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Xbox X|SWe've documented 29 accessibility features for Blood Bowl, including Playable Without Hearing, No Pressured Communication, No Pressured Reveals, No Close Inspection Disadvantage and No Busy Backgrounds. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Physical but it also has features in Reading, Difficulty, Visual 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, Andy Robertson, first checked Blood Bowl accessibility 18 months ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 18 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
The player figures come in green and blue plastic which aren't colour-blind friendly. Many players paint their figures which can help this, although that depends on how they are painted. Assembling the figures is fiddly (and needs to be glued to stay together) and the ball is small and fiddly.
The board lacks contrast so is a barrier for colour-blind and visually impaired players. You can closely inspect it to aid this, although this slows things down and is harder work.
The skill text on the cards is quite small and very occasionally the contrast is lost because of the background effect on the cards. The dice provide icons to represent different outcomes, although these dice aren't distinguishable by touch.
To do well at the game you need to make mathematical-related decisions to determine the order of your moves and which are most risky (resulting in a turnover).
Report informed by Meeple Like Us assessment which offers an extended review.
Game Details
Release Date: 01/01/1986, updated in 2020
Skill Rating: 11+ year-olds
Players: 2
Genres: Battle (Sequencing and Traversal)
Accessibility: 29 features
Components: Board, Cards, Dice, Figures, Score Board and Tokens
Developer: Games Workshop 1 (@Games_Workshop1)
Costs: Purchase cost
Difficulty
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Difficulty in Blood Bowl which deal with how you can adjust the challenge of play.
Difficulty Options
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.
No Hidden Information: All players can see the full state of the game at all times.
No Deceit Advantage: No game mechanic where players need to deceive each other to progress. This includes bluffing and lying.
Getting Started
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Getting Started in Blood Bowl which deal with 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.
Getting Started Video: Game provides a tutorial video to get you started. This video must include subtitles and offer real examples of play.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Low Pressure: Decisions aren’t time-limited so you can take your time with each action.
Reading
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Reading in Blood Bowl which deal with 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Information Orientation: You don’t have to read text, numbers or symbols upside-down to play the game effectively.
Clear Icons: Icons are used to simply communicate and highlight important graphical elements related to gameplay. This assumes good contrast and generally familiar symbols.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Blood Bowl, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Reading accessibility:
- Colt Express (8 Reading Features)
Physical
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Physical in Blood Bowl which deal with 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 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).
No Paper Money: The game doesn’t use paper money.
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.
Standard Card Shape: Cards confirm to standard size so they work with card shufflers and other card management devices.
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.
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.
No Right-Handed Advantage: Cards don't position key information in only top-left corners that favours right-handed in-hand card arrangements.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Physical
If you want to play Blood Bowl, but it doesn't offer the Physical accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Physical accessibility:
- Colt Express (9 Physical Features)
Visual
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Visual in Blood Bowl which deal with 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.
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.
Component Identifiability
How easy it is to see and identify the components you need to work with to play the game.
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.
No Close Inspection Disadvantage: If necessary, players can inspect similar pieces to distinguish them without time limit or risk of leaking gameplay intention.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Blood Bowl, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Visual accessibility:
- Colt Express (5 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Audio in Blood Bowl which deal with how the game supports player communication to meet a range of requirements.
Communication
How the game accommodates different styles of communication, particularly non-verbal.
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.
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.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Audio
If you want to play Blood Bowl, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Audio accessibility:
- Colt Express (4 Audio Features)
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson
