A Blind Legend

A Blind Legend is an audiogame where the entire experience is presented through binaural 3D sound and it is meant to be played with headphones. It has been made fully accessible to blind and visually impaired people as the screen remains dark almost the entire time and all information, including menus and options, is communicated through a voice.

The player becomes Edward Blake, a blind knight who is hunted down by the king who also kidnapped his wife. During his journey he is helped by his daughter Louise who travels along. As the screen always remains a set of dark clouds, movement, navigation and fighting is done by examining sound. The 3D sound adds perception as the source varies in direction, distance, depth, and movement relative to the player. Navigation requires careful listening to travel in the right direction, with sounds such as the wind moving through trees, running water, the sound of footsteps on wood, grass or stone, conversations, chatter and shouts in the distance etc.

Movement is done by tapping and holding the screen. Moving upwards, with different lengths, makes the character go forward. The finger can also be moved 90 degrees left or right to turn and back to turn around completely. There are many fights in the game using a sword. Tapping twice draws the sword and then the character remains in a fixed position. Using the 3D audio, enemies and monsters constantly move and attack from different sides. Striking is done using swipes. Combat gradually gets more difficult and then pinching the screen needs to be done to block incoming shots. Many strikes have a sound when the swing is in progress and the player needs to time carefully to let go out of the pinching shield at the exact moment of impact to throw an enemy off balance and provide room for counters. In more complex situations it becomes harder to determine the direction of the enemy. Pinching for the shield muffles the sound from the surroundings slightly, so the player has to let go regularly to determine where the attacks come from, but many enemies use that exact moment to strike quickly.

There are horse riding sequences where movement is done automatically. Louise shouts warnings where to go and then the player has to swipe left or right quickly to dodge obstacles, or forward to jump. Health is relayed through a heartbeat. When Edward is hurt, the rate gradually increases until he succumbs. The screen can be tapped once to ask Louise where she is or which direction to go. The game is free-to-play and at the start five lives are provided. They regenerate slowly over time using an energy/stamina system, but packs of lives can also be bought right away as in-app purchases. The game is available in English and French.