Today, Whitethorn Games – publisher of inclusive, accessible, easy-going games – is excited to share its participation in the first annual Access-Ability Summer Showcase. The inaugural event, hosted by Laura Kate Dale and sponsored by I Need Diverse Games, featured recently released and upcoming video games made by disabled game developers and games that feature accessibility settings that help to ensure more disabled gamers are able to play. During the showcase, several videos were released that provided detailed explanations of the accessibility features available in upcoming and existing titles from the publisher, including upcoming games Botany Manor and Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, and the fan-loved Princess Farmer.
During the showcase, Whitethorn Games Chief Accessibility Officer, Britt Dye, revealed for the first time some of the accessibility features included in Botany Manor and Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island. With accessibility at the forefront of the development process, both titles include a variety of options to help players enjoy a relaxing, inclusive gaming experience.
Watch the videos revealed during the Access-Ability Summer Showcase below:
Botany Manor
YouTube | Download
Botany Manor accessibility features include:
- Field of view slider for a customized point-of-focus experience
- Camera X/Y inversion
- Camera smoothing and motion sensitivity sliders to alleviate motion sickness
- Plain text overlay of all text for greater visual clarity
- Toggle / hold option for “look around” view that allows the player to view their surroundings while standing still
- Single-button sprint toggle
- Single stick mode allows the game to be played with one hand
- No time limit to allow players to explore and solve puzzles at their own pace
Botany Manor is coming to PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch™, and Xbox One and Series S|X.
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island
- High-contrast text / backgrounds with text presented in a readable sans-serif font by default for greater visual clarity
- Dark and light mode text display options
- Several dialogue scrolling options, including dialogue speed settings, no dialogue scrolling, and dialogue auto-play
- Visual, audio, and haptic feedback to alert players as they solve puzzles and explore
- Dynamic tracking camera
- Sprint toggle
- Full key remapping
- Haptics toggle
- Non-Dialogue Captions for ambient and environmental sound effects
Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island will launch on PC via Steam and consoles.
Princess Farmer
During the showcase, match-3 visual novel Princess Farmer – a game created with diverse representation and accessibility in mind – detailed some of the accessibility features that were implemented into the game right from the start of development. After Samobee Games game designer, artist, and story creator suffered a hand injury, she decided to create a game that was easy to pick up and play with one hand.
Watch the video revealed during the Access-Ability Summer Showcase below:
YouTube | Download
Accessibility features in Princess Farmer include:
- One-handed gameplay for both controller and keyboard
- Game modes to accommodate different play styles and gameplay experiences
- Non-gated story advancement
- Skippable dialog and interactions
- A variety of button mapping options for controller, keypad and mobile
- Haptic feedback
- Separate audio channels for music and in-game alerts
- High-contrast text and font control for increased visual clarity
- High-contrast colours and shapes for easier matching
- No screen shake
- Optional match flashing
A full detailed description of Princess Farmer’s accessibility features can be found here: https://whitethorngames.com/princessfarmer/accessibility.
Princess Farmer is available for PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GX.games, Nintendo Switch™, Xbox One and Series S|X, PlayStation 4 and 5, and for mobile platforms via Google Play and the Apple Store.
Whitethorn Games is an indie game publisher focusing on pleasant, low-stress games that can be played in pieces, that require no special skills or knowledge and that anyone can pick up and play. The publisher believes in accessibility, inclusion, and widening the audience that gets to play and considers themselves the defenders of easy games. While their games might challenge you, they’ll respect your time, they’ll make sure you can play, and most importantly, they’ll never punish you. Learn more at whitethorngames.com.
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Thanks in advance for sharing this news! If you have any questions about Botany Manor, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, Princess Farmer or any of Whitethorn Games’ other titles, simply reply to this email, and we’ll be happy to help.
If you would like to speak to the Whitethorn Games leadership to learn more about our mission to release inclusive and accessible games for everyone, our efforts in transparency, and our commitment to uplifting underrepresented voices within our industry, simply let us know, and we’ll coordinate an interview.