This is a welcome feature for those who have difficulty using a fine-tuned pointer device such as a mouse, or those who suffer from strain (like me!) using conventional mice. There are options to remap nearly every keybinding, and many mouse interactions can also be achieved via the keyboard. The level of customization for the overall user interface and controls is more granular than most other games, even those with larger budgets and teams behind them. While websites and video games have major differences, they both often are interactive digital experiences, and there is some overlap between accessibility best practices for both mediums.ĭespite being the product of a sole developer, Stardew Valley offers quite a few accessibility features out of the box. For video games, there's a similar effort known as the Game Accessibility Guidelines, which I've referenced for this article. Those of you who are web developers might already be familiar with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a series of documents on how to make the web more usable for people with disabilities.

# anchorHow accessible is the core Stardew Valley experience? He plays Stardew Valley in multiplayer mode with a partner who helped to build pathing so that he may navigate the farm via sound, much like a blind person might use tactile paving in public spaces. He covers the existing accessibility settings extensively.ĭarrel Bowles, a completely blind gamer, praises Stardew's use of subtle non-verbal audio cues. Onehandmostly walks through his experience with Stardew Valley as a one-handed gamer. You might enjoy the following video reviews of the base Stardew Valley experience for a more exhaustive overview. I am not a full-time assistive technology user, and can play Stardew Valley without much modification with the aid of my niche equipment setup. I've previously written at length about how how disabled Tumblr users have developed ways to make the platform more accessible, and was curious to see if the Stardew Valley community was similar. I finally picked up the game in 2021, and I was so glad I did! I was late to the party, but I now count myself amongst the millions of loyal fans that Stardew Valley has around the world.Īs I became acquainted with the game, I soon found myself exploring the world of unofficial Stardew Valley mods, patches that players can apply to the base game in order to change some part of the experience. Due to my RSI, I couldn't understand the appeal of a game that seemed to involvebe doing repetitive actions over and over again. I stayed away from the game because I assumed the Stardew Valley experience, like most other games, was now locked out to me. After a period of too much work I was left with a repetitive strain injury (RSI).

As a game, Stardew Valley is both wide and deep: its open ended nature means you can do as much or as little as you want and still feel a sense of progression, and its retro style pixel art graphics make it playable on a wide variety of platforms.ĭespite all the hype surrounding the game, I didn't expect to fall down the Stardew Valley rabbit hole myself. It was an instant classic, and countless people-from diehard gamers to those picking up their very first video game-have fallen in love with its unique charm. Stardew Valley is a farming simulator game that was released in 2016 by a solo developer, ConcernedApe.

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