The game
Necromancer Nonsense is a real-time strategy game built for the fourth Games for Blind Gamers Jam. You command hordes of undead by sending forces between buildings, capturing territory while a creepy vampire narrator does the colour commentary. Built-in accessibility includes screen reader support, a sound library that explains every in-game sound, high contrast, and a colour blind mode. It is short, fast, and quite fun.
It's a real-time strategy game that is actually playable by blind gamers, something very rare.
The review and the livestream
Chad Bouton and Tamara Vandendool Cable, both blind testers, as well as accessibility specialist Olivier Nourry, played the game and shared what worked, what didn't, and what they recommend adjusting. We shared a short report with our key observations and then hosted a live conversation with everyone involved.
The bit that stuck with me was Eric's mental model for audio in an RTS: three streams of information. Screen reader text that the player controls, local sound effects you hear as you move around the map, and a global narrator that announces major events. Anything else, in his words, becomes "sound soup." The hour went by way too fast!