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Grounded
39 Accessibility Features

We've documented 39 accessibility features for Grounded, including Large Text, Guaranteed Progress, Custom Difficulty, Select Difficulty and Remap Buttons. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Navigation but it also has features in Visual, Getting Started, Reading, Communication, Difficulty and Audio 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.

Grounded is a survival game where you are tiny and find yourself in someone’s back garden. It’s like Honey I Shrunk The Kids meets Fortnite. Ants, cockroaches, and bees pose a threat along with environmental hazards like water, tall grass and large drops.

External examiner, Antonio I. Martinez, first checked Grounded accessibility 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Andrew Robertson and updated 20 months ago.

NotesAccessibility Notes

You can set or customise the game difficulty. All Recipies Unlocked and Free, for example, offers a free-play mode with everything available. You can disable Bugs Spawn to turn this aspect of playoff. You can turn off Player Damage and Hunger/Thirst/Stamina Drain. Together these offer a God-like mode where you can't die.

The game includes spiders but you can use the Arachnophobia Safe Mode to change the look and sounds of the spiders and make them less triggering.

Certain game elements will be altered to be more legible for one of three types of colourblindness. Currently, this mode shifts to a set of distinct colours that remain the same regardless of SCA.B flavour or colour deficiency selected. Options: None, Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Tritanopia.

There are the following aspects of narration:
  • Read to Me: The game narrates the text content of on-screen elements.
  • Chat Text to Speech: Incoming text chat will also be read aloud by the narrator.
  • Chat Speech to Text: Incoming voice chat will also be displayed as chat messages.

The game offers onboarding that asks you to set accessibility options before you start.

DetailsGame Details

Release Date: 28/07/2020, updated in 2024

Price: 20% off

Out Now: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Players: 1 (4 online)

Genres: Action, Strategy (Adventure, Fighting, Shooting and Simulation)

Accessibility: 39 features

Components: 3D First-Person, 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World

Developer: Grounded The Game (@GroundedTheGame)

Costs: Purchase cost

 

ControlsControls

To complete the main campaign of the game you need to use a minimum of:

  • PC: 16 keys, 2 buttons and 1 mouse.
  • Xbox: 12 buttons, 2 triggers and 2 sticks.
You can use the following settings to reduce the need for holding Spring and Crouch buttons:
  • Toggle Crouch: Crouching becomes a toggle rather than a button hold.
  • Toggle Sprint: Sprinting becomes a toggle rather than a button hold.
The following tables guide you through which buttons you can map to custom controllers:

Action Xbox PC Notes Required
Jump / Vault A Button Spacebar
Fly - Glide A Button Shift (Left) KeyJump with A then press A to toggle gliding.
Sprint Left Stick Press Shift (Left) KeyHold by default but can set to Toggle. N toggles autosprint.
Crouch Right Stick Press Ctrl (Left) KeyHold by default but can set to Toggle.
Throw Item / Grenade Right Bumper R Key
Movement Left Stick WASD Keys
Navigation Trail/Guide D-Pad Down + Right Stick Y KeyOn Xbox accessed via Executables quick menu.
Aim / Look / Camera Right Stick Mouse Movement
Block Left Trigger Right Mouse Button
Hit / Melee Right Trigger Left Mouse Button
Interact X Button E Key
Aim Select Camera Y Button Look around.
Destroy / Trash B Button X Key
Chat (Select Preset Text) D-Pad Right + Right Stick
Chat (Voice) Alt Key

Action Xbox Notes Required
Jump / Vault A Button
Fly - Glide A ButtonJump with A then press A to toggle gliding.
Sprint Left Stick PressHold by default but can set to Toggle. N toggles autosprint.
Crouch Right Stick PressHold by default but can set to Toggle.
Throw Item / Grenade Right Bumper
Movement Left Stick
Aim / Look / Camera Right Stick
Navigation Trail/Guide D-Pad Down + Right StickOn Xbox accessed via Executables quick menu.
Block Left Trigger
Hit / Melee Right Trigger
Interact X Button
Aim Select Camera Y ButtonLook around.
Destroy / Trash B Button
Chat (Select Preset Text) D-Pad Right + Right Stick

Build Xbox Notes Required
Build Place Item X Button
Build Rotate Item Right Trigger + Left Trigger + Y ButtonAlso use Y/G to flip building.
Build Snap to Grid Left Bumper
Build Change Item Right Bumper

Menu Xbox Notes Required
Menu - Start Game Menu Button
Menu - Select/Advance A Button
Menu - Back/Undo B Button
Menu - Close B Button
Menu - Previous Page Left Bumper
Menu - Next Page Right Bumper
Menu - Navigate D-Pad + Left Stick

Wheel Menu Xbox Notes Required
Select Item Left Bumper + Right StickOn Xbox use Left Bumper to access Hotpouch wheel.
Menu - Open Menu Right Stick + D-Pad Down + Menu ButtonOpen Executables (Map/Crafting/Inventory Shortcut) wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Chat (Select Preset Text) Right Stick + D-Pad Right
Chat (Select Emote) D-Pad Left + Right StickOpen Emote wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Build Change Item D-Pad Up + Right StickOpen Construction wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Select Weapon / Ammo Left Trigger + Right StickOpen Ammo wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.

