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Year
Walk
15 Accessibility Features

We've documented 15 accessibility features for Year Walk, including Large Subtitles, Low Pressure, No Button Combos, No Repeated Pressing and Colour Blind Friendly. Its accessibility is strongest in Reading and Controls but it also has features in Visual and Getting Started 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.

Year Walk is a horror narrative traversal game where you partake in the ancient Nordic tradition of Year Walking to see glimpses of the future. As you travel the snowy landscapes by moonlight, you see creatures and characters from Swedish mythology and must solve puzzles to progress. It stands out for this dark, twisted reimagining of an ancient ritual, complete with a mystery to solve and scares to brave.

Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Year Walk accessibility 6 months ago.

NotesAccessibility Notes

There is a frightening jumpscare in the game, which is described in the game's PEGI rating: "Image of a woman looking rather serene, floating in the air. Image 'stutters' slightly, her face changes and becomes frightening and quickly rushes at the screen, growing larger all the time until the face is full-sized. The woman's face now shows blood-soaked sharp teeth and drawn eyes. Together with the music and background, it all presents a sense of foreboding, horror and slight revulsion."

The text in the journal is high in contrast but quite small. Subtitles are larger, taking over the whole screen. There is a fairly significant depth-of-field effect throughout the entire game, and also screen-shake is present.

There are no tutorials, but you can access hints in your journal if you get stuck, although these don't outright give you the solution. Navigating through the game can be very tricky, and you can easily get lost or have to retrace your steps.

Some actions require you to drag items around, which requires you to hold down the mouse button.

There is one puzzle in the game where you need to move between different pools of light, each one emits a different sound, with no visual cue to distinguish them, so the sound is necessary to play.

DetailsGame Details

Release Date: 21/02/2013, updated in 2015

Out Now: Mac, PC, Wii U and iOS

Skill Rating: 13+ year-olds

Players: 1

Genres: Narrative (Adventure, Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Traversal and World Building)

Accessibility: 15 features

Components: 2D Side-On

Developer: Simogo (@Simogo)

Costs: Purchase cost

 

ControlsControls

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Controls in Year Walk which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.

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.

Two Motions Targeted: Can play with touchscreen, two simultaneous taps, swipes or hold gestures.

Button Combinations

Specific button operation required to play

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.

No Simultaneous Buttons: Only one button or key required at a time, in addition to direction stick(s).

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls

If you want to play Year Walk, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:

DifficultyDifficulty

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Year Walk 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 Year Walk, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:

Getting StartedGetting Started

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Getting Started in Year Walk 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.

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.

Assisted Progress With Hints: The game notices if you get stuck (or you can press a button) and provides information to help you progress. This can offer hints or tutorials popping up during play. This includes hints after you have died, where it can suggest strategies or difficulty settings to adjust or offer to skip past problematic levels.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

If you want to play Year Walk, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:

ReadingReading

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in Year Walk 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.

Subtitles

Large Clear Subtitles: Subtitles are large, clear and of good contrast. They are at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height of a landscape screen and at least 1/40 height on portrait screens, or can be adjusted to be. We base this on the full line-height, including the space above and below the letters. Considered separately from the general text of the game, the subtitles are large, clear and of good contrast.

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.

Captions

Speaker Indicator: Textual captions indicate who is speaking (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or placing text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.

 

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

If you want to play Year Walk, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

NavigationNavigation

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Navigation in Year Walk 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. The following games are similar to Year Walk, and offer accessibility features for Navigation:

VisualVisual

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Visual in Year Walk 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 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.

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.

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 Year Walk, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:

AudioAudio

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Audio in Year Walk 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. The following games are similar to Year Walk, and offer accessibility features for Audio:

System Accessibility Settings

In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:

Nintendo Wii U
The Wii U has some limited settings, such as disabling rumble and selecting mono audio.
 
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.
 
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.

VSC LogoAccessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall


Taming Gaming Book Written by parents for parents, the database complements the in-depth discussion about video game addiction, violence, spending and online safety in the Taming Gaming book. We are an editorially independent, free resource without adverts that is supported by partnerships.

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