Audiogames.net monthly digest - September 2022
Welcome to the fall/autumn edition of the audiogames.net digest! Summer may have gone, but we’re very much still here to bring you up to date in everything new in the world of blind friendly gaming! This month has been full of RPG’s, but we also have a couple of more casual games as well for all the major platforms. And as always, here’s your obligatory reminder you can get these digests delivered straight to your inbox!
New releases
Children Of Hodur (Windows, Mac, Linux)
First-person audio-narrative story-driven adventure game for visually impaired people. Take the role of a blind creature to protect the gates of Hel in deep caves against the viking hunters and shamans. Inspired by Norse mythology - the legend of Hodur. Höðr [Hodur], the blind god in Norse Mythology and the son of Odin and Frigg, has formed unique creatures with his own hands to protect the gates of Hel from Vikings who want to enter and use the forbidden power. Those creatures are blind, but have a very strong sense of sounds that surround them and various skills which humans cannot even imagine. This experimental demo version was created for visually impaired people. We produced a unique audio experience with new game mechanics driven by interactive 3D sounds and we hope you will enjoy this experience! Any feedback will be appreciated. If you would like to try the full version, you can support us in our crowdfunding campaign. You can support the campaign on the slovak startup page here: https://www.startlab.sk/projekty/2877-hodurove-deti-dobrodruzna-hra-pre-zrakovo-znevyhodnenych-lu/
Eldrum: Red Tide (iOS, Android)
Red Tide is a dark fantasy story about a former soldier who is searching for his family in a world ravaged by war.
Your brother is gone without a trace. What happened to him? The answer to this question lies at the end of a long and dangerous journey.
The world has changed. The place where you were born was burned to ash. People out there are struggling to survive.
You are a shadow of your former self, having suffered grave injuries during the war. But the past is the past. What matters is the here and now. You have the freedom to shape your own destiny.
There is always a choice.
FEATURES
- Nostalgic table-top RPG style
- Many secrets to discover
- Equip and build your character
- Multiple endings that vary depending on your choices throughout the story
- Replayability with different play styles opening up different locations, NPCs and gear
- Text based choices adventure RPG
- Supports both phones and tablets
- Accessible to blind and low-vision players
Starkindred fantasy city builder from the maker of psipets and poppy (Web)
Description by Bookrage
I let the people on this forum know about Poppyseedpets, which is very much psipets reborn, but the creator has another browser game that has come out recently. This one is called "Starkindred" and it is a browser game where you live as a god in a world that is on the brink of collapse. You need to see if you can survive the world's decline. In doing this you attract vassals to yourself who are your heroes, and you send them on missions while you also build up your town, upgrade buildings collect resources and all that junk. There is a way to put decorations in your town that you can earn through vassals becoming friends with one another or other means, but I don't think we are able to do that ourselves, but decorations can also be broken down for resources and such. The game also has a monthly addition of a story, a long series of missions that can be played only once (though no hurry, stories don't disappear at the end of a month, just a new one comes out) There is combat, but it comes in two categories, PVE and Group PVE. If you have a lot of gold and a level 10 palace, you can create an "alliance" that can go out and hunt giants, which are difficult opponents only open for group alliances to beat. If the giant is killed, everyone gets a reward. also, each vassal has a race, element, nature, and sign, each of which affects the vassal and how it works in a different way. element determines combat advantages, for example, metal heroes are very good at fighting plant monsters and water heroes stomp all over fire ones. (the logic isn't completely identical to Pokemon but if you click thei nfo button on any given element it will explain what is and is not good against it.) nature is sort of a class thing. Characters get "willpower" which can be used for things like level ups and other things at higher levels, for example, a "competitor" gets willpower whenever they take part in a mission where they have the highest level. race right now comes down to humans and Madine. this mostly affects what resources you need to level them up. Humans need mostly wheat while Madaine need mostly meat (madaine are cat and dog people) sign is a weird thing that affects how your characters complete missions. for example characters with the crown symbol get gold whenever they recruit new vassals. Characters with "Eight Plants" sign bring back wheat when they hunt game or monsters. Overall the game is fairly casual and you only need to get on a couple times a day to assign things to happen. The tone is more serious than psipets or poppyseed pets and it sounds a little epic most of the time, though often the changelog is a bit snarky.
Sidelines Football Manager (Android)
Got what it takes to build a team capable of defeating the other managers and climb all the way to the top of Division 1?
FEATURES • 8 league divisions with weekly+ promotion • Sponsorship contracts • Tournament • Youth player scouting • Tons of rewarding merits to claim • Individual player training • Stadium upgrades, ticket sales, amenities • Daily and weekly challenges • Training camps • Tactics and match rules • Health club • Player marketplace • Chat in-game • Friendly matches • Spectate matches • Updated weekly+
DESCRIPTION Build your squad through talent recruiting, player purchases and developing each player's skills to your preference by hiring trainers and setting up your ideal training regime. Experiment with different formations, playstyles and match rules to find out what works best with the skill set of your chosen line-up. Upgrade your stadium capacity and facilities, and optimize the price of tickets to maximize income and fan support! Hire an assistant to help you with ticket pricing, scout for youth players and negotiate with sponsors. Choose from 7 different sponsorship contracts, each with their own terms and bonuses, boosted by your completed challenges. Qualify for and join the global tournament for a chance at great prizes! Explore and unlock the vast amount of rewarding merits, work the market buying under-priced players to sell with a profit, or run a large squad developing players to sell later - the possibilities of earning cash are many! Chat about the game, football, or just hang out in the friendly Beginner's Lounge - or create your own pub with your friends.
There are a few minor accessibility issues to be aware of which are explained in the forum thread linked above, but the developer of the game is actively working on addressing them.
Port Mondes (Windows and Mac)
This game is currently only available in French, but can be played very well using translation addons for Screen Readers. Given that it’s a rather large release with a lot of content that has been very well received on the forum we felt it was worth including. THe game’s official description translated using DeepL follows:
"I go where all the hopes are, all the dangers.
I go, between worlds, to meet them."
These are the key words to get to Port Mondes, the City of Mages that will be the scene of your adventures in this accessible French RPG.
What exactly is Port Mondes?
A rather demanding RPG, offering exploration, turn-based battles, crafting, as well as an endurance mechanic materialized by cards, in an original dark fantasy universe.
A game with a substantial content with lots of items to equip or use, nearly 200 spells offering strategic diversity, dozens of monsters to face and a vast game space to discover.
The story is well-done, with several plots, several endings, and is divided into three adventures. Each adventure features a different character and allows you to take advantage of his or her point of view on the events.
A fourth adventure with a lighter scenario to serve as a free mode. This adventure is playable with 6 different characters and slightly customizable.
A game essentially textual, but whose immersion is reinforced by illustrations and a worked sound atmosphere.
A game accessible to blind people because it is fully compatible with screen readers. It works very well with NVDA. However, the game is not reserved for them, everyone can enjoy it.
Warning:
Port Mondes depicts a dark and horrific universe. Scenes of physical and psychological violence may offend the sensibilities of the young.
Fishin TIme (Linux, Windows though running from source may be required)
I wanted to learn about the pyglet library. It seems to have everything needed for making some awesome audio games. I figured what better way to learn than to do, so I wrote this small game while learning.
It's nothing very complex, just a quite simple fishing game. Use spacebar to both cast and reel in your line. Have fun, you never know what may be lurking just below the surface.
In addition to being spoken, the text is printed to the screen. It's a decently large font, so those of you with some vision should be able to read as well as hear the messages.
Run and Chomp, a small Trijam #186 submission (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Run and Chomp!
An endless runner game in which you use only your ears -- please use headphones for best performance! Please note that for keyboard input to work, you may need to click in the empty space around the game window. We are actively working to find a fix for this, please let us know if you have issues.
Welcome to Run and Chomp, a small, audio only endless runner made for Trijam. The goal of the game is to land on alligators who have their mouthes closed so you can make it over a pit of quicksand. Try to avoid falling in the quicksand, or being eaten by an alligator with its mouth open. The game is played entirely through sound. The most important sound sounds like a boing, and this is an alligator with its mouth closed. You can thus land on it when you are jumping above it, and then jump again to make it over the pit of quicksand. Other noteable sounds include a chomp/bite sound for alligators with their mouthes open, and bubbling for the pit itself.
The game works on windows, mac OS, linux, and should work on the web too. Keyboard controls are provided and verified working, as well as game controller controls, though these may have trouble depending on your game controller used. This is planned to be remedied as soon as possible.
Thanks for checking out this Trijam submission. We plan to develop it further as time allows after the jam, so stay tuned for updates and maybe even a full featured game some day!
Citizen of Rome: Dynasty Ascendant (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android on Itch and Steam)
Citizen of Rome - Dynasty Ascendant is a family/Dynasty life sim set in the Roman Republic. You get to see how life was in the Ancient Republic, participate in their various customs, festivals and Ludi / sporting competitions, while raising a family and moving up in the social and economic hierarchy in the Republic. You can educate your children, marry them off, sponsor their elections and much more. You'll usually play as the eldest of your sons once your character dies. The game is open-ended without a set endgame just like in real life, but a grand goal for any ambitious Roman family was to land a Consulship of the republic. This could be your goal in the game as well, climbing the Cursus Honorum and becoming a "New Man" - "Novus Homo"
WARNING: The game just like fate will beat you down from time to time and you might find all that you worked for being taken away from you in an instant, but the way things are set up you'll almost certainly end up growing wealthy and reach the Senatorial class at some point despite various setbacks. There is no game-over and life goes on no matter what A core philosophy of the game is that just like in real life, there's no winning or losing, just experiencing life and having fun at it no matter where it takes you. The game should be fun in its own way at every level, no matter if you're a prole or a senator, but with things just playing differently and with different goals and challenges
Please contribute any ideas, bugs and suggestions via an email to rome@thestartupengine.net Gameplay features: - Fully offline, no ads, no in-app purchases - Marriage, Birth, Death, and Succession - Property and economy - Several key Roman festivals - Traits and Skills - Education - Apprenticeships and employment - Elections, Warfare and Class progression - Random interactions and events - Achievements - Dark Mode - Accessibility & Screen Reader Support - Easy & Sandbox Modes - Modding support (See https://rome.rangergo.net/modding-support/)
Letterfull (iOS)
My new game, Letterfull, is finally available on the app store for your favorite iOS device! Have you always wanted to play a mix of scramble and tetris? do you think you can reach the highest levels, and come up with the coolest words to make the letters disappear? Have you always wanted to play a game where you wish you could make up your own words but you can't? welcome to Letterfull! The game where you must manage to form words without filling the five by five game grid. The mechanic of the game is quite simple. The game board consists of five rows of five columns, which may contain letters that appear faster every level. With the letters that appear, you must form words by touching the letters with your finger. When you touch a letter, it will move to the bottom of the board, after the separator, i.e. the word you are trying to form. To submit the word and check if it is correct, (must have at least 3 letters and be in the dictionary of the chosen language -more on that later), you can tap the submit button (or double-tap with 2 fingers if you use VoiceOver). If you want to send all the letters back to the end of the game board, either because you made a mistake or because you saw another letter that can form a better word, you can tap the move all button or, if you use VoiceOver, do the back gesture (2 finger scrub). You can also tap one letter of the letters you have in your word to send it back to the end of the game board. The game is available in English, Spanish, Catalan and Italian, and changing the language does not involve any change in the game interface, only in the dictionary used to check if the words are correct. For people learning English, Catalan or another language available in the game, it can be very useful.
Viking Clann: Call of Valhalla (iOS, Android, Web)
Battle other players and forge alliances in this free text-based RPG! Play casually or compete to become the best the Nine Worlds has ever seen, it’s up to you! Grab Thor's Hammer and confront the giants, gods and monsters of the 9 worlds! With endless adventures and achievements to collect, raiding and pillaging has never been more exciting! Wield a powerful arsenal and assemble vast armies as you gain levels, build a clan, complete daily quests, and take part in Viking warfare. With new content added weekly, you’ll chat, quest, rule, and make friends with players from all around the world! https://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/games … l-valhalla - Hundreds of adventures across 30+ locations in the 9 worlds of Norse Mythology - Battle dozens of bosses, from mythical beasts to Norse Gods - Level up, choose your skills and customize your Warrior - Free to play and no ads - Play with friends and form Clans - Fight and raid against MILLIONS of real players - Collect 1000s of weapons and warriors - Grow and manage your Viking Empire - Purchase property and grow your income with idle gameplay - Rank on leaderboards across multiple categories - Beautiful artwork - New content weekly Build an empire that will ring through time. Prove yourself worthy of Asgard in Viking Clan, dethrone and clash against the Gods themselves! More ways to play: - Play on Facebook: https://apps.facebook.com/vikingclan/ - Play on Web: https://www.kanoplay.com/vikingclan
Game updates
- Trigaea had a major 1.2 update which introduced an achievement system, as well as a lot of additional content through new scenes and items. A further 1.2.3 patch was released with bug fixes.
- Hearthstone had a major update focused on making the Battlegrounds mode more interesting buy adding its own progression system as well as quests. A further update at the end of the month introduced a new card miniset. Hearthstone Access has also been updated to support these changes.
- Periphery received multiple updates throughout September addressing community suggestions. Sight A, the first section of the game is now feature complete and story elements will be introduced in future versions before the November release of the first part.
- September Alter Aeon updates continue to focus on jobs as well as various changes to spells