Action PC Notes Required
Hit / Melee Left Mouse Button
Block Right Mouse Button
Throw Item / Grenade R Key
Navigation Trail/Guide Y KeyOn Xbox accessed via Executables quick menu.
Movement WASD Keys
Jump / Vault Spacebar
Crouch Ctrl (Left) KeyHold by default but can set to Toggle.
Sprint Shift (Left) KeyHold by default but can set to Toggle. N toggles autosprint.
Fly - Glide Shift (Left) KeyJump with A then press A to toggle gliding.
Aim / Look / Camera Mouse Movement
Interact E Key
Destroy / Trash X Key
Chat (Voice) Alt Key

Build PC Notes Required
Build Place Item Left Mouse Button
Build Change Item F Key
Build Rotate Item G Key + E Key + Q KeyAlso use Y/G to flip building.
Build Snap to Grid Ctrl (Left) Key

Menu PC Notes Required
Menu - Next Page E Key
Menu - Previous Page Q Key
Menu - Select/Advance Spacebar
Menu - Back/Undo Escape
Menu - Close Escape
Menu - Navigate Left Mouse Button + Cursor Keys + Mouse Movement

Swimming PC Notes Required
Swim Up Spacebar
Swim Down Ctrl (Left) Key

Wheel Menu PC Notes Required
Select Item Q KeyOn Xbox use Left Bumper to access Hotpouch wheel.
Build Change Item B Key + Left Mouse ButtonOpen Construction wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Chat (Select Emote) H Key + Left Mouse ButtonOpen Emote wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Select Weapon / Ammo L Key + Left Mouse ButtonOpen Ammo wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Chat (Select Preset Text) Left Mouse Button + T Key
Menu - Open Menu Left Mouse Button + Z KeyOpen Executables (Map/Crafting/Inventory Shortcut) wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.

Build Xbox PC Notes Required
Build Place Item X Button Left Mouse Button
Build Rotate Item Right Trigger + Left Trigger + Y Button G Key + E Key + Q KeyAlso use Y/G to flip building.
Build Snap to Grid Left Bumper Ctrl (Left) Key
Build Change Item Right Bumper F Key

Menu Xbox PC Notes Required
Menu - Start Game Menu Button
Menu - Select/Advance A Button Spacebar
Menu - Back/Undo B Button Escape
Menu - Close B Button Escape
Menu - Previous Page Left Bumper Q Key
Menu - Next Page Right Bumper E Key
Menu - Navigate D-Pad + Left Stick Left Mouse Button + Cursor Keys + Mouse Movement

Swimming Xbox PC Notes Required
Swim Up Spacebar
Swim Down Ctrl (Left) Key

Wheel Menu Xbox PC Notes Required
Select Item Left Bumper + Right Stick Q KeyOn Xbox use Left Bumper to access Hotpouch wheel.
Menu - Open Menu Right Stick + D-Pad Down + Menu Button Left Mouse Button + Z KeyOpen Executables (Map/Crafting/Inventory Shortcut) wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Chat (Select Preset Text) Right Stick + D-Pad Right Left Mouse Button + T Key
Chat (Select Emote) D-Pad Left + Right Stick H Key + Left Mouse ButtonOpen Emote wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Build Change Item D-Pad Up + Right Stick B Key + Left Mouse ButtonOpen Construction wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.
Select Weapon / Ammo Left Trigger + Right Stick L Key + Left Mouse ButtonOpen Ammo wheel with D-Pad Left, use Right Stick to highlight and A to select.

Similar Games Requiring Fewer Controls

If you want to play games like Grounded, but with fewer controls required, the following similar games are worth considering:

We've documented 9 accessibility features for Controls in Grounded which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.

Gamepad

Can play with the following:

Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.

Mouse And Keyboard

Can play with the following:

Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.

Remap Controls

Can customise the controls for the game as follows:

Remap Buttons: Can re-map all buttons so that you can use alternatives that better suit your play.

Remap Sticks: Can remap the stick controls to controller buttons for easier access of direction controls.

Remap Mouse and Keyboard: Can remap mouse and keyboard key bindings, on systems that support these controls.

Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.

Controller Vibration

Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.

Informative Vibration: Controller vibration indicates events or interactions in the game, echoing visual and audio cues. This can provide additional information about progress, approaching enemies or hitting a target.

Sensitivity

You can adjust

Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity, Deadzones and Thresholds: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are and the related deadzones and thresholds.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls

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

DifficultyDifficulty

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in Grounded 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.

