I have arthritic hands. I have chronic tendinitis. The mechanics make assumptions about gamers my body can’t support. How could it have been improved? Reduce the number of buttons required to do shit.
Andrea Chandler, via Twitter
The reason why I praise this so much is it allows a player like me who isn’t able to execute all these moves to still participate. It takes away this whole barricade of “will I be able to do this move or will my hands not do what I want them to do”. Due to this feature I can compete, have fun, and do crazy stuff!
legs0fsteel, via YouTube
More complex control schemes require higher degrees of both motor and cognitive skill, so avoid using buttons/keys just because they’re there. Having to remember complex combinations of controls, being required to reach every single button on a controller or even just having to press multiple buttons at the same time can all easily result in unnecessary exclusion.
Sometimes complex controls are required or desirable. If your game really does require complex controls, that is fine. It becomes an issue is when controls are more complex than they need to be.
But even when controls are necessarily complex by default, it can sometimes still be possible to provide options for simpler alternatives.
Best practice examples:
- Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture simple controls
- Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator simpler controls option
- NHL 17 ’94 mode
- Uncharted 4 accessibility settings
- Bayonetta
- Fifa 13
Category & Level:
- Motor (Basic)