WaTa Fight! How situated multiplayer competitive gaming can facilitate the inclusion of low vision and blind players

Abstract

This paper explores the need for a competitive game for sighted and blind players alike, its effectiveness in fighting prejudices and how it can contribute and facilitate the inclusion of people with visual disability, when played by heterogeneous groups of players. The first part presents the state of the art about competitive games for blind and low vision users. Focusing on the typologies of games already on the market, and on the apparent lack of fast-paced multiplayer games, it shows a current space for research and development. Then, we present WaTa Fight!, a competitive casual party game that can be used by sighted and blind players alike, outlining its development, from its concept to its design and testing – conducted via focus groups and survey. Finally, we discuss the results obtained in terms of the game’s effectiveness in addressing the visual impairment topic and in fostering integration.

Keywords

• Visual impairment
• inclusion
• competition
• party game
• mobile game