Difficulty Options

Select Difficulty: Select the level of difficulty from a range of presets. This not only offers a way to adjust the challenge of a game but enables you to do so without dealing with individual criteria.

Customise Difficulty: Customise different aspects of the game to create a challenge of an appropriate level. Adjusting elements individually enables you to tailor gameplay to suit your needs and style of play.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Difficulty

If you want to play Grounded, but it doesn't offer the Difficulty accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Difficulty accessibility:

Getting StartedGetting Started

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Getting Started in Grounded which deal 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.

Onboarding Before Play

Before you are presented with the home screen, onboarding settings aim to aid you accessing the menus you need to adjust the game to your requirements. They can also provide an easier way of turning on important adjustments without digging through menus.

Onboarding: The first time you open the game, you are asked to confirm options for control, navigation and accessibility settings. Games can differ in what they present at this stage, but will count for this, provided they include a streamlined onboarding process.

Assistance Getting Starting

These features aid your play of the game in terms of cognitive load on learning controls, dealing with pressure and coping with the environment and challenges.

Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.

Assistance For Progressing

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

Guaranteed Progress With God Mode: There is no fail state for any game level, where you lose progress or have to start again. Or there are options to make failing impossible: infinite health or lives, unlimited time. Sometimes called God Mode or Unfailable.

Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.

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 Grounded, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:

ReadingReading

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in Grounded 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.

Moderate Reading: Moderate reading required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a high school student (14-year-old) would appreciate.

Text Visibility

Large Clear Text: All essential text is large and clear or can be adjusted to be. The general text used throughout the game in menus, instructions and other key information (excluding subtitles that are assessed separately) is at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height on landscape screens and at least 1/40 height on portrait screens. We base this on the full line-height, including the space above and below the letters.

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

Some Speech Subtitled: Some spoken content has subtitles. This reduces the pressure on interpreting all the spoken content, although not everything is captured textually.

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 Grounded, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

NavigationNavigation

We've documented 8 accessibility features for Navigation in Grounded which deal 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.

Clarity

Large Clear Navigation: The in-game navigation and maps are clear to read. They offer large text and offer markers that are large and of high contrast. Where text or information is small, there are settings to zoom-in and increase visibility.

Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.

Visual Directional Cues: Additional in-game visual cues that signpost where to go next and how close you are to arriving. This can be with camera movement to focus on your destination or important items. It can use light, breadcrumb trails, in-world pointers to identify your mission's target location.

Head-Up Display

Adjust Head-Up Display: Resize and adjust the content of the head-up display. This enables it to be made more visible. It can also enable the removal of too much information that can be distracting or confusing.

Game Map: View a map of the game world during play, with the landscape, points of interest and missions highlighted throughout the entire game. This enables the orientation of the player and the world, confirming a direction of movement and the location of destinations or points of exploration.

Menu Navigation

Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.

Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.

Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.

VisualVisual

We've documented 6 accessibility features for Visual in Grounded which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.

Interactive Elements

Large Game Elements: Game characters and other elements are large and distinguishable. Enemies and player characters are at least 1/6 of the height of the screen. Or there is a zoom feature to make them larger.

Visual Distractions

No Screen Shake: No screen shake effect or it is included but it can be disabled. This includes the absence of screen shake for dramatic effect as well as to indicate hits on a target.

Audio Cues for Visual Events

Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.

Narration for Visual Elements

This is the audible narration of in-game text. Sometimes talk about as Text To Speech, although it may include the narration of no-textual elements. This is different to Text To Voice, which provides player-player textual communication audibly.

Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.

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 Grounded, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Visual accessibility:

AudioAudio

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Audio in Grounded which deals 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.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio

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

CommunicationCommunication

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Communication in Grounded which deal with how you can communicate with other players in the game and what options are available to customise and control this interaction.

Player-to-Player Online Communication

This is how players communicate with each other in online games. This can be to plan strategy, chat as they play or co-ordinate resources.

No Online Chat (Or Preset Phrases Only): Game is played online but no verbal or textual player communication. This includes games that offer no communication or communication with word-less icons, sounds or preset phrases.

Text Chat: Chat to other players by typing text.

Voice Chat: Chat to other players on your team or friends list by speaking with headset.

Online Communication Assistance

Text-to-speech: Convert text messages from other players to voiced messages. Game converts text typed by the player into synthesized audio that's read aloud to all other players in the voice channel. This feature allows players who can't speak verbally to have their thoughts expressed aloud to the rest of the players in their party.

Speech-to-text: Convert voice from other players to text messages. Transcribes incoming speech from other players into text onscreen in real time. Players who can't hear voice chat can read what other players have said aloud on their screen.

System Accessibility Settings

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

Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
 
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.
 
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping).
 
PlayStation 5
PlayStation 5 has a range of system-wide accessibility settings.
 
Xbox One
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
 
Xbox Series X|S
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
 
Read more about system accessibility settings.

VSC LogoAccessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors @Black1976, Jo Robertson and Andy Robertson


Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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