Risk of Rain Series Accessibility Report - Mac, PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

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Risk
of Rain

Accessibility Report

15 Accessibility Features

We've documented 15 accessibility features for Risk of Rain, including Fully Voiced (Or No Speech), Low Pressure, No Holds, Remap Buttons and Play Without Hearing. Its accessibility is strongest in Controls and Reading but it also has features in Getting Started, Visual, Audio and Navigation 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.

Risk of Rain is a running, jumping and fighting game where you defeat hordes of monsters and the difficulty steadily increases the longer you survive as you try to scavenge the parts to make a way back home. When you die, you start over but do keep some of your items and upgrades, allowing you to progress slightly further each time. This try-til-you-die-then-try-again loop, paired with hundreds of weapons, upgrades and a host of different character classes, leads to the necessity for ambitious experimentation and expert strategies.

Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Risk of Rain (Series) accessibility 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Ben Kendall and updated 2 years ago.

Accessibility Notes

Apart from moving, you don't need to hold down buttons, but in order to fight and move quickly, you do need to rapidly press buttons precisely and also press multiple buttons simultaneously. While it starts out easy, as the time (which is shown on the screen) you've remained alive increases so does the difficulty (also indicated).

Whilst the controls for most actions are shown on the screen at all times, it is in very small and low-contrast text, making it very difficult to read. There are many examples of such text throughout the game.

Many of the in-game characters, enemies and items are very small and can be low-contrast, and due to their small size, they may be particularly difficult for colourblind players to distinguish. For example, a red enemy may be indistinguishable from a bush for red-green colourblind players.

There are occasional screen-shake effects, but backgrounds are static without moving elements aside from this.

Game Details

Release Date: 08/11/2014, updated in 2023

Out Now: Mac, PC, PS Vita, PS4, Switch and Xbox One

Skill Rating: 10+ year-olds

Players: 1 (4 online)

Genres: Fighting, Traversal (Action, Adventure, Platform, Role-Play and World Building)

Accessibility: 15 features

Components: 2D Side-On and Pixels

Developer: Hopoo Games (@HopooGames)

Costs: Purchase cost

Controls

We've documented 5 accessibility features for Controls in Risk of Rain 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.

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.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Controls

If you want to play Risk of Rain, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:

Minecraft Dungeons (12 Controls Features)
Dome Keeper (11 Controls Features)
Barbearian (10 Controls Features)
ScourgeBringer (9 Controls Features)

Difficulty

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Difficulty in Risk of Rain 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 Risk of Rain, and offer accessibility features for Difficulty:

Mr Sun's Hatbox (2 Difficulty Features)
Vampire Survivors (2 Difficulty Features)
Dome Keeper (2 Difficulty Features)
Enter The Gungeon (2 Difficulty Features)

Getting Started

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Getting Started in Risk of Rain 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.

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.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Getting Started

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

ScourgeBringer (8 Getting Started Features)
Mr Sun's Hatbox (6 Getting Started Features)
Barbearian (6 Getting Started Features)
Minecraft Dungeons (6 Getting Started Features)

Reading

We've documented 3 accessibility features for Reading in Risk of Rain 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.

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 Risk of Rain, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:

Stick It to the Stickman (5 Reading Features)
Enter The Gungeon (5 Reading Features)
Assault Android Cactus (5 Reading Features)
Minecraft Dungeons (5 Reading Features)

Navigation

We've documented 1 accessibility feature for Navigation in Risk of Rain 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.

Menu Navigation

Menus Don't Wrap: Menus don't wrap and stop the cursor at the bottom of the list if you press down. Or menus do wrap but make it clear that you are back at the top of the list with sound or narration.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Navigation

If you want to play Risk of Rain, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:

Minecraft Dungeons (10 Navigation Features)
Vampire Survivors (5 Navigation Features)
Stick It to the Stickman (4 Navigation Features)
Dome Keeper (4 Navigation Features)

Visual

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Visual in Risk of Rain 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 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.

Similar Games With More Accessibility Features for Visual

If you want to play Risk of Rain, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:

Minecraft Dungeons (7 Visual Features)
Dome Keeper (6 Visual Features)
ScourgeBringer (6 Visual Features)
Terraria (6 Visual Features)

Audio

We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in Risk of Rain 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 Risk of Rain, but it doesn't offer the Audio accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Audio accessibility:

Dome Keeper (4 Audio Features)
Vampire Survivors (3 Audio Features)
Enter The Gungeon (3 Audio Features)

Communication

We haven’t documented any accessibility features for Communication in Risk of Rain 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 Risk of Rain, and offer accessibility features for Communication:

Dome Keeper (1 Communication Feature)
Minecraft Dungeons (1 Communication Feature)

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.

PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 has a range of accessibility settings. Some are system only, some work in games (invert colours and button mapping).

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.