Accessible Minesweeper

Puzzle Game

Reviewed By: Aaron Spelker

I am going to rate this game harshly because it has limited accessibility when “Accessible” is in it’s title. Minesweeper is a puzzle game played on a grid. You click on a grid square to reveal either a bomb or a number that indicates the amount of bombs that can be found in the adjacent grid squares. The first issue is that the game does not announce where on the grid you are. It should announce the square and then the status

“A1” empty

”A2” 1 Mine

”A3” Unknown

“A4” Unknown

Etc.

Instead, it only gives you the status making it impossible to “visualize” the game board. The second issue is that you can only move around the board by swiping left or right. If I reveal a square with a number 1, I should be able to move up, down, left and right around that square to determine the states of the surrounding squares. By the time you swipe right or left a dozen times to observe the square above or below the square identified with a 1, you have completely lost where you are on the grid in relation to the square identified with a 1. Finally, a key feature is the ability to mark a square with a flag when you believe an “unknown” square has a mine. To get to the flag indicator, you have to swipe through the entire grid; press the flag icon; and then swipe all the way back to the square in question. By the time you do this, you have lost the location of the possible mined square. These poorly designed game mechanics make Minesweeper frustrating, not fun, and inaccessible.

Grade F

US Price $0.99 / UK Price £0.99

United States Link:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/accessible-minesweeper/id405094331

UK Link:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/accessible-minesweeper/id405094331

For more information and to chat to other iOS gamers you can join the Apple iPhone iOS Voiceover Compatible Games Facebook Group. Link here.

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