Get Started...
Android
iOS
Mac
Switch
Wii
Wii U
PC
PS4
PS5
Xbox One
Xbox X|SWe've documented 29 accessibility features for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including Large Subtitles, Large Text, Guaranteed Progress, Low Pressure and No Quick Reactions. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Visual but it also has features in Reading, Controls, Navigation, Audio and Communication 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, Andy Robertson, first checked Animal Crossing: New Horizons accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 13 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
There is no difficulty setting but the game is designed to help you get started with lots of tips and advice. You don’t get punished for doing things wrong and you can ignore aspects of the game that are too challenging. Because the game is so open-ended, there is rarely any clear guidance, beyond the tutorial, on your objectives.
While the game is generally free of flashing lights, in the Happy Home Paradise additional content there is a disco scene which features strobe lighting and flash effects.
Visuals are generally bright and quite large, however, because the game is tied to the real-world clock, playing at night turns the visuals darker and harder to see. Fishing requires quick timing to see and hear when the small fish take the bait. Digging up items and fossils can be harder to see as well, as these are marked by subtle changes in the soil. There are non-visual cues for events using sound and rumble. Bug catching offers more of these than fishing.
The Nook phone can only be accessed via the ZL button which can be hard to reach. It's also worth knowing that early on in the game you can purchase the Tool Wheel which enables easier access to different tools with fewer button presses. Rapid pressing isn't required, but you do a lot of pressing of the A/Y button to weed the island and perform repetitive tasks.
Game Details
Release Date: 20/03/2020
Out Now: Switch
Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds
Players: 1-4 (8 online)
Genres: Collecting, Role-Play, Simulation (Communication and Sequencing)
Accessibility: 29 features
Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night, Open World, Persistant World and Weather
Developer: Nintendo (@Nintendo)
Costs: Purchase cost, In-Game Purchases and In-Game Pass
Controls
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Controls in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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 & Single Stick: Can play with multiple buttons and a stick.
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.
Controller Vibration
Informative Vibration: Controller vibration indicates events or interactions in the game, echoing visual and audio cues. This can provide additional information about progress, approaching enemies or hitting a target.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- The Spirit and the Mouse (15 Controls Features)
- Wylde Flowers (13 Controls Features)
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (12 Controls Features)
- Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (9 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- Wylde Flowers (2 Difficulty Features)
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (2 Difficulty Features)
- Slime Rancher 2 (1 Difficulty Feature)
- Ankora: Lost Days (1 Difficulty Feature)
Getting Started
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Getting Started in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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.
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.
No Jump Scares: No sudden loud noises or popping-up scary visuals that unexpectedly appear without warning, or the option to disable 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.
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.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started
If you want to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Bug & Seek (8 Getting Started Features)
- Go Vacation (8 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Reading in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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.
Moderate Reading: Moderate reading required. The quantity and complexity of reading are at a level that a high school student (14-year-old) would appreciate.
Text Visibility
Large Clear Text: All essential text is large and clear or can be adjusted to be. The general text used throughout the game in menus, instructions and other key information (excluding subtitles that are assessed separately) is at least 1/20 (46 pixels on 1080 screen) the height on landscape screens and at least 1/40 height on portrait screens. We base this on the full line-height, including the space above and below the letters.
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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Wylde Flowers (7 Reading Features)
- New Super Lucky's Tale (7 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Navigation in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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.
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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- My Time At Portia (6 Navigation Features)
- Seabeard (5 Navigation Features)
- Paradise Marsh (5 Navigation Features)
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale (5 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Visual in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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.
Interactive Elements
Large Game Elements: Game characters and other elements are large and distinguishable. Enemies and player characters are at least 1/6 of the height of the screen. Or there is a zoom feature to make them larger.
Visual Distractions
No Screen Shake: No screen shake effect or it is included but it can be disabled. This includes the absence of screen shake for dramatic effect as well as to indicate hits on a target.
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.
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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Good Pizza, Great Pizza (8 Visual Features)
- Universal Paperclips (8 Visual Features)
- One Hour One Life (8 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Animal Crossing: New Horizons 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.
Audio Events
Visual Cues for Audio Events: Text or other visual indicators of audio events. This mirrors audio indicators of progress in the game with a corresponding visual indication.
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 Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
- Island Saver (4 Audio Features)
- One Hour One Life (4 Audio Features)
- Bug & Seek (3 Audio Features)
- Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island (3 Audio Features)
Communication
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Communication in Animal Crossing: New Horizons which deals with how you can communicate with other players in the game and what options are available to customise and control this interaction.
Player-to-Player Online Communication
This is how players communicate with each other in online games. This can be to plan strategy, chat as they play or co-ordinate resources.
Text Chat: Chat to other players by typing text.
System Accessibility Settings
In addition to the accessibility features provided in the game, you can also use system-wide accessibility settings:
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch has some built-in features, including a lockable zoom, that can be used on all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Andy Robertson and Ben Kendall
