2. Background and Research

The project draws on a range of texts and communities. Readings that shaped the work include:

• Accessibility and Narrative Equity in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II, Caroline Cockrum (2022) , Texas A&M University Press ( in Player's Preference and Horror Gaming)

• Accessibility in Video Games: Setting a Standard, Emily Bunce (2024), Bournmouth University

• Enhancing Accessibility in 3D Adventure Video Games through Object Targeting and Dynamic Descriptions: A Universal Design Approach for Vision Accessibility, Panote Nuchprayoon (2024), Drexel University

• Game Audio Description in Death of Internet, Aline Di Rosa, Maria Esefania Larreina-Morales, Jerome Dupire (2024), Spring ( Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 14235), Springer-Verlag

• Persons with Visual Disabilities Play Too Gaming Habits and Preferences , María Eugenia Larreina‑Morales and Carme Mangiron  (2024), User‑Centric Studies in Game Translation and Accessibility, Routledge 

• Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind, Regine M. Gilbert (2019), Apress

These texts revealed both the breadth of accessible design possibilities and the challenges of equity in experience. The accessibility options in The Last of Us Part II are extensive—over 60 in total—but they result in an experience that diverges significantly from the intended pacing and feel. This realization helped shift the project's goals from retrofitting existing genres to rethinking them altogether.

3. Survey and Scope Pivot

The initial phase involved outreach to communities of disabled gamers and the distribution of an accessibility survey. The findings mirrored existing literature and highlighted an important truth: accessibility needs are too diverse to be captured by a single project.

Originally, three genre experiments were planned: a 2D platformer, a 2D RPG, and a 3D FPS. After early development and guidance from mentor Winnie Song, the decision was made to focus on the platformer, which posed the most direct challenge to traditional sensory expectations.

4. Design of "Blackout"

The design is centered on creating a navigable world through sound:

• Surfaces like tile, dirt, rock, snow, and water all produce unique footstep sounds.

• Environmental ambiance (breeze, wind, heavy wind, organ, chimes) communicates atmosphere and spatial transitions.

• Physical structures are sketched in sound-first form: players hear bumps, echoes, and proximity indicators.

Avoiding text or voice over narration was a conscious choice. Instead, minimal dialogue from nearby characters was used to give hints when necessary. One key moment involved deciding whether a character should indicate the location of a hidden platform. Though abstract guidance was preferred, a clear, voiced cue was ultimately implemented to better support the player's progression.

5. Development Process and Dev Log Excerpts

• Feb 1: Realization that connecting with players for survey feedback was more difficult than expected. Noted overlooked needs like light sensitivity and neurodiversity.

• Feb 5: First attempt at a radial tonal navigation system. Found it abstract to the point of confusion.

• Feb 11: Acknowledged that accessibility surveys, though valuable, were not effective for prototyping.

• Feb 13: With Winnie's input, recognized the difference between enabling passage and enabling play.

• Feb 28: Difficulty of designing levels when all cues must be audible. Discovered some standard platforming cues lose meaning without visual feedback.

• March 14: Re-recorded voice lines for clarity. Recognized that degraded or lo-fi audio made comprehension harder, not more aesthetic.

6. Key Insights

• Abstraction > Adaptation: Making a game playable without sight isn’t about audio menus or screen readers. It’s about rethinking what game play feels like through other senses.

• Challenge and Reward: Players don’t want to be patronized. The goal is to present a fair challenge that relies on curiosity and intuition.

• Accessibility as Design Practice: Rather than treating accessibility as a checklist, it should be seen as a core part of creative practice.

7. Conclusion and Next Steps

Blackout is a starting point. It does not claim to represent the totality of blind or low-vision player experience. Instead, it proposes a speculative future where genre conventions are re-embodied through sound. It may very well be that an exploration like blackout is not even most enjoyable or effective for those with vision challenges instead being more useful as a conversation starter for game developers who often look at accessibility as a isolated concept often focused on creating tools to allow players to play through their games regardless of enjoyment. In any case the exploration done here is compelling if not just for the sake of the question of "Can Games Do More?".