Game Accessibility Settings Worth Looking For

If you are new to the genre, our plain guide to what a bullet heaven game is explains why it suits a few of these ideas, such as automatic attacks and one-thumb steering. We describe settings the game has and do not claim that it, or any game of ours, is accessible to everyone.

Why settings beat a single “easy mode”

A difficulty setting changes how hard a game is. An accessibility setting changes how it is presented or controlled, and different people need different changes. Someone who finds bright flashes uncomfortable does not need slower enemies. Someone who plays on a small phone may need larger text, not a gentler boss.

The Game Accessibility Guidelines take this approach. The site describes itself as a straightforward reference for inclusive game design, produced as a collaboration between studios, specialists and academics. It sorts its guidance into three tiers: basic ideas that are easy to implement and apply to almost every mechanic, intermediate ones that need some planning, and advanced ones for specific impairments and niche mechanics. In its full list, each item is tagged with the kind of player it serves, such as motor, cognitive or vision.

That structure is useful when you shop for a game. A separate switch per need is worth more than one slider labelled “comfort”.

Motion and flashing: shake, flashes and vibration

Three effects change how a screen feels to look at and hold.

• Screen shake. The guidelines include, at intermediate level, an option to turn off or hide background movement, and at advanced level they advise avoiding any sudden unexpected movement or events. A switch for screen shake is a close relative of that idea, though the guidelines do not name screen shake itself.
• Flashing. At basic level the guidelines advise avoiding flickering images and repetitive patterns. For something measurable, the W3C’s WCAG 2.2 sets a rule for web content: nothing that flashes more than three times in any one second, or flashes below the general flash and red flash thresholds. Its stated intent is to let people use content without inducing seizures in people with photosensitive seizure disorders. The rule was written for web pages, but it shows the kind of limit the topic deserves. A game that offers a switch for flashes lets the player decide.
• Vibration. The guidelines list a toggle or slider for any haptics at both basic and intermediate level.

This post is general information about settings. It is not medical guidance, and a setting is not a safety certificate.

Text size and readable numbers

Games put a surprising amount of meaning in small text: damage numbers, item names, timers, upgrade descriptions. The guidelines ask, at basic level, for an easily readable default font size and, at advanced level, for a font size that can be adjusted. A good default helps everyone; an adjustable size helps people for whom the default is still too small.

Numbers are a special case. Floating damage numbers can be useful feedback, and in a crowded scene they can also be visual noise. A setting that hides them gives the player the choice.

Controls: one thumb, large targets, no precise gestures

Mobile controls are a motor-accessibility question as much as a design one. The relevant ideas, taken from the guidelines’ wording, are these:

1. Make controls as simple as possible, or provide a simpler alternative (basic).
2. Make virtual controls large and well spaced, particularly on small or touch screens (basic).
3. Avoid repeated inputs such as button-mashing (intermediate).
4. Do not require several simultaneous actions, such as click and drag or swipe, except as an extra input method (intermediate).
5. Do not make precise timing essential to play (advanced).

Gloomrush is built around the first idea. You drag a thumb across the screen to move, and the weapons attack automatically, so your part is staying clear of the horde and choosing upgrades. Its page also mentions larger touch targets, easier-to-read text and scrolling lists.

Catchy works differently. Its page describes an on-screen stick for moving and a hook button that you drag to aim and release to throw. We list this as a description of the controls, not as an accessibility feature, and we mention it so you can see how two games from one studio approach touch differently.

Performance: frame rate and battery

The guidelines have no item on frame rate, so we treat this as a practical comfort setting rather than an accessibility standard. Gloomrush lets you choose 60 FPS or a 30 FPS battery saver. Its support answers also suggest the battery saver, together with closing other apps and freeing storage, when the game runs slowly. The choice is yours.

Colour and contrast

The guidelines are clear here. At basic level they ask for high contrast between text or interface and the background, and for no essential information to be carried by a fixed colour alone. At intermediate level they ask for an option to adjust contrast, and a choice of text colour.

Gloomrush’s page lists no colour or contrast setting. We say so plainly, because a settings list is only useful if it is complete about what it does not include. If contrast matters to you, look at the screenshots on the Gloomrush page before you decide.

What Gloomrush offers today

Here is everything its page lists, in one table. Each entry says what it changes, and the last column is our own reading of who it can help, not a medical statement.

Gloomrush also offers English and Turkish. It does not list a colour or contrast option, as noted above. We are not claiming more than the table shows.

How to check any game in two minutes

1. Open the game’s settings before you start a run. Look for motion, flashing, vibration and text size.
2. Play the first minute with the busiest effects, and see whether you can switch them off without leaving the game.
3. Try the controls with one thumb, and check whether anything needs a precise or very fast input.
4. Read the store page and screenshots for text size and contrast.
5. If the settings list is not on the store page, the developer’s support page is the next place to look.

For a fuller developer-side view, our mobile app accessibility checklist for small teams covers the same ground for any app. If a game runs without a connection, our guide to offline games for Android explains how to check. And if you are ready to try a run, our first-run tips for bullet heaven games go with this post.