Close Your Eyes

Video games are largely about what's on the screen, the clue's in the name, right? But there are some games that get the player to close their eyes and engage with other senses. There's something magical about relinquishing the visual world for a while and embracing the idea of engaging with a virtual world with just sound (and maybe some controller haptics).

There are games, like The Vale, designed to be played with audio only. There are games, like Before Your Eyes, that use webcams to see if your eyes are open and use that to change how you progress. Then there are games, like Season, that invite you to close your eyes for immersive moments of poetry, sound, meditation and concentration.

This list includes 12 games from the last 15 years, with 312 likes. They come from a range of different genres and play-styles and are all good games if you want to focus on hearing and feeling. We break them down into the following areas:

List Details

PEGI Ratings: PEGI 3 to PEGI 12
ESRB Ratings: ESRB EVERYONE to ESRB TEEN
Australian Ratings: G to MA 15+
Genres: Action, Adventure, Battle, Brain Game, Collecting, Communication, Creative, Dexterity, Fighting, Narrative, Physically Active, Point-and-Click, Push-Your-Luck, Puzzle, Race, Rhythm, Role-Play, Sequencing, Shooting, Sports and Traversal
Total Likes: 312

Related Lists

We have other Digital Stories lists of games:

Closed Eye for Challenge

Team 3

Team 3 is a cooperative puzzle game where three players work to build structures from Tetris-style pieces. The target build is on a card that only the Architect player can see, and this player can't speak. The Builder player can touch the pieces but...

Fire In The Hole

Fire In The Hole is a dexterity card game where you compete to throw cannonballs at a pop-up pirate ship to scavenge treasure and win the day. The aim is to land your coloured cannonballs to form a square of four in the holes of the boat, but other...

Closed Eyes Throughout

Frequency Missing

This is a point and click adventure. You play young radio reporter Patricia who has just started her first job at a radio station. However, strange things are happening. Richard, her friend who got her the job has vanished and someone is tampering with...

Lost and Hound

Lost and Hound is an adventure puzzle game where you play as a scent tracking rescue dogs, Corgi and Biscuit. You use your sense of smell to find things and solve mysteries. Your heightened hearing and senses enable you find your goals, eventually...

Ear Hockey

Ear Hockey is a bat and ball competitive game played by listening to the in-game audio alone; no screen is required. It uses spatial audio cues to signal to the player where they are in the play space and where the main game object, the ball, is...

Blind Drive

Blind Drive is a driving adventure game you play with audio rather than visuals. You are Donnie and are in a scientific study that has got out of control. You find yourself cuffed to the wheel of a car driving blindfolded against traffic. It's tongue in...

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is an audio-based role-play adventure where you play Alex, a blind princess. After your brother takes his place as king, you are made warden of a small castle on the outskirts of the kingdom. Without sight from birth and...

Blind Spot

Blind Spot is a hidden target game. However you have to identify the location of the targets without any audio or visual clues. As you run your two fingers over the screen you are provided vibration feedback that increases as you home in on the two...

Closed Eyes to Concentrate

The Witness

The Witness combines maze puzzles in an abandoned world with its own mythology, secrets, themes and story. It’s a game with puzzles at the core, but the real mystery is solving what has happened in the world you find yourself in.

Wii Fit

Wii Fit (Series)

Wii Fit is a collection of games designed to help you exercise. They use the Wii Balance Board peripheral that works with both Wii Fit on the Wii and Wii Fit Plus on the Wii U. The Balance Board measures the pressure you place on it and enables a range...

Closed Eyes to Listen

Before Your Eyes

Before Your Eyes is a narrative game about an 11-year-old boy revisiting his life before "crossing over" to the other side. You play by exploring scenes that represent snapshots of his life. Unusually, you make choices and interact with the game by...

Season: A Letter to the Future

Season: A Letter to the Future is a narrative adventure about a road trip as the weight of history turns. You play a young woman leaving a secluded community to explore the world for the first time. Your task is to collect artefacts, record sounds and...

