How Does Can I Play That? Review Game Accessibility?

Updated

Can I Play That? reviews games by testing whether disabled players can actually play them, not by scoring graphics or story. Each review examines specific accessibility features—control remapping, text contrast, motor-accessibility options, and more—and reports both what works and what's missing. The site describes itself as "For Disabled Gamers, By Disabled Gamers," so reviews are written from a disabled player's perspective rather than as a generic feature checklist.

What the reviews actually evaluate

Reviews focus on concrete, testable accessibility features. Based on the site's published reviews, the recurring dimensions include:

  • Control remapping — whether players can reassign inputs to fit their needs
  • Text contrast and readability — whether on-screen text is legible
  • Motor-accessibility features — options that reduce the physical demands of play
  • Industry-standard feature coverage — whether the game includes options that disabled players have come to expect

The verdict is framed around a practical question: can a disabled player get through this game, and what gets in the way?

How the verdict is framed

Reviews highlight both helpful features and missing or problematic ones, rather than issuing a single pass/fail score. Two examples from the site's accessibility reviews show this pattern:

Game What the review credits What the review flags
TOEM 2 Cozy photo-adventure design; accessibility "only negatively affected" by specific gaps Lack of remapping; some low-contrast text
Onimusha: Way of the Sword — "A perplexing lack of industry standard motor-accessibility features"

The TOEM 2 review shows the site's typical structure: name the features that work, then name the specific gaps that would block or frustrate some players. The Onimusha review shows the opposite case—a game held back by missing features that the reviewer considers standard.

Why the perspective matters

Because reviews are written by disabled gamers, they tend to surface problems that general reviews skip. A game can be critically acclaimed and still fail a Can I Play That? review if, for example, text is too small to read or controls can't be remapped. The site's stated purpose—accessibility-focused reviews and news for disabled gamers—means the audience is players deciding whether a game is playable for them, not players deciding whether a game is "good" in the conventional sense.

What else the site covers

Beyond reviews, the site publishes accessibility news, including:

  • Hardware announcements with accessibility benefits (e.g., the Xbox Nano Controller)
  • Industry initiatives such as the Accessible Games Initiative tags adopted by Ubisoft and Riot Games
  • Conference coverage, including GAConf USA and DRiVE, a UK sim-racing conference for disabled people
  • Accessible gaming products, such as a Disability Pride dice set released with D&D Beyond

This news coverage complements the reviews by tracking features and tools before they reach individual game reviews.

How to use it

If you're deciding whether to buy or play a game, check whether Can I Play That? has reviewed it and read the specific feature notes rather than looking for a score. If your needs center on a particular feature—remapping, contrast, motor accessibility—scan the review for that term. The site also accepts donations via PayPal to support its work, but its reviews and news are the core output.