How to design autistic-friendly games
Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox
As the games industry slowly becomes more aware of accessibility needs, efforts to account for neurodiversity have been limited.
As part of the GamesIndustry.biz Academy, we previously addressed understanding and supporting neurodiversity, including autism, in the workplace, as well as the fact that accessibility isn't rocket science.
This article is an attempt at bridging the gap between these two topics, giving pointers about how to account for neurodiversity in-game, and more precisely how to make your game more accessible to players on the autism spectrum.
This has been the goal of Changingday, the Scottish developer behind VR title Blinnk and the Vacuum of Space. Co-founders Alison and Nick Lang ran an advertising creative services business for 20 years and had an epiphany when they tried a VR headset for the first time six years ago.
"We don't have a tech background, we don't even have a gaming background, but the minute we tried [VR] we thought: this would be an amazing thing if autistic people would tolerate wearing a headset, and maybe find an enjoyable experience, a freeing experience," CEO Alison Lang says.
Nick and Alison's daughter received an autism diagnosis over 25 years ago and Alison notes that, at the time, this wasn't common. In the US, only one in 150 children were diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) in 2000, versus one in 44 as of 2018.
"Autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder globally," Alison continues. "And yet there's very few things that are helpful or specifically designed for the autism market… It is a difficult thing to do and we appreciate that more than anyone, but I think people
Read more on gamesindustry.biz
