TBA

Elsie has been described as an “Action-Platforming Bullet-Hell Rogue-like shooter with procedurally generated levels.” Developers Knight Shift Games have implemented quite a few options to aid with accessibility. These features include: An optional “invincibility mode,” adjustable timing for performing parries and counterattacks, the ability to customize the hue of the outlines surrounding the player character and any on-screen enemies, and screen shake reduction. If that sounds up your alley, you’ll find more information about Elsie, as well as a playable demo, here.

Fishbowl – Developed & Published by IMissMyFriends Studio – Release Date TBA

Fishbowl has been described as a “slice-of-life, coming-of-age story” in which your character’s tale is told over the course of one month. Although that specific time frame might sound strict, Fishbowl has no time limits, no fail states or penalties for anything, and no forced day-night cycles. All these factors can be combined with plentiful visual and audio cues to give you all the time you could possibly want to explore your in-game environments and communicate with your character’s loved ones via video calls. You can check out a playable demo of Fishbowl right here.

Wéko the Mask Gatherer – Developed & Published by Siro Games – Releasing July 26, 2024

Wéko the Mask Gatherer is a third-person, open-world adventure title in which you play as the titular Wéko. Wéko is an adventurer, mask collector, and unlikely hero who seeks to acquire the most powerful mask in the land. Since you’ll be collecting several masks with different abilities that will be useful at various points, two of the notable accessibility features implemented into Wéko are: A color-coded inventory management system, and color palettes designed to aid players with colorblindness. A playable demo of Wéko the Mask Gatherer is available here alongside quite a bit of additional information.

The Shadow Over Cyberspace – Developed & Published by Fiction Factory Games – Release Date TBA

The Shadow Over Cyberspace is a “modempunk” Visual Novel retelling the H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos “through the apocalyptic lens of the Y2K crisis and ‘90s Internet culture,” according to its developers. Among the accessibility features present here are the options to disable many screen and video effects to benefit players with photosensitivity issues. The Shadow Over Cyberspace also provides a content warning to potential players because this psychological horror title “may deal with triggering subjects such as mental illness, delusions, violence, and self-harm.” The Shadow Over Cyberspace will be available for free on Steam once it releases.

Videoverse – Developed & Published by Kinmoku – Available Now

According to developer Kinmoku, Videoverse is a “narrative adventure focusing on character development, friendship, and love in the old-school Internet.” Among the accessibility features present within Videoverse are the conspicuous lack of button combos and situations where any type of quick responses are required on the part of players. Videoverse also features large and high-contrast fonts, as well as the ability to disable all in-game typing noises should you so desire. In fact, Videoverse is completely playable with no audio whatsoever. Videoverse is available now on Steam, and it has a playable demo you can download here.

Cellular City – Developed & Published by Callum Deery – Demo Available Now

Cellular City is a combination puzzle and city-builder title in which the cities you’re tasked with building are quite tiny. Cellular City focuses on accessibility for players who are low-vision or blind in an effort to break down the barriers preventing City-Builder games as a genre from being enjoyed by players who have those difficulties. As such, the main accessibility feature within Cellular City is that all 24 of its current levels are audio descriptive, alongside a text-to-speech narrator that will help you accomplish each level’s goals. A demo version of Cellular City is currently available here via Itch.io.

Upheaval – Developed & Published by Alex Leone – Release Date TBA

Upheaval has been described as a “text-based, open-world, Rogue-like adventure” title. In terms of accessibility features, Upheaval’s gameplay is turn-based without any timed actions or complex controls. In-game backgrounds can be set to a dark mode, disabled entirely, or both. All text within Upheaval is in large, high-contrast, easy-to-read fonts. What I think is Upheaval’s most interesting accessibility function, though, is the fact that you have free rein to give yourself additional in-game time, conjure any items you might want or need, teleport wherever you need to go, and rewind previous actions. Upheaval has a playable demo available here.

Periphery Synthetic – Developed & Published by ShiftBacktick – Releasing “Summer 2024”

Periphery Synthetic, according to its developers, is a “chill, nonviolent, first-person Metroidvania” which, through its focus on using audio levels and audio cues as direction and encouragement for the player, is designed to be fully playable without any visual input whatsoever. Honestly, I’m not quite sure how I can effectively describe Periphery Synthetic based on what I’ve seen of it, so I’ve linked its Access-Ability Showcase trailer above in case you can glean more information from it than I can. If your interest is piqued, you can find a playable demo of Periphery Synthetic on its Steam Store page here.

