No Barriers to Fun!

We met our friend Giddeon at the AbleGamers Accessibility Arcade in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When he first sat down with the AbleGamers crew, Giddeon didn't want to play any games. He told us that with his disability gaming was difficult. Giddeon has a rare disease that caused the growth of his arms .. Read More
A Window to the World

Shepherd University invited the AbleGamers Foundation to come on campus and do one of our Accessibility Arcades for the students and local disabled community. The event was a roaring success with hundreds of children and adults coming out to see the technology and in some cases experience gaming the first time. Read More

About the AbleGamers Foundation

Since 2004, the AbleGamers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, has served more than 56 million members of the disabled community by advocating greater access in video games. Today, AbleGamers is a leader in the development of equipment, programs and services to those living with disabilities, hardships, and quality-of-life issues that are a result of chronic illness or trauma. It is our goal to ensure that all people, regardless of their disability, can use gaming as a tool to have enriched social experiences with friends, family, and the world at large.

AbleGamers Web Game of the Week: Snail Bob

Written by Steve Spohn

Published on 28 November 2010

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{sidebar id=1}Sometimes a game isn't about killing as many people as possible or powning noobs. Sometimes it's about helping a homeless snail find some new beachfront property… ok, it's not usually about that, but it is a simple game with relatively no point other than to have some fun.

Snail Bob is a puzzle game from Hunter Hamster where you guide Bob (he’s a snail) through 20 levels of simplistic puzzles to find him a new home. The reason I say these are simplistic puzzles is because every object that can be clicked on is highlighted with bright circles. Usually, environmental manipulation games hide which objects can be clicked on, thus creating the illusion of a more difficult game.

In this case, the developer chose to make the game bright, cartoonish, and simple. You simply click on Bob to make him start walking and again to make him stand still. Some objects require Bob to use timing or wait for other objects, which is why he takes his time.

The accessibility is good for Snail Bob. First, this is a very child friendly game. Everything is fully explained from what to click on to how to win. There is some very mild cartoon violence, but nothing offensive. There are no audio cues for deaf gamers to miss out on. The fonts are easy to read and in a large point.

snail_splash You have to use the mouse, as there are no keyboard shortcuts. There are 3 spots where you need to click on Bob in a timely manner but there are no other reaction time based puzzles. The game is not timed except for scoring purposes. And most of all, you can pause at any time.