Curated lists:
Game genre:
Style of Play:
Components:

How long to play:
User-generated content:	No
Accessibility features:	Yes

Controls
Gamepad:
Mouse And Keyboard:
Touchscreen:
Motion:	Motion Aiming Motion Pointing Motion Tilting Motion Gesture Motion Camera
Remap Controls:
Button Combinations:	Holding Down Buttons Optional Rapid Repeated Pressing Optional No Simultaneous Buttons
Controller Vibration:
Sensitivity:

Getting Started
Onboarding Before Play:
Assistance Getting Starting:	Tutorials Practice Area View Control Mapping Assistance With Controls Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Adjust Speed No Jump Scares
Assistance For Progressing:	Guaranteed Progress With God Mode Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints Assisted Progress With Boosts Assisted Progress With Hints Assisted Recall for Characters Assisted Recall for Narrative and Dialogue Save Progress Anytime

Reading
Reading Level:
Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text High Contrast Text
Subtitles:
Captions:
Voice Acted:

Controls

Difficulty

Getting Started

Reading

Navigation

Visual

Audio

Communication

Difficulty

Getting Started

Reading

Physical

Visual

Audio

Gender and Sexuality

Close Your Eyes

List Details

Related Lists

Closed Eye for Challenge

Team 3

Fire In The Hole

Closed Eyes Throughout

Frequency Missing

Lost and Hound

Ear Hockey

Blind Drive

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown

Blind Spot

Closed Eyes to Concentrate

The Witness

Wii Fit (Series)

Closed Eyes to Listen

Before Your Eyes

Season: A Letter to the Future

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Navigation
Clarity:
Head-Up Display:
Menu Navigation:

Visual
Contrast:
Interactive Elements:
Visual Distractions:
Audio Cues for Visual Events:
Narration for Visual Elements:
	Motion Sickness Friendly
Colour Options:
Play Without Sight:
Violence:

Audio
	Balance Audio Levels
Audio Events:
	Play Without Hearing

Communication
Player-to-Player Online Communication:
Online Communication Assistance:

Difficulty
Difficulty Options:	Simple and Full Version No Memorisation Advantage No Hidden Information No Deceit Advantage No Colour Advantage No Mathematics Advantage No Weighing Decisions

Getting Started
Assistance Getting Started:	Clear Manual Electronic Version of Manual Electronic Version of Manual for Screen Readers Getting Started Video Digital Version Reference Aid
Assistance Progressing:	Play Order Tokens (Or play order doesn’t change) Reaction-Time Not Critical Low Pressure Low Impact Catch Up Rule

Reading
Reading Level:
Necessary Text Visibility:	Large Clear Text on Board (Or no text required) Large Clear Text on Cards (Or no text required) High Contrast Text (Or no text required) QR Code For Text (Or no text required) Primary and Secondary Text Distinguishable (Or no text required) Information Orientation Clear Icons

Physical
Pieces:	Components are Distinguishable by Touch Components are Replaceable No Non-Standard Dice (Or No Dice) No Tiny Pieces No Paper Money No Sprawl
Cards:	Large Card Size Standard Card Shape Limited Hand Management No Excessive Card Shuffling No Right-Handed Advantage
Placement:	No Unbound Placement Player Components Not Shared No Fiddly Placement Easily Verbalised Actions

Visual
Printed Visibility:	Colour Blind Friendly Design Double-Coding Colour High Contrast Colours
Component Identifiability:	Outline Key Elements No Busy Backgrounds Easily Verbalised Game State No Close Inspection Disadvantage Playable Without Sight

Audio
Communication:	Audio Cues Mirrored Visually (Or no critical audio signals) No Pressured Reveals No Pressured Communication Playable Without Hearing

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Gender Representation:
Sexual Orientation Representation:

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Close Your Eyes

List Details

Related Lists

Closed Eye for Challenge

Closed Eyes Throughout

Closed Eyes to Concentrate

Closed Eyes to Listen

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