Thaumistry text adventure now available for blind and visually impaired players

The critically acclaimed text adventure Thaumistry: In Charm's Way is now fully accessible for blind and visually impaired gamers.

The PC Windows version of the game has been adapted for play in a text-mode window, which provides full accessibility support for screen readers like NVDA, JAWS, and any other screen reader that supports text-mode windows.

Written by ex-Infocom author Bob Bates, Thaumistry is a classic text adventure, a joke-a-minute fantasy romp set in present-day Manhattan and filled with offbeat characters, improbable spells, and well-crafted puzzles. The player takes the role of Eric Knight, a struggling inventor who must prevent New Yorkers from learning of a group of magic users who live hidden amongst them.

Bates and game developer Nick Chantziaras worked with accessibility expert Felix Grützmacher on the new version. "This game is completely accessible to blind players,"Grutzmacher said. "Combined with a Braille display, it's perfect for practicing Braille reading skills while participating in an intriguing story with challenging puzzles and interesting - sometimes weird - characters."

Thaumistry modernizes the adventure genre with a spoiler-free, context-sensitive hint system and an advanced parser.

The game is available via direct download from the game's website, and it is also available on Steam.

Bob Bates, a former Infocom and Legend Entertainment author, is an award-winning developer who has worked on more than 45 games that have sold over 6 million units and won over 70 industry awards, including two Adventure Game of the Year Awards.

Last updated: Sep 25, 2019 at 06:39 pm CDT