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Board Game Accessibility
Data
We work with designers and accessibility experts to record a detailed record of the accessibility settings and features in each game on the database. If you are a developer or have accessibility knowledge and would like to add to (or correct) this data please email our editor.

Board Games Accessibility Features Tracked

Here's a list of how many flags have been set against each item. You can select each one to see the list of matching board games:
Totals:
Tag Games
Board Game Accessibility: Identifying accessibility options and inclusive design for board games.
Difficulty: How you can adjust the challenge of play.
Difficulty Options:
Simple and Full Version: Game provides layered rules to enable the removal of elements for a simpler version of the game. Ideally, these are given non-stigmatising descriptors for example, "simple/complex" rather than "novice/expert".
9
No Memorisation Advantage: You don’t need to memorise and recall the state of the game, cards played, sequences and resources to play the game well. Players who are able to do this more easily are not at an advantage.
22
No Hidden Information: All players can see the full state of the game at all times.
10
No Deceit Advantage: No game mechanic where players need to deceive each other to progress. This includes bluffing and lying.
32
No Colour Advantage: Game can be played without colour-blindness being a barrier to performance.
25
No Mathematics Advantage: Game can be played effectively without doing more than simple counting. It doesn't require calculations or working with large numbers.
22
No Weighing Decisions: Game can be played effectively without weighing probability or choosing between competing consequences.
8
Getting Started: What support is offered to get started with the game.
Assistance Getting Started: 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.
Clear Manual: Game provides a manual that breaks play into number sections, groups information sensibly and uses illustrative pictures.
29
Electronic Version of Manual: A free online version of the manual provided by the publisher.
26
Electronic Version of Manual for Screen Readers: A free online version of the manual provided by the publisher that is screen reader-friendly.
0
Getting Started Video: Game provides a tutorial video to get you started. This video must include subtitles and offer real examples of play.
21
Digital Version: Official version of game is available on digital platforms to both enable remote play and aid learning rules with the computer managing systems.
13
Reference Aid: In addition to the main rules, a succinct quick reference card is also provided for each player to remind them of key rules, actions and currencies. This may be a separate card or integrated onto the board or cards.
11
Assistance Progressing: These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of managing your pieces and progression.
Play Order Tokens (Or play order doesn’t change): Where player order impacts the game or there are multiple play phases the game provides a means of keeping track of this. Includes provision of play order tokens or use of piece/board orientation.
25
Reaction-Time Not Critical: Individual game actions don’t need quick reactions. This means you don't need to quickly respond to events in the game or other players.
32
Low Pressure: Decisions aren’t time-limited so you can take your time with each action.
31
Low Impact: Decisions are low impact. If you get something wrong, you can still make up for it and/or progress another way.
16
Catch Up Rule: Game includes catch up mechanics that give losing players a bonus or advantage to help catch up.
3
Reading: How much reading or listening comprehension is required, how well the game provides accessible text.
Reading Level: How much reading is required to play the game and how complex the language is.
No Text: No text or numbers in the game at all. This means the game is language independent.
9
No Reading: No reading is required, other than simple titles or numbers. The game either has no text or can communicate textual content with icons or other visuals.
12
Simple Minimal Reading: Minimal reading is required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a primary/elementary student (9-year-old) could understand.
9
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.
6
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.
1
Necessary Text Visibility: How clear are the required text or numbers to play the game.
Large Clear Text on Board (Or no text required): Text or numbers are large and clear font at least 8mm tall (22pt) on the board and any other elements that are at a distance to the player.
19
Large Clear Text on Cards (Or no text required): Text or numbers are large and clear 5mm tall (14pt) on the pieces that you can hold close to read.
22
High Contrast Text (Or no text required): Text or number colours contrasts to the background. The text in instructions and other information is presented in high contrast ideally with a solid background.
26
QR Code For Text (Or no text required): QR codes that trigger voiced versions of the text to be played audibly.
8
Primary and Secondary Text Distinguishable (Or no text required): Game separates non-essential flavour text from essential gameplay text, to ease comprehension. Includes games that don't have flavour text.
22
Information Orientation: You don’t have to read text, numbers or symbols upside-down to play the game effectively.
15
Clear Icons: Icons are used to simply communicate and highlight important graphical elements related to gameplay. This assumes good contrast and generally familiar symbols.
23
Physical: How you interact with the game components and how accommodating these are of different requirements.
Pieces: How the game components accommodate interactions through touch, shape, texture and colour.
Components are Distinguishable by Touch: Game dice and tokens are different shapes and different colours or designs.
6
Components are Replaceable: Game components can be replaced with alternatives that meet an accessibility requirement, that don’t conflict with game mechanics (needing to pick randomly from a bag) or another physical aspect of the game (board indentations).
16
No Non-Standard Dice (Or No Dice): The game uses standard numerical dice, doesn’t need dice to play or ensures dice are readable by touch.
32
No Tiny Pieces: Game pieces are not very small. This doesn't cover cards. The target size for this is not less than 20mm wide and not less than 2mm thick.
25
No Paper Money: The game doesn’t use paper money.
34
No Sprawl: You can play the game on a small surface (train table or hospital bed table) of approximately 1/2 meter square. Or you can manage this in a small space easily.
20
Cards: How the game assists interaction, manipulation and management of game cards.
Large Card Size: Cards in the game at least the size of a standard playing card (64mm x 89mm). This ensures the cards work with accessibility equipment like card-holders and shufflers.
20
Standard Card Shape: Cards confirm to standard size so they work with card shufflers and other card management devices.
23
Limited Hand Management: You don’t need to hold more than 8 cards in your hand. This includes games with larger hands that require minimal in-hand card management.
24
No Excessive Card Shuffling: You don’t need to shuffle the deck of cards more than twice per total play of the game. This wouldn’t include games like Poker.
26
No Right-Handed Advantage: Cards don't position key information in only top-left corners that favours right-handed in-hand card arrangements.
22
Placement: How the game assists interaction, manipulation, management and placement of game pieces.
No Unbound Placement: Game state is not easily upset by jogging the board. Components are either held in place or high friction.
15
Player Components Not Shared: Key components are not shared so you can organise them as best suits your needs. Keeping them close to you. Organising them in useful groupings.
21
No Fiddly Placement: No movement or manipulation of small pieces or cards in limited space on a board or other location.
20
Easily Verbalised Actions: The game is clearly labelled (landmarks, coordinates and so on) to make it possible to unambiguously describe game actions and relate those to the board or other pieces. This is useful for players who need others to move their pieces.
24
Visual: How well the game offers visual clarity and adjustments to accommodate visual needs.
Printed Visibility: How well the art on (and design of) components support a range of visual needs.
Colour Blind Friendly Design: Game prioritises the use of colour blind friendly palettes. This eases distinguishing elements of the game where colour is used. Ensure colour blind supporting graphics can be easily described or verbalised.
19
Double-Coding Colour: Colour is not the only way to distinguish elements. This includes games that make use of texture, shapes, symbols or other visual differentiation, to supplement colour information.
18
High Contrast Colours: Key information uses high contrasting colours between background and visual elements. This is a ratio of at least 4:1.
18
Component Identifiability: How easy it is to see and identify the components you need to work with to play the game.
Outline Key Elements: Game uses a highly distinctive visual silhouette for essential elements required to play the game. This may be from the shape of game elements or by applying a bold outline or backing colour. It may also be clear text if that is the only pertinent information
24
No Busy Backgrounds: Game board or cards have a simple or monochrome design to aid in identifying game elements when observed in play on top of the board.
20
Easily Verbalised Game State: Other players can describe the state of both their playing area and shared areas for players unable to see them. The verbalised game state is not too complexed to memorise.
14
No Close Inspection Disadvantage: If necessary, players can inspect similar pieces to distinguish them without time limit or risk of leaking gameplay intention.
23
Playable Without Sight: Standard version of the game is playable without sight. This includes playing with the usual assistive aids/approach for blind players (and where teammates can perform this function) but doesn’t include games you have to recreate wholesale.
6
Audio: How the game supports player communication to meet a range of requirements.
Communication: How the game accommodates different styles of communication, particularly non-verbal.
Audio Cues Mirrored Visually (Or no critical audio signals): Where audio cues (soundtrack, player utterances and shouts) are critical for play, there are visual equivalents to ensure players with hearing impairments aren’t disadvantaged as a result of the loss of incidental sound.
27
No Pressured Reveals: No reliance on revealing actions or choices simultaneously. This ensures players who can’t perform the revealing action in real-time aren’t excluded.
31
No Pressured Communication: Game doesn’t require you to speak over (or louder or faster than) other players. The game includes gaps where only a single player is permitted to communicate and make their point.
31
Playable Without Hearing: You can play the game without the need to hear other players or sound made by game elements. Where other communication channels can be used if you have a supportive set of players, this is only included if communication can be low pressure.
32

Accessibility by Board Game

Here’s a list of the board games and the different accessibility areas they offer:
Totals:
Game Difficulty Getting Started Reading Physical Visual Audio Total
Ancestree 4 7 8 7 4 3 33
Azul 4 3 2 7 6 4 26
Blood Bowl 3 7 6 7 3 3 29
Carcassonne 2 7 8 7 1 4 29
Catan 1 8 8 12 4 4 37
Colt Express 0 6 8 9 5 4 32
Dead Reckoning 0 0 0 8 2 4 14
Diatoms 4 5 1 3 3 0 16
Dobble 4 2 7 11 5 2 31
Downforce 1 4 6 9 3 4 27
Exploding Kittens 4 5 4 10 5 3 31
Fire In The Hole 4 6 2 8 4 4 28
Flamme Rouge 4 7 7 10 4 4 36
Hanabi 2 5 5 13 6 4 35
Kim-Joy's Magic Bakery 3 7 3 7 3 3 26
Kingdom Builder 2 2 1 8 3 4 20
Kingdomino 2 6 7 6 1 4 26
Klask 6 4 2 0 0 1 13
Last Defense! 5 5 5 9 4 1 29
Legacy of Dragonholt 5 6 1 13 5 4 34
Lost Ruins of Arnak 1 5 5 7 2 4 24
Perudo 2 2 7 9 2 4 26
Roll For It! 4 8 4 12 6 3 37
Root 3 7 4 10 3 2 29
Santorini 6 6 6 10 5 4 37
ShipShape 2 8 2 7 5 3 27
Sniper Elite: The Board Game 2 7 4 8 2 4 27
Splendor 4 6 4 14 2 4 34
Sushi Go! 3 7 4 7 4 4 29
Telestrations 5 7 5 12 6 4 39
The Isle of Cats 5 9 6 10 6 4 40
The Magic Labyrinth 4 3 2 8 4 2 23
The Mind 2 1 6 10 5 2 26
Trial by Trolley 5 7 5 11 7 1 36
Tsuro 3 6 1 8 3 4 25
Wavelength 5 6 8 10 6 3 38
Yarrr Har Hunt 5 4 5 5 1 2 22
Zoomates 7 6 3 6 2 3 27
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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