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Xbox X|SLoco Motive is a point-and-click puzzle game where you play three amateur detectives entangled in a murder aboard a luxury steam train. Play is about reading between the lines of fellow passengers' stories and closely analysing your surroundings to use the items you find to advance your investigation. It stands out for its story through three unique perspectives, each revealing new insights that untangle the Agatha Christie-style mystery.
We've documented 26 accessibility features for Loco Motive, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Low Pressure, No Quick Reactions, No Button Combos and No Repeated Pressing. Its accessibility is strongest in Reading and Controls but it also has features in Visual, Getting Started, Audio and Navigation to reduce unintended barriers.
This report is created from our extensive research, input from other accessibility experts and the player community, and information provided by the developer on the game's store pages.
Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Loco Motive accessibility 6 weeks ago. It was re-examined by Thom Robertson and updated 3 weeks ago.
Accessibility Notes
Text is high in contrast, but much of it, including subtitles, is less than 1/20th of screen height. You can enable a dyslexic font to make the text easier to read, and voice-acting throughout reduces the amount you need to read.
Often, the objective and way to progress is not obvious, as solving puzzles is central to the game's progression. Navigating through the train is fairly straightforward, as the game is played on a 2D plane.
In the background, you can often see things whizzing past outside the train's windows, which can be distracting. Additionally, while you can disable the sway meant to represent the carriage's movement, there are instances of more significant screen shake for specific events which cannot be turned off. You can disable blood effects.
Game Details
Release Date: 21/11/2024
Out Now: PC and Switch
Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Point-and-Click, Puzzle (Adventure, Deduction and Narrative)
Accessibility: 26 features
Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels
Developer: Robust Games (@RobustGames)
Costs: Purchase cost
Controls
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Controls in Loco Motive 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:
Mouse Alone: Can play with just the mouse/mouse-button/mouse wheel.
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 Loco Motive, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, this similar game extends the Controls accessibility:
- Asfalia: Panic at the Mansion (7 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Loco Motive 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 Loco Motive, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:
- The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2 Difficulty Features)
- Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (1 Difficulty Feature)
- Return to Monkey Island (1 Difficulty Feature)
Getting Started
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Getting Started in Loco Motive 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.
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.
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.
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 Loco Motive, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Asfalia: Panic at the Mansion (8 Getting Started Features)
- Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (6 Getting Started Features)
- The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (5 Getting Started Features)
- Return to Monkey Island (5 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 7 accessibility features for Reading in Loco Motive 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
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
Some Speech Subtitled: Some spoken content has subtitles. This reduces the pressure on interpreting all the spoken content, although not everything is captured textually.
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.
Voice Acted
Some Dialogue is Voice Acted: Some of the game dialogue and narrative is voice acted. This reduces the pressure on reading all the dialogue text, although not everything is provided audibly.
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.
Navigation
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Navigation in Loco Motive which deals 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
Adjust Head-Up Display: Resize and adjust the content of the head-up display. This enables it to be made more visible. It can also enable the removal of too much information that can be distracting or confusing.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation
If you want to play Loco Motive, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- Asfalia: Panic at the Mansion (5 Navigation Features)
- Verne: The Shape of Fantasy (3 Navigation Features)
- Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (2 Navigation Features)
- The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 6 accessibility features for Visual in Loco Motive which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
Interactive Elements
Outline Interactive Elements: Characters, platforms and enemies can be outlined or highlighted for visibility. This can be with a large border around the character or a special visual mode that adjust the colour to make characters more visible.
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.
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.
Violence
Turn Off Blood: Reduce or disable graphic content of blood and gore.
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Loco Motive 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.
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.
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, Andy Robertson and Thom Robertson
