Get Started...
Android
iOS
Mac
Switch
Wii
Wii U
PC
PS4
PS5
Xbox One
Xbox X|SWe've documented 24 accessibility features for Ark: Survival Evolved, including Low Pressure, Custom Difficulty, Select Difficulty, Remap Buttons and Play Without Hearing. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Getting Started but it also has features in Difficulty, Navigation, Visual, Communication, Reading 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.
Our accessibility examiner, Jo Robertson, first checked Ark: Survival Evolved accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 2 years ago.
Accessibility Notes
All of the in-game information is displayed as text, which is crucial to the understanding and setting up of the game. Most of it is quite small and cannot be adjusted. Additionally, it is overlaid over the gameplay, meaning on occasion it can be difficult to distinguish from the scenery. The same goes for the information displayed over interactive objects regarding how to use, pick up and its use.
You can use the map item to view the lay of the land, and also, if you enable it in the settings, to view your location. It can, however, be difficult to interpret the map, due to its style, which only clearly shows coastlines, rivers and hilly areas.
The game's visuals are generally bright during the day, with most of the game elements contrasting well. However, some animals can blend in with tree trunks or other parts of the environment. Furthermore, during nighttime, the game becomes very dark, meaning if you don't have a source of light it becomes very difficult to play. Some of the essential parts in the game, such as supply drops, rely heavily on colours that can be hard to distinguish for colourblind people and cannot be adjusted.
While you can remap buttons on the PC version, on consoles this is not an option.
Game Details
Release Date: 08/08/2017, updated in 2018
Price: 33% off
Out Now: PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox X|S
Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds
Players: 1-2 (70 online)
Genres: Adventure, Simulation (Action, Collecting, Fighting and Traversal)
Accessibility: 24 features
Components: 3D First-Person, Day and Night, Open World and Persistant World
Developer: Survivetheark (@Survivetheark)
Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Purchases and In-Game Pass
Controls
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Controls in Ark: Survival Evolved 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.
Controller Vibration
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Far Cry 6 (14 Controls Features)
- Borderlands 3 (12 Controls Features)
- Craftopia (11 Controls Features)
- Wildmender (10 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Difficulty in Ark: Survival Evolved 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.
Adjust After Setting
Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.
Getting Started
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Getting Started in Ark: Survival Evolved 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.
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.
View Control Mapping: You can view a map of controls during play. This clearly displays the mappings of actions to buttons/keys/mouse/keyboard without having to leave the game. This includes games that always display buttons to press during play.
Low Pressure: Game tasks aren't time-limited or there's a low-pressure mode. This avoids the pressure of being put on the clock for overarching missions, or failing tasks because you didn't reach a destination in time.
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 Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Frostpunk (7 Getting Started Features)
- Wildmender (6 Getting Started Features)
- Biomutant (6 Getting Started Features)
- Smalland (6 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Reading in Ark: Survival Evolved 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.
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 Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Biomutant (7 Reading Features)
- Far Cry 6 (6 Reading Features)
- Dead by Daylight (6 Reading Features)
- Horizon Zero Dawn (6 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Navigation in Ark: Survival Evolved 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.
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
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 Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- Far Cry 6 (9 Navigation Features)
- Wildmender (8 Navigation Features)
- Horizon Forbidden West (7 Navigation Features)
- Days Gone (7 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Visual in Ark: Survival Evolved 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
Medium Contrast: Game uses generally well contrasting and bright visuals, or has a slider to make this the case.
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.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Borderlands 3 (6 Visual Features)
- Far Cry 6 (6 Visual Features)
- Black Desert (5 Visual Features)
- Horizon Forbidden West (5 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Ark: Survival Evolved 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 Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
- BedWars (4 Audio Features)
- Far Cry 6 (4 Audio Features)
- Smalland (4 Audio Features)
- Borderlands 3 (3 Audio Features)
Communication
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Communication in Ark: Survival Evolved 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.
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.
Proximity Chat: Chat to other players who are near you in the game, whether or not they are friends or on your team, by speaking with headset.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Communication
If you want to play Ark: Survival Evolved, but it doesn't offer the Communication accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Communication accessibility:
- Dead by Daylight (4 Communication Features)
- Rust (4 Communication Features)
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).
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.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall, Jo Robertson and Andy Robertson
