We've documented 22 accessibility features for The Unfinished Swan, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Low Pressure, No Quick Reactions, No Repeated Pressing and No Holds. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Visual but it also has features in Getting Started, 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.
External examiner, Jonah Monaghan, first checked The Unfinished Swan accessibility 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 21 months ago.
Game Details
Release Date: 16/10/2012
Out Now: PC, PS Vita, PS3, PS4 and iOS
Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Adventure, Narrative (Puzzle, Shooting and Traversal)
Accessibility: 22 features
Components: 3D First-Person
Developer: Giant Sparrow (@GiantSparrow)
Costs: Purchase cost
Controls
We've documented 8 accessibility features for Controls in The Unfinished Swan 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.
Touchscreen
Can play with the following. Additional gestures may be required for games played with a screenreader like VoiceOver.
One Motion Targeted: Can play with touchscreen, tap and swipe or hold gesture.
Motion
Games that can be played with different sorts of motion controllers.
Motion Pointing: Can use the orientation of the gamepad to move a cursor-target around the screen like a mouse.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.
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.
Sensitivity
You can adjust
Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play The Unfinished Swan, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (12 Controls Features)
- Outer Wilds (12 Controls Features)
- Simpler Times (11 Controls Features)
- The Gunk (9 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in The Unfinished Swan 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 The Unfinished Swan, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (2 Difficulty Features)
- Shadow Of The Colossus (1 Difficulty Feature)
Getting Started
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Getting Started in The Unfinished Swan 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.
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 The Unfinished Swan, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Wilderless (10 Getting Started Features)
- Simpler Times (7 Getting Started Features)
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (7 Getting Started Features)
- The Gunk (6 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in The Unfinished Swan 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
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.
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 The Unfinished Swan, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Simpler Times (7 Reading Features)
- Pig Detective 3: Death on Detox Island (7 Reading Features)
- The Gunk (6 Reading Features)
- Night in the Woods (6 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Navigation in The Unfinished Swan 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.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play The Unfinished Swan, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- Outer Wilds (6 Navigation Features)
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (5 Navigation Features)
- Schim (4 Navigation Features)
- Simpler Times (3 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Visual in The Unfinished Swan 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 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.
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 The Unfinished Swan, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Inks (7 Visual Features)
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (7 Visual Features)
- Schim (6 Visual Features)
- The Talos Principle (6 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in The Unfinished Swan 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 The Unfinished Swan, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
- Simpler Times (3 Audio Features)
- Schim (3 Audio Features)
- Inks (3 Audio 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.
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping).
iOS
iOS has a very extensive suite of accessibility settings including ways to navigate with voice and comprehensive screen reading, though most of the features don't work with games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors @JonahMonaghan and Andy Robertson