Trash Goblin – Developed & Published by Spilt Milk Studios – Releasing “2024”

Trash Goblin presents itself as a “wholesome and cozy shopkeeping game where you uncover and clean trinkets others have thrown away, then upcycle them to sell to your customers.” Trash Goblin has no fail states, no time pressures, and no skill gates that might block your ability to progress, nor are there any situations in Trash Goblin where you’re required to act or respond quickly. There are also options to make many gameplay mechanics easier for players who have difficulty with dexterity, for example. If you’re in the mood for some accessible upcycling, you can download a playable demo of Trash Goblin here.

Slime Heroes – Developed by Pancake Games & Published by Whitethorn Games – Release Date TBA

Slime Heroes is “an adorable, Souls-like, 3D action-adventure game.” If the “Souls-like” descriptor makes you uneasy, you might well be happy to learn that Slime Heroes has several accessibility features designed to make that concept less daunting. A few examples of these options allow you to: Toggle on the ability to double jump; speed up the rate at which your stamina recharges; slow enemies’ attack speeds; give yourself more time to solve timed puzzles; and enable visible hitboxes for every attack that might be thrown at you. You’ll find a playable demo of Slime Heroes available here.

Magical Delicacy – Developed by Skaule & Published by Whitethorn Games – Releasing July 16, 2024

Magical Delicacy is a “wholesome pixel art platformer” where you play as a witch who moves to a new town to strengthen her magical abilities. You’ll go about that partly by cooking marvelous foods using a huge array of ingredients in your own shop and sharing your creations with the townsfolk. One of Magical Delicacy’s accessibility features is an option that disables platforms that would otherwise disappear after a certain amount of time in an effort to help with traversal. If you’re ready to get cooking with magic, there’s a playable demo of Magical Delicacy available for download here.

Space Boat – Developed by Recombobulator Games – Release Date “Coming Soon”

Space Boat is a narrative adventure title that gives players the opportunity to control an “undercover space cat detective and track down an intergalactic jewel thief.” It seems as though said intergalactic jewel thief owns a space-faring yacht of some description, given the circumstances, but I digress. Space Boat offers such things as single-stick controls, high-contrast art and text, shader modes meant to assist colorblind players, and a very easily accessed options menu where you can enable these and any other present accessibility features you might need. You can board the Space Boat via a playable demo here.

The Darkest Files – Developed & Published by Paintbucket Games – Release Date “Coming Soon”

The Darkest Files is a “historical investigation and courtroom game based on true crimes” during World War II. I would imagine that’s why its titular files are so particularly dark. The Darkest Files offers mouse-only gameplay and easy switching between any supported input devices, as well as things like real-time subtitles and transcriptions of virtually everything you’ll need to know to play. There are also highly customizable difficulty options so that you can make The Darkest Files’ gameplay as accessible to you as possible. If these files don’t sound too dark and intimidating for you, there’s a playable demo here.

Dawnfolk – Developed & Published By Darenn Keller – Release Date “Coming Soon”

Dawnfolk has been referred to as a “miniature survival city-builder about bringing light back to the world.” In terms of its accessibility options, Dawnfolk is designed to be both completely playable with any controller you might want to use and with no sound whatsoever. Players also have the ability to pause time and save their progress at any point, as well as to enable a text-to-speech narrator. Dawnfolk additionally offers colorblind-friendly color palettes and an option to disable its mini-games that often require some degree of button-mashing. If restoring dawn to your townsfolk sounds appealing, check out a playable demo here.

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan – Developed by ManaVoid Entertainment & Published by Skybound Games – Available Now

Rainbow Billy has been available on multiple platforms for quite a while now. However, its developers updated the game fairly recently to add several new accessibility options, hence Rainbow Billy’s appearance in 2024’s Access-Ability Showcase. These new features include such things as: colorblind-friendly animations and color schemes; forced perspective to make Rainbow Billy playable with a single joystick; an auto-rotating camera; an adjustable difficulty slider; removable dialog animations; and no time limits or fail states in any scenario.

There you have it, folks! As I conclude this roundup, I would also like to mention that the majority of the games that had a part in this year’s Access-Ability Showcase are all grouped together on their own page within the Steam Store, which you can find here. That makes it easier and more convenient for you to add all the games shown here that you’re interested in to your Steam wish list and, in many cases, download their playable demos, especially since there’s a Steam Next Fest active until 10 AM Pacific Time on Monday, June 17, 2024.