Greetings, Commanders!
Accessibility is central to our design philosophy. We believe games are better when everyone can play.
In this post, we’d like to walk you through the accessibility features we’ve implemented in Grit and Valor – 1949 and share a bit about how we approached them. Prefer to sit back and watch? We cover this content in the video below:
Unit allegiance and item rarity are partly distinguished by colour, which can be a barrier for colourblind players. To address this, we’ve introduced:
Dedicated Colourblind Modes for protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia.
Text Labels for Rarity, so you’ll always see “Common,” “Rare,” etc., alongside the colour.
Custom Colour Selection, allowing players to choose hues that suit their specific vision.
We understand that disabilities including colour blindness exist on a spectrum. It’s not just a matter of being fully colourblind or not. That’s why we designed a colour picker rather than locking players into presets. While we provide standard profiles, we also give players the freedom to choose what works best for their eyes.
Inspired by standout implementations in games like The Last of Us Part II, this mode helps players with low vision by:
Clearly tinting allies, enemies, and objectives (distinct from the behind-wall effect to preserve clarity).
Removing highlights from dead units, so players can focus on live threats.
Letting players darken or desaturate the environment and skybox via sliders.
Much like the colour picker, the contrast sliders came from the understanding that people experience visual limitations to different degrees. Even if you don’t have a disability, features like High Contrast Mode can still help. Some of our own team members with no vision issues prefer to play with it enabled.
Permanent unit outlines
Adjustable unit marker sizes
Off-screen indicators with screen-edge arrows
For players who can’t rely on sound, we reinforced critical events visually through the unit HUD:
Selected units are clearly mirrored in the HUD
Damaged units pulse or change in the HUD
Fallen units display in greyscale
Incoming hazards are visually signaled on the battlefield
Subtitles in all cutscenes
Spatial audio support (5.1 & 7.1 surround) to help localize sounds
Flexible design and controls allow players to customise the gameplay experience to suit their needs and preferences. All controls (keyboard, mouse, and gamepad) are fully re-bindable. This is critical not just for accessibility but for player comfort.
Invertible camera controls
Haptic feedback at key gameplay moments
Command Vehicle rumble alerts to warn of imminent destruction
With the game fully launched, this is a perfect time for us to reflect and think about future projects. We would like to improve by bringing accessible design into the process earlier, at the beginning of full production.
Something as seemingly small as font size settings means making layout and UI decisions differently from day one. The earlier we include accessibility in the conversation, the more naturally it can be baked into every layer of design.
We hope this gives you a clear look at how we’re thinking about accessibility in Grit and Valor – 1949. Whether it’s a permanent need or just personal preference, we want our tools to help more players enjoy the game their way.
Have feedback or ideas? Let us know on Steam or in our official Discord; we’d love to hear from you.
– The Grit and Valor Team