galactic colonies question

I saw your question about Galactic Colonies and how to figure out where to place buildings, and it brought back some fond memories of playing that game a while back, though I stopped playing years ago. I remember the accessibility challenges were a big hurdle, and I’m not sure if they’ve been fully resolved, but I can share what I recall to help you out. From what I remember, some folks on forums like AppleVis suggested swiping around the screen to explore the map, but I don’t think that was ever officially confirmed as a reliable way to navigate, and it didn’t work well for me with VoiceOver. I believe the game’s map is laid out in a grid with hexagonal tiles, not squares, based on discussions I’ve seen, but I could be a bit off since it’s been a while, and the layout was tough to grