Buddy Simulator 1984 Accessibility Report - PC

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Buddy
Simulator 1984

Accessibility Report

15 Accessibility Features

We've documented 15 accessibility features for Buddy Simulator 1984, including No Button Combos, No Holds, Play Without Hearing, Colour Blind Friendly and High Contrast. Its accessibility is strongest in Reading and Visual but it also has features in Controls, Audio, Getting Started and Navigation to reduce unintended barriers.

This report is created with input from accessibility experts and the player community to help people find games that have the accessibility features they require. Once you have found potential games on the database, there are excellent specialist accessibility sites that offer in-depth reviews to guide your purchasing decisions.

Buddy Simulator 1984 is an adventure horror game. What starts as a retro-themed set of mini-games soon evolves into a tale of anxiety, friendship and depression as your buddy makes new games for you to play each with creepy anomalies and glitches. It's an evolving experience that entirely depends on your choices, even down to the ending.

Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Buddy Simulator 1984 accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 2 years ago.

Accessibility Notes

When first opening the game, you need to "boot up" the buddy simulator from inside the faux operating system. This requires at least a bit of prior knowledge about how to do such things, or the willingness to look up a tutorial.

As a large portion of the game is told through (non-adjustable) text, you'll need to be prepared to do a large amount of reading. The text is often quite small, and if you are making choices that your buddy doesn't like the text may become unreadable In some sections, the colour of the text changes, depending on your favourite colour, which is previously inputted, but generally the text is a high-contrast white on black.

For some of the combat sections in the game, you'll need to be able to quickly respond to in screen cues indicating specific buttons to press. However, there is a mode called "One Key Mode" which disables the random key element of this.

The game is mostly black and white or monochrome, which makes it easy to distinguish between different elements. For effect, dramatic or otherwise, this is sometimes not the case, but the game remains overall high-contrast throughout.

Game Details

Release Date: 18/02/2021

Out Now: PC

Skill Rating: 15+ year-olds

Players: 1

Genres: Adventure, Narrative (Fighting and Puzzle)

Accessibility: 15 features

Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels

Developer: Not Sailor (@Not_Sailor)

Costs: Purchase cost

Controls

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Controls in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.

Mouse And Keyboard

Can play with the following:

Keyboard Alone: Can play with just the keyboard.

Button Combinations

Specific button operation required to play

Holding Down Buttons Optional: Holding down buttons for prolonged periods (a second or more) is not required or can be switched to toggling the action on and off. This is in addition to the movement stick/button which is not considered a hold for this purpose.

No Simultaneous Buttons: Only one button or key required at a time, in addition to direction stick(s).

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls

If you want to play Buddy Simulator 1984, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach: Ruin (11 Controls Features)
The Outbound Ghost (11 Controls Features)
Upheaval (7 Controls Features)
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (7 Controls Features)

Difficulty

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play, and whether this is locked once chosen or can be adjusted as you play. The following games are similar to Buddy Simulator 1984, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:

She Dreams Elsewhere (3 Difficulty Features)
The Outbound Ghost (2 Difficulty Features)
Phasmophobia (2 Difficulty Features)
Upheaval (1 Difficulty Feature)

Getting Started

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Getting Started in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deals with what support is offered to get started with the game. This includes customising the experience when you first open the game via any onboarding processes it provides as well as tutorials and other assistance when you first start playing.

Assistance For Progressing

These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.

Save Progress Anytime: The game automatically saves progress or you can save any time. This doesn’t mean you never lose progress, but it does mean you can stop whenever you want (without having to get to a save point) without losing progress.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

If you want to play Buddy Simulator 1984, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:

Letters: A Written Adventure (7 Getting Started Features)
The Outbound Ghost (7 Getting Started Features)
She Dreams Elsewhere (7 Getting Started Features)
Upheaval (6 Getting Started Features)

Reading

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Reading in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deal with how much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides visual and audible access to the text and whether subtitles and captions are a good fit for purpose.

Reading Level

How much reading is required to play the game's main path or story and how complex the language is. The presence of voiced characters doesn't reduce this requirement, as it's recorded as a separate datapoint.

Extensive Complex Reading: Extensive reading required. The quantity and complexity of reading is suitable for someone who loves long books and enjoys extended dialogue or narrative descriptions.

Text Visibility

High Contrast Text: Text colour contrasts to the background or can be adjusted to be. The text in menus, instructions and other information is presented in high contrast with a solid background.

Subtitles

All Speech Subtitled (Or No Speech In Game): All spoken content has subtitles, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to hear spoken dialogue or narrative to play the game.

Captions

Speaker Indicator: Textual captions indicate who is speaking (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or placing text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

If you want to play Buddy Simulator 1984, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

Rusty Lake Hotel (7 Reading Features)
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (7 Reading Features)
Rusty Lake: Roots (6 Reading Features)
The Outbound Ghost (6 Reading Features)

Navigation

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Navigation in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deals with how the game provides guidance and assistance to navigate its worlds. These are only for games that have traversal and exploration in 2D and 3D spaces.

Menu Navigation

Menus Don't Wrap: Menus don't wrap and stop the cursor at the bottom of the list if you press down. Or menus do wrap but make it clear that you are back at the top of the list with sound or narration.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation

If you want to play Buddy Simulator 1984, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (4 Navigation Features)
The Outbound Ghost (4 Navigation Features)
Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach: Ruin (3 Navigation Features)
Roadwarden (3 Navigation Features)

Visual

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Visual in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.

Contrast

High Contrast: There is high contrast between elements that need to be distinguished from each other, such as characters, interactive objects and game environment, either by default or a high contrast mode. This is different to a slider that increases contrast or brightness between light and dark.

Visual Distractions

No Busy Backgrounds: No distracting backgrounds or you can make them static or blank. This includes the absence of other movement elements in the background that might distract or confuse the action. Where foreground contrast is high, this includes games with some movement in the background that doesn't make it overly difficult to distinguish what is happening.

Motion Sickness Friendly

Motion Sickness Friendly: Doesn't have 3D movement elements that may trigger motion sickness, like motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision. Or includes the ability to disable motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision effects.

Colour Options

Colour Blind Friendly: Game doesn’t rely on colour or can switch to colour blind friendly mode with double coding or similar way to avoid colour dependance.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual

If you want to play Buddy Simulator 1984, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:

Upheaval (7 Visual Features)
Warsim: The Realm of Aslona (7 Visual Features)
One Button Travel (7 Visual Features)
The Outbound Ghost (7 Visual Features)

Audio

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Buddy Simulator 1984 which deal with how you can adjust the audio of the game and whether audio cues compensate for aspects of the game that are hard to see.

Adjustable Audio

Balance Audio Levels: Set music and game sound effects separately. This enables you to select your preference as well as ensure critical game sounds aren't obscured by other audio.

Play Without Hearing

Play Without Hearing: No audio cues are necessary to play the game well.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio

If you want to play Buddy Simulator 1984, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:

Roadwarden (3 Audio Features)
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (3 Audio Features)
Carrion (3 Audio Features)

System Accessibility Settings

In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:

PC
Windows has extensive accessibility features. Some, like colour correction, work with games. Lots of accessibility software can be used with PC games, from voice recognition to input device emulators.

Read more about system accessibility settings.

Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall and Andy Robertson