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Hyper Luminal Games return to Abertay University to lead session for games community
Strategies to improve accessibility in games design were explored as part of a BAFTA Scotland masterclass held at Abertay University.
The event, which took place on Thursday 26 September, was led by Dundee-based games studio Hyper Luminal Games in partnership with BAFTA Scotland and Abertay’s Faculty of Design, Informatics, and Business. Attendees included professional designers from Dundee’s video games cluster, as well as academic staff, researchers, and students.
Searra Leishman, Accessibility & UX Design Manager at Hyper Luminal Games and an Abertay University graduate, led a session highlighting the company’s successful approach to embedding accessibility options in their new title, Pine Hearts. Features included customisable text size and spacing, a dyslexia-friendly font, various visual colour modes, and alternative controls.
Methods for implementing the improvements across the design process were explained, including how the studio consulted various stakeholder groups in the development of the tools.
Accessibility is an important agenda for the video games industry on a global level and both BAFTA and Abertay University work to highlight how design processes can be improved and how including additional tools and options in games can be better promoted to game developers.
Director of BAFTA Scotland, Jude MacLaverty said:
As the leading charity and academy for the screen arts, making games more accessible is an area we are passionate about. We were delighted to host this important discussion.
Abertay is active in researching accessibility in gaming and also in applied or ‘serious’ games for use in sectors outside of entertainment, such as healthcare or education. The University has hosted previous events to promote the accessibility agenda, including a two-day Accessible Gaming Symposium held in conjunction with the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) and has won a Serious Play Award for work with CHAS (Children's Hospices Across Scotland) to develop a simulation of Paralympic sport Boccia.
Professor James Bown, Dean of the Faculty of Design, Informatics and Business at Abertay University said:
Embedding accessibility features into games is an important step forward for the industry as it continues to create products that are more inclusive and ultimately more saleable to a wider audience. There some really creative work going on in this space and it’s great to see pioneering companies like Hyper Luminal recognising the value that additional tools and features can bring.
Earlier this year, Hyper Luminal Games launched Pine Hearts, on their new cosy-game publishing platform Little Nook.
The release followed on from a track record of success and growth for the company, which has grown from a small team of student developers who met at Abertay to become one of the city’s largest games industry employers.
Searra said:
We are extremely proud of the work the studio has put into our accessibility efforts over the past few years. The launch of Pine Hearts earlier this year marks a big milestone for the team on that journey, and we have been overwhelmed with the reception and feedback we have received. But the work doesn’t stop there. The team is already focused on learning from the process and what we can take forward to our next few titles. Striving to innovate on new Accessibility challenges and improve how we work together to solve them. The event marked a wonderful opportunity to share our learnings with the wider industry and hopefully make the process less daunting for future game developers.
