Astro Bot Accessibility Report - PS5 - Family Gaming Database

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Astro
Bot

Accessibility Report

19 Accessibility Features

We've documented 19 accessibility features for Astro Bot, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Play Without Hearing, Colour Blind Friendly, Audio Cues and Fully Subtitled (Or No Speech). Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Visual but it also has features in Reading, Navigation, Getting Started 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.

Astro Bot is a running and jumping game where you are a robot exploring distant worlds to rescue your crew, returning from Astro's Playroom. You traverse vibrant levels to fight enemies with novel controller interactions. It's a celebration of PlayStation, but it is much larger than previous games in the series, offering considerable substance and tight platforming that fully uses the DualSense controller.

Our accessibility examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Astro Bot accessibility 6 months ago. It was re-examined by Andy Robertson and updated 4 months ago.

Accessibility Notes

You can opt to play the game with one stick and re-centre the camera with the button.

You can opt to use the stick rather than motion controls. You can also switch on visual cues to mirror anything important signposted by vibration.

When we revisited levels for a second time you can purchase a bird character that offers an audio ping and visual indication to find all the hidden characters in the level.

Currently, you have to be able to hold buttons down in multiple scenarios to play the game.

Game Details

Release Date: 06/09/2024

Out Now: PS5

Skill Rating: 7+ year-olds

Players: 1

Genres: Action, Platform (Adventure, Collecting, Fighting, Puzzle and Traversal)

Accessibility: 19 features

Components: 3D Third-Person

Developer: Team Asobi (@TeamAsobi)

Costs: Purchase cost

Controls

We've documented 7 accessibility features for Controls in Astro Bot 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.

Multiple Buttons & Two Sticks: Can play with multiple buttons and two sticks.

Motion

Games that can be played with different sorts of motion controllers.

Motion Pointing: Can use the orientation of the gamepad to move a cursor-target around the screen like a mouse.

Motion Tilting: Can use movements of the controller to replace steering or simple movement otherwise controlled by left/right movement of a stick.

Remap Controls

Can customise the controls for the game as follows:

Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.

Controller Vibration

Vibration Optional: Controller vibration not used in the game or you can disable it.

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 Astro Bot, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (10 Controls Features)
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (9 Controls Features)
New Super Lucky's Tale (9 Controls Features)

Difficulty

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Astro Bot 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 Astro Bot, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:

Knack 2 (2 Difficulty Features)
The Smurfs Mission Vileaf (2 Difficulty Features)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2 Difficulty Features)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (2 Difficulty Features)

Getting Started

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Getting Started in Astro Bot 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 For Progressing

These features aid your progress through the game offering different ways of maintaining your progression.

Bank Progress With Frequent Checkpoints: If you fail you can retry that level or aspect of the game without losing a lot of progress (less than 5 minutes). This is often provided via Frequent Checkpoints combined with restarting without losing time, equipment or score.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

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

Mail Time (7 Getting Started Features)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (7 Getting Started Features)
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (5 Getting Started Features)
Super Mario Odyssey (5 Getting Started Features)

Reading

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Astro Bot 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.

No Reading: No reading is required, other than simple menus. The game either has no text or can communicate textual content with visuals and interactions. If reading isn't required because the text is voiced the All Dialogue is Voiced feature indicates this.

Subtitles

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.

Voice Acted

All Dialogue is Voice Acted (Or No Speech In Game): All of the game dialogue and narrative can be voiced, or there is no speech in the game. This means there is no requirement to read the dialogue and narrative text to play the game.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Reading

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

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (7 Reading Features)
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (7 Reading Features)
Knack (7 Reading Features)
Super Mario Galaxy (7 Reading Features)

Navigation

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Navigation in Astro Bot 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

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.

Menu Navigation

Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.

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 Astro Bot, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (8 Navigation Features)
Lego City: Undercover (5 Navigation Features)
Spyro Reignited Trilogy (4 Navigation Features)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (4 Navigation Features)

Visual

We've documented 4 accessibility features for Visual in Astro Bot 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.

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.

Menu Audio Cues: Navigating menus provide an audio cue for each selection.

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

A Hat in Time (7 Visual Features)
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom (5 Visual Features)
Mail Time (5 Visual Features)
Sackboy: A Big Adventure (5 Visual Features)

Audio

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Audio in Astro Bot which deals 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.