Dorfromantik Accessibility Report - PC and Switch

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Dorfromantik

Accessibility Report

19 Accessibility Features

We've documented 19 accessibility features for Dorfromantik, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Low Pressure, No Quick Reactions, No Button Combos and No Repeated Pressing. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Getting Started but it also has features in Visual, Reading, Audio 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.

Dorfromantik is a peaceful village-building strategy puzzle game for one player, inspired by tile-based board games like Carcassonne. You have a stack of hexagonal tiles and work to match their edges while creating areas of towns, forests and fields to score points. It stands out for offering a calming puzzle you can take at your own pace, that also has hidden depths to discover.

Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Dorfromantik accessibility 19 months ago.

Accessibility Notes

As there are no time pressures in the game, with each game instead ending when all the tiles are used up, there is no need for rapid pressing. Neither do you need to hold down buttons or press more than one at a time.

The text, in some parts, is fairly small, and some of it doesn't contrast well with the background (ie. when there's white text against a white or light background). Although you can disable the translucency of the UI in settings and menus, this doesn't make all text more readily readable.

The game generally uses contrasting colours to represent different areas on the tiles, with water being a bright blue and grass being a dark green. for example. This makes distinguishing what each tile has on it fairly straightforward despite the small size. However, as colour is often the only way to distinguish between different terrain types, it can be difficult for colour-blind people to play.

Game Details

Release Date: 25/03/2021, updated in 2022

Price: 30% off

Out Now: PC and Switch

Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds

Players: 1

Genres: Puzzle, Sequencing, Strategy (Collecting and Creative)

Accessibility: 19 features

Components: 2D Overhead, Grid and Hand-Made

Developer: Toukana (@_Toukana)

Costs: Purchase cost

Controls

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Controls in Dorfromantik 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 & Single Stick: Can play with multiple buttons and a stick.

Mouse And Keyboard

Can play with the following:

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

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.

Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional: Quick, repeated button pressing (more than 2 times a second) is not required, can be skipped or switched to holding a button to trigger a repeated action.

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

Paquerette Down the Bunburrows (15 Controls Features)
Block Buster Billy (8 Controls Features)
Botany Manor (8 Controls Features)
Before We Leave (8 Controls Features)

Difficulty

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Dorfromantik 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 Dorfromantik, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:

Harmony's Odyssey (2 Difficulty Features)
Stellaris (2 Difficulty Features)
Conduct Together (2 Difficulty Features)
Lueur and the Dim Settlers (1 Difficulty Feature)

Getting Started

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Getting Started in Dorfromantik 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.

Reaction-Time Not Critical: Individual game actions don’t need quick reactions, or there are settings to lower the requirement for quick reactions. This means you don't need to quickly press a button in response to an on-screen prompt, target a fast-moving target or skillfully complete a scenario against the clock.

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.

No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable them.

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

Lueur and the Dim Settlers (11 Getting Started Features)
Paquerette Down the Bunburrows (8 Getting Started Features)
Block Buster Billy (8 Getting Started Features)
Before We Leave (8 Getting Started Features)

Reading

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Dorfromantik 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.

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.

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.

Voice Acted

All Dialogue is Voice Acted (Or No Speech In Game): All of the game dialogue and narrative can be voiced, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to read the dialogue and narrative text to play the game.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

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

Paquerette Down the Bunburrows (5 Reading Features)
Harmony's Odyssey (5 Reading Features)
Kiri's Garden (5 Reading Features)
Suika Game (4 Reading Features)

Navigation

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Navigation in Dorfromantik 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 Dorfromantik, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:

Paquerette Down the Bunburrows (4 Navigation Features)
Lueur and the Dim Settlers (4 Navigation Features)
Conduct Together (4 Navigation Features)
Before We Leave (3 Navigation Features)

Visual

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Visual in Dorfromantik 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.

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.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual

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

Konkan Coast Pirate Solutions (9 Visual Features)
Room to Grow (9 Visual Features)
Paquerette Down the Bunburrows (8 Visual Features)
Mini Metro (8 Visual Features)

Audio

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Dorfromantik 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 Dorfromantik, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:

Paquerette Down the Bunburrows (3 Audio Features)
Konkan Coast Pirate Solutions (3 Audio Features)
Harmony's Odyssey (3 Audio 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.

Read more about system accessibility settings.

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