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Xbox X|SWe've documented 24 accessibility features for The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, including Large Subtitles, Guaranteed Progress, Adjust Speed, Low Pressure and Custom Difficulty. Its accessibility is strongest in Getting Started and Reading but it also has features in Controls, Visual, Difficulty, Navigation 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.
Our accessibility examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog accessibility 9 months ago.
Accessibility Notes
Text in the game is all high in contrast and generally quite large, but sometimes it falls below 1/20th screen height. Subtitles, however, are always 1/20th the height of the screen and high in contrast. The characters change their facial expressions to reflect their current tone.
Because the game is a murder mystery, you need to decide who to investigate and piece information together, so what to do next isn't always obvious.
There is occasional screen shake that can't be disabled. Objects you can select and interact with are highlighted with an obvious green outline when you hover over them, but if you're not hovering over it, there's no indication an object can be interacted with. additionally, some objects you need to interact with to advance the story can be small and fairly innocuous, making them easy to miss.
Game Details
Release Date: 31/03/2023
Price: Free
Out Now: Mac and PC
Skill Rating: 8+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Communication, Narrative, Point-and-Click (Brain Game and Role-Play)
Accessibility: 24 features
Components: 2D Side-On and Cartoon
Costs: Free
Controls
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Controls in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog which deal with how you control the game, different options for alternative inputs and whether you can remap these settings to suit your needs.
Mouse And Keyboard
Can play with the following:
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 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but it doesn't offer the Controls accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Controls accessibility:
- Call of the Sea (10 Controls Features)
- Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (10 Controls Features)
- The Magister (7 Controls Features)
- Wayward Strand (6 Controls Features)
Difficulty
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Difficulty in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 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
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 Between Levels: You can adjust the difficulty between levels/rounds. Although you have to restart your checkpoint or level, this enables you to adjust the difficulty after selecting it at the beginning of the game.
Getting Started
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Getting Started in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 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.
Adjust Speed: Adjust the speed of the game at critical moments or throughout, or rewind play for a second attempt, to ease reaction times. By slowing the game, you have more time to interpret what is happening and then execute your actions. It also reduces the pressure on getting things right quickly or the first time you attempt 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.
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 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but it doesn't offer the Getting Started accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Getting Started accessibility:
- Tangle Tower (10 Getting Started Features)
- Frequency Missing (7 Getting Started Features)
- Storyteller (6 Getting Started Features)
- Coffee Talk (6 Getting Started Features)
Reading
We've documented 5 accessibility features for Reading in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 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
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 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but it doesn't offer the Reading accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Reading accessibility:
- Wayward Strand (7 Reading Features)
- Tangle Tower (6 Reading Features)
- Coffee Talk (6 Reading Features)
Navigation
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Navigation in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 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
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 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but it doesn't offer the Navigation accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Navigation accessibility:
- The Magister (6 Navigation Features)
- Kraken Academy (4 Navigation Features)
- Wayward Strand (4 Navigation Features)
Visual
We've documented 4 accessibility features for Visual in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 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.
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.
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 The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but it doesn't offer the Visual accessibility features you require, these similar games extend the Visual accessibility:
- Frequency Missing (8 Visual Features)
- Coffee Talk (7 Visual Features)
- Lovebirb (6 Visual Features)
- The Magister (6 Visual Features)
Audio
We've documented 2 accessibility features for Audio in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog 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:
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
