We've documented 34 accessibility features for Rescue: Mayday, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Large Text, No Button Combos, No Repeated Pressing and No Holds. Its accessibility is strongest in Visual and Controls but it also has features in Getting Started, Reading, Navigation and Communication 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.
External examiner, Pedro Pais, first checked Rescue: Mayday accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 2 years ago.
Accessibility Notes
Pilot Role: can be played without sight. It is controlled either through mouse and keys or keyboard alone. The game provides this player with Audible Directional Cues that they need to communicate to the other player. The game narrates the direction you are facing and provides ongoing audio cues to aid your rescue of civilians. It also narrates how much water remains to extinguish fires.
Engineer Role: can be played without hearing. It is controlled through mouse alone. It depends on the interaction with visual elements.
When you start the game you are prompted to turn on/off narrator, choose language. You then select control scheme when you start the game.
Game Details
Release Date: 15/09/2021
Price: Free
Out Now: Mac and PC
Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds
Players: 1 (2 online)
Genres: Brain Game, Traversal (Adventure, Communication, Puzzle and Strategy)
Accessibility: 34 features
Components: 2D Overhead and Pixels
Developer: Tech People Lab (@TechPeopleLab)
Costs: Free
Controls
We've documented 8 accessibility features for Controls in Rescue: Mayday which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Mouse And Keyboard
Can play with the following:
Keyboard Alone: Can play with just the keyboard.
Mouse Alone: Can play with just the mouse/mouse-button/mouse wheel.
Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Select Preset Controller Mappings: You can select preset button layouts from options provided by the developer.
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).
Controller Vibration
Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Rescue: Mayday, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (12 Controls Features)
- 39 Days to Mars (12 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Rescue: Mayday 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 Rescue: Mayday, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (2 Difficulty Features)
- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (2 Difficulty Features)
- Koala Boutique (1 Difficulty Feature)
- Stormworks: Build and Rescue (1 Difficulty Feature)
Getting Started
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Getting Started in Rescue: Mayday 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.
Sightless Onboarding: For games playable without sight, the first time you open the game, all menu options and explanations are narrated by default and menus are controlled via a button or stick presses rather than an analogue cursor. This enables blind players without sight to get ready to play.
Low Vision Onboarding: The first time you open the game, the default text is high contrast and font size is at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height of the screen and in an easy to read font. This enables legally blind visually impaired players to get ready to play.
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.
No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable them.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started
If you want to play Rescue: Mayday, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Frequency Missing (7 Getting Started Features)
- 39 Days to Mars (7 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in Rescue: Mayday 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.
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
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.
Navigation
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Navigation in Rescue: Mayday 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
Audible Directional Cues: Additional in-game audio cues that indicate where to go next and how close you are to arriving. This is offered as a sonar-style ping with positional/stereo audio and volume to guide you in the right direction. This is useful for blind players.
Menu Navigation
Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.
Menu Narrated: All of the game menus can be narrated for easier navigation. The game menus can therefore be navigated without reading text.
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.
Game Choices Narrated: Player choices through textual user interface are narrated. This enables selections such as dialogue, weapon-choice or character upgrades to be made without reading text.
Visual
We've documented 12 accessibility features for Visual in Rescue: Mayday 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.
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 Flashes: No flashing strobe effects or you can disable them. This includes the absence of flashing from dramatic visual effects, explosions or weather effects like lightning.
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.
Audio Cues for Visual Events
Audio Cues for Visual Events: Audio is provided to indicate visual events. Game events or progress highlighted by visual icons, effects or animations are also accompanied by audio to signify that progress. This is useful for blind players.
Audio Depiction of Event Location: Indication with positional/stereo audio of where directional events are on the screen for things like damage, footsteps, environmental elements. This is useful for blind players.
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.
Game Choices Narrated: Player choices through textual user interface are narrated. This enables selections such as dialogue, weapon-choice or character upgrades to be made without reading text.
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.
Play Without Sight
Play Without Sight: The game can be played without sight. Positional/stereo sounds and haptic feedback enable play without the need to see the screen. This is useful for blind low-vision and sightless players.
Audio
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Audio in Rescue: Mayday 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. The following games are similar to Rescue: Mayday, and offer accessibility features for Audio:
- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (3 Audio Features)
- Frequency Missing (2 Audio Features)
- Ibb and Obb (2 Audio Features)
- Hacktag (2 Audio Features)
Communication
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Communication in Rescue: Mayday which deals 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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Communication
If you want to play Rescue: Mayday, but it doesn't offer the Communication accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Communication accessibility:
- Hacktag (2 Communication Features)
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
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 @pgpaisdev, @davgonalves and Andy Robertson