We've documented 24 accessibility features for Palworld, including Custom Difficulty, Select Difficulty, No Button Combos, No Repeated Pressing and Remap Buttons. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Navigation but it also has features in Difficulty, Reading, Visual, Audio 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.
Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Palworld accessibility 9 months ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 9 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
There is extensive difficulty customisation of virtually every aspect of the game, from damage taken to the rate of healing to the ease with which you can capture a Pal, amongst many others. These can be changed at any time. There are also difficulty settings with pre-selected conditions for each customisable aspect.
The survival guide serves as a tutorial you can revisit at any point, and covers everything from interpreting the HUD to collecting and making use of your Pals. The HUD itself, and text more generally, cannot be customised and is often quite small (much less than 1/2-th of screen height) and can be low in contrast. Character dialogue is only presented as text, with an indicator showing who's speaking.
You can view the world map at any time, and in addition, at the top of the screen, there is a navigational bar present at all times which shows your current direction and the directions of any points of interest marked in your map with different icons, depending on what's at the location. It's possible to have two or more of the same icons on this HUD element, which can become confusing. There are also lots of visual indicators overlaid on top of the action to highlight certain things, such as the status of your Pals and updates on the state of your character.
There is no way to adjust the game's contrast, and at night and in dark areas it can become very hard to see what's going on due to very low light levels and contrast between different objects. motion blur and camera shake can both be turned off in the settings menu in the Graphics tab.
The enemy health bar is red with yellow elements, and there is no way to change it, which is of special importance to note for colourblind players.
Game Details
Release Date: 11/01/2024
Price: 25% Off
Out Now: PC and Xbox One
Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds
Players: 1 (4 online)
Genres: Collecting, Creative, Role-Play (Action, Adventure, Fighting, Simulation and Traversal)
Accessibility: 24 features
Components: 3D Third-Person, Cartoon, Day and Night and Open World
Developer: Pocket Pair Games (@PocketPairGames)
Costs: Purchase cost and Trade Items In-Game
Controls
We've documented 8 accessibility features for Controls in Palworld 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 and Keys: Can play with mouse and multiple keys.
Remap Controls
Can customise the controls for the game as follows:
Remap Buttons: Can re-map all buttons so that you can use alternatives that better suit your play.
Remap Mouse and Keyboard: Can remap mouse and keyboard key bindings, on systems that support these controls.
Invert X/Y Axis: Can invert the direction required to control looking and aiming. This enables you to match your instinctive orientation when looking.
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).
Sensitivity
You can adjust
Adjust Mouse/Stick/Touch Sensitivity: Adjust how sensitive touch/mouse/stick controls are.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls
If you want to play Palworld, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (14 Controls Features)
- Craftopia (11 Controls Features)
- Lego Fortnite (11 Controls Features)
- Rust (10 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Difficulty in Palworld 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.
Difficulty Options
Select Difficulty: Select the level of difficulty from a range of presets. This not only offers a way to adjust the challenge of a game but enables you to do so without dealing with individual criteria.
Customise Difficulty: Customise different aspects of the game to create a challenge of an appropriate level. Adjusting elements individually enables you to tailor gameplay to suit your needs and style of play.
Adjust After Setting
Adjustable Anytime: You can adjust the difficulty while playing, without having to restart the level you are on. This enables you to quickly adjust the game to suit your needs and see the difference immediately.
Getting Started
We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Getting Started in Palworld which deals 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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started
If you want to play Palworld, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (8 Getting Started Features)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (6 Getting Started Features)
- Apico (6 Getting Started Features)
- Penko Park (6 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Palworld 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.
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.
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 Palworld, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Apico (6 Reading Features)
- Pokémon Unite (6 Reading Features)
- Penko Park (5 Reading Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (5 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Navigation in Palworld 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.
Head-Up Display
Head-Up Display Navigation: Indication of where to go next with overlaid arrows, minimaps and waypoint markers. This supplements in-game visual and audible cues with additional guidance about where you are and where you need to go.
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 Palworld, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- Grounded (8 Navigation Features)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (7 Navigation Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (7 Navigation Features)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild (7 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 3 accessibility features for Visual in Palworld which deal with how you can adjust the visuals to suit your needs, and offer additional information if you can't hear the game.
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.
Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual
If you want to play Palworld, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Pokémon Unite (6 Visual Features)
- Penko Park (6 Visual Features)
- Lego Fortnite (5 Visual Features)
- Apico (5 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Palworld 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 Palworld, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:
- Lego Fortnite (4 Audio Features)
- Immortals Fenyx Rising (4 Audio Features)
- Abiotic Factor (3 Audio Features)
- Genshin Impact (3 Audio Features)
Communication
We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Communication in Palworld 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 Palworld, and offer accessibility features for Communication:
- Grounded (5 Communication Features)
- Rust (4 Communication Features)
- Ark: Survival Evolved (3 Communication Features)
- Lego Fortnite (2 Communication Features)
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.
Xbox One
Xbox One has a system features, the excellent co-pilot share controls mode and adaptive controller support for all games.
Read more about system accessibility settings.
Accessibility Report supported by VSC Rating Board, PlayabilityInitiative and accessibility contributors Ben Kendall