Exploring Audio Game design with Visually Impaired players: A Mexican Case Study

This paper presents a case study involving two audio game evaluations looking particularly at the game experience and its implications to sound design with six visually impaired gamer participants. The study was conducted remotely during the summer of 2020. Two games were used, a trivia and an action/adventure, both mobile-based. Individual play sessions were conducted for each. The core and post-game modules of the Game Experience Questionnaire were used together with open ended questionnaires and video recording to capture the player experience and performance. Certain dimensions of the game experience were found to be more affected by the sound design. Additionally, it was found that existing guidelines and classification systems fail to bridge the connection between sound design and the creation of meaningful play. We offer a sound classification system termed "Formal Sounds" and recommendations that may guide the audio game design process. Finally, we share findings and lessons found after having planned and conducted the entirety of the study remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.