soundStrider

Errrrrm, okaym well the 'game' does what it says you walk around and noises occur. pressing buttons on the controller did stuff and if I;m honest I have no clue as to what I was doing. One big thing missing currently for a game that the Visually Impaired can play is Text to Speech in the menus. I dug around with my maginfier in hand and found a list of random settings, but no real accessibility options page. I got in game and walked around randomly heading towards some sounds. Arrived at a sound and nothing seemed to happen, is this sound a 'breadcrumb'? it got louder and more annoying as I approached. Found a button on the controller that made a boing noise. Found pressing another button locked me in place and the directional controls made a weird noise, is this one of the instruments? I heard another noise, almost tuneful but could never quite reach it. So the game definitely produces emotion, a little annotance, bewilderment and confusion. At times it was relaxing too and I am strangely intreagued. For the Visually Impaired gamer, can you play it? Yes once you overcome the menu. Would you want to play it? Well if the above sounds interesting then go for it. I will return as I w…

You will want two things: your headphones, and to read the game's manual before playing. Even then, this isn't for everyone. If it is for you, you'll find a hypnotic soundscape worth exploring. I would describe it as an audio-only walking simulator; there are minimal graphics (as you can see in the screenshots), but you can even turn them off completely and play only by sound. There are waypoints that you can hear, and you can walk from one to the next on a trance-like journey, finding strangely relaxing varied soundscapes. There aren't many games like this; of those somewhat similar that I played, it reminded me most of Proteus -- but the focus on audio is of course much higher here. What I specifically like: the game's focus on accessibility. Check the manual for detailed info (availabe from the store page, even before buying. Demo available too!) What I wish the game had: a short in-game overview of the navigational features (waypoints, compass, breadcrumbs) that you could listen to so you know what they sound like before embarking on your journey. Without that, the learning curve might be a little steep, but once you start understanding the space and finding your way in thi…

An interesting experiment. The game can be played with the eyes closed and with the gamepad. Make sure you've read the short manual or else you'll just won't understand what you're doing. Also, hear the sound glossary in the menu. You know, I'd definitely played such games if this "genre" has been more popular and developed. I'm a programmer, scientist, gamer and book reader, so playing games while relaxing the eyes sounds like a great idea.

sound walk field collage