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Xbox X|SWe've documented 27 accessibility features for Slime Rancher, including Low Pressure, No Quick Reactions, Select Difficulty, Remap Buttons and Play Without Hearing. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Getting Started but it also has features in Visual, Navigation, Reading, Audio and Difficulty 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, Angela Hickman Newnham, first checked Slime Rancher accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 8 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
There are no clear objectives in the game, this is a game about exploration and experimentation. As you explore and progress you will be able to open up new parts of the map. You can zoom in and out on the map but there are no labels and no legend given, so it can be difficult to tell what the map is showing you other than the terrain (which means you can still use it to navigate). There is an Emergency Return option in the menu to teleport back to your ranch if you need it.
The game automatically saves every 5 minutes.
While most text is high in contrast, some of the UI text is white with no background, creating the potential for the contrast to be very low and render it unreadable depending on what's behind it. Furthermore, lots of the text is very small. The different species of slime are distinguished both by colour and shape, although the latter is less noticeable here than in Slime Rancher 2.
You can disable camera bob when running.
Game Details
Release Date: 14/10/2016
Out Now: Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One
Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Adventure, Simulation (Action, Collecting, Platform, Shooting and Strategy)
Accessibility: 27 features
Components: 3D First-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World
Developer: Monomi Park (@MonomiPark)
Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Purchases and In-Game Pass
Controls
We've documented 8 accessibility features for Controls in Slime Rancher 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.
Swap Sticks: Can swap the sticks over so that you can use the opposite sticks to control the game.
Remap Mouse and Keyboard: Can remap mouse and keyboard key bindings, on systems that support these controls.
Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.
Controller Vibration
Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.
Sensitivity
You can adjust
Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity, Deadzones and Thresholds: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are and the related deadzones and thresholds.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Slime Rancher, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- A Little To The Left (13 Controls Features)
- Astroneer (10 Controls Features)
- Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (9 Controls Features)
- Staxel (9 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Difficulty in Slime Rancher which deals 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.
Getting Started
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Getting Started in Slime Rancher 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.
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.
Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started
If you want to play Slime Rancher, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Pikmin 4 (11 Getting Started Features)
- Before We Leave (8 Getting Started Features)
- The Garden Path (7 Getting Started Features)
- Staxel (7 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Reading in Slime Rancher 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.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Slime Rancher, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf (6 Reading Features)
- Animal Crossing: City Folk (6 Reading Features)
- Sneaky Sasquatch (6 Reading Features)
- Bugsnax (6 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Navigation in Slime Rancher 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
Large Clear Navigation: The in-game navigation and maps are clear to read. They offer large text and offer markers that are large and of high contrast. Where text or information is small, there are settings to zoom-in and increase visibility.
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.
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 Slime Rancher, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- My Time At Portia (6 Navigation Features)
- Pikmin 4 (5 Navigation Features)
- Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (4 Navigation Features)
- Ollie & Bollie: Outdoor Estate (4 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Visual in Slime Rancher 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.
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.
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.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Slime Rancher, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (7 Visual Features)
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf (6 Visual Features)
- Animal Crossing: City Folk (6 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Slime Rancher 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 Slime Rancher, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
- Island Saver (4 Audio Features)
- Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (3 Audio Features)
- A Little To The Left (3 Audio Features)
- Bugsnax (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.
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.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors @growingupgamers and Ben Kendall
