I have often been asked the question in regard to what games are available for the Mac that blind people can play. Additionally, along the same lines, I am told that there aren’t anywhere as many games for the Mac as one can find for Windows. This is something that has been changing in recent months, and I am proud and happy to post the following announcement.
Yes, Draconis Entertainment has released an audio game for the Mac, and the details follow below.
It has been a long time coming, but the dragon has awakened at last. Pull up a chair, and we’ll fill you in on what we’ve been doing.
Draconis Entertainment has spent the last few years working on a next-generation game engine for audio gaming. We had several key goals in mind as we began working on this project.
* We wanted to future-proof our games. A game engine that could easily be maintained and kept current in-line with modern operating systems, eliminating the problems of incompatible or out-of-date dependencies was essential.
* We wanted cross-platform compatibility. We are Mac users to the core, and only supporting Windows was no longer satisfactory. Our new game engine will work on Mac OS X, Windows, and iOS devices.
* We wanted a game engine so flexible that it would support any kind of game-style we chose to throw at it, and to build all future releases on top of the same core.
* We wanted to bring our prices down. If the game engine really was as capable as we designed it to be, this would mean more rapid development once the core of the engine was complete.
The enormity of this undertaking cannot be understated.
The game engine has been under active testing by an incredible group of beta testers for the last two years, to whom we are enormously grateful. We could not have done this without them. Thank you all!
Looking ahead..
Our plan going forward is to begin releasing both new titles as well as expanded versions of old ones that have been rewritten from the ground up for the next-generation Draconis game engine.. As our focus has been on perfecting the engine, the first couple of titles will be new versions of some of our classic games with tons of new features, with all-new titles coming very soon.
In general, we expect desktop titles to be released first for Mac OS X, followed soon after by Windows versions. Mobile games for iOS are also planned, as well as special mobile versions of games that have been traditionally meant for desktops.
It is with great excitement, that we are pleased to announce the immediate availability of our first Mac OS X title, which is expected to be available for Windows in the first quarter of 2013 as well.
ChangeReaction, Draconis Entertainment’s classic audio puzzle game for the blind and visually impaired comes to OS X with new audio, three entirely different modes of game play, a host of new features, and a cheaper price tag!
Primarily intended for blind and visually impaired gamers, ChangeReaction is played via the keyboard and your ears. Navigate the game board with the arrow keys, dropping coins on the stacks to create chains of explosions and rack up higher and higher scores! Match three coins of the same denomination vertically or horizontally to trigger a chain reaction that blows up all adjacent coins of the same value! This game has no visual element. Use your fingers, ears, and wits to rack up the highest scores possible!
* Choose from three distinctly different variations of game play.
* All modes support three difficulty levels.
* In ChangeReaction Classic, clear the board of all coins before time runs out!
* In LooseChange, clearing the board just got a whole lot more difficult! Bombs explode on coin stacks and scatter their contents across the board for added challenge!
* In PayDay, try to keep the board from being cleared against all odds, and rack up overtime by clearing positions on the board which represent the hours of the work week.
* Bonus rounds provide a chance to rack up even higher scores!
* ChangeReaction 2.0 has been rewritten from the ground up using the next-generation Draconis game engine.
* Exciting new sounds and music.
* Audio hints to help newcomers navigate the game menus with their ears.
* In app instructions and keyboard reference.
ChangeReaction is available in the Mac App store for $9.99 USD. Anyone who purchases a copy of the legacy Windows version on or after 12/December/2012 will be eligible for a free upgrade to ChangeReaction 2.0 for Windows when it is released, expected to be in the first quarter of 2013. The Windows version will also be available for $9.99 USD. (Prices may vary for your country, based on current exchange rates.)
The direct link to ChangeReaction in the Mac App Store is:
Thank you all for your patience and support. We look forward to a very bright future ahead.