We've documented 29 accessibility features for Beastieball, including Large Subtitles, Guaranteed Progress, Adjust Speed, Low Pressure and No Quick Reactions. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Controls but it also has features in Reading, Visual, Navigation and Audio 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.
Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Beastieball accessibility 10 months ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 10 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
The game is turn-based so you don't need quick reactions or precise inputs. There is an auto-battle mode where your Beasties automatically fight battles without you needing to select actions. There's also an option to automatically win each match straight away. You can also change the speed at which actions occur in matches to give you a clearer idea of what's going on.
All text is high in contrast, and subtitles are over 1/20th the height of the screen by default. Almost all other text is too, but there are occasional sections where it is less than that. You can change the colour scheme of the menus, and some of the options have lower contrast between text and background, but by default the contrast is good.
Game Details
Release Date: Coming soon
Coming Soon: Mac and PC
Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds
Players: 1 (2 online)
Genres: Collecting, Sports (Adventure, Battle, Communication and Sequencing)
Accessibility: 29 features
Components: 2D Side-On, Cartoon and Grid
Developer: Greg Wishes (@Greg_Wishes)
Costs: Purchase cost
Controls
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Controls in Beastieball 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:
Keyboard Alone: Can play with just the keyboard.
Mouse and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.
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.
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 Beastieball, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- The Outbound Ghost (11 Controls Features)
- Roundguard (7 Controls Features)
- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (7 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Beastieball 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 Beastieball, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- EA Sports FC 24 (3 Difficulty Features)
- Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (3 Difficulty Features)
- Rainbow Billy (3 Difficulty Features)
- Cassette Beasts (2 Difficulty Features)
Getting Started
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Getting Started in Beastieball 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.
Tutorials: There are helpful tutorials and instructions on how to play. Information is provided in a timely manner, with appropriate level of detail.
Assistance With Controls: The game can automatically assist with aiming, steering, reloading, jumping, running etc. This reduces the challenge of certain aspects of play to remove barriers and make control of characters more accessible.
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.
Adjust Speed: Adjust the speed of the game at critical moments or throughout, or rewind play for a second attempt, to ease reaction times. By slowing the game, you have more time to interpret what is happening and then execute your actions. It also reduces the pressure on getting things right quickly or the first time you attempt them.
Assistance For Progressing
These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.
Guaranteed Progress With God Mode: There is no fail state for any game level, where you lose progress or have to start again. Or there are options to make failing impossible: infinite health or lives, unlimited time. Sometimes called God Mode or Unfailable.
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.
Reading
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in Beastieball 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 and their Tone: Textual captions indicate who is speaking and their tone (or there is only ever one person speaking). This can also be indicated visually in the game with character icons or character expressions with text in speech bubbles next to the person speaking.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading
If you want to play Beastieball, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- The Outbound Ghost (6 Reading Features)
- Dodgeball Academia (6 Reading Features)
- Undertale (6 Reading Features)
- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (6 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Navigation in Beastieball 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.
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.
Clear Mission Objectives: The game provides clear, structured missions with directional guidance and advice on which can be attempted next. This also indicates (ideally on maps where they are provided) which missions can't be attempted because you do not have the appropriate items yet.
Head-Up Display
Game Map: View a map of the game world during play, with the landscape, points of interest and missions highlighted throughout the entire game. This enables the orientation of the player and the world, confirming a direction of movement and the location of destinations or points of exploration.
Menu Navigation
Digital Menu Navigation: Menu choices with Gamepad can be made without using an analogue stick to guide a cursor to a selection. For example, using D-Pad, buttons or the Stick to change menu selection in a single action.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Beastieball, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet (6 Navigation Features)
- EA Sports FC 24 (5 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Visual in Beastieball 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 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.
Motion Sickness Friendly
Motion Sickness Friendly: Doesn't have 3D movement elements that may trigger motion sickness, like motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision. Or includes the ability to disable motion blur, depth of field and field-of-vision effects.
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 Beastieball, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Ikenfell (8 Visual Features)
- The Outbound Ghost (7 Visual Features)
- Dodgeball Academia (7 Visual Features)
- Lovebirb (6 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Beastieball 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 Beastieball, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Audio accessibility:
- Dodgeball Academia (3 Audio Features)
Communication
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Communication in Beastieball which deal with how you can communicate with other players in the game and what options are available to customise and control this interaction. The following games are similar to Beastieball, and offer accessibility features for Communication:
- EA Sports FC 24 (2 Communication Features)
- Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet (1 Communication Feature)
- Lovebirb (1 Communication Feature)
- Temtem (1 Communication Feature)
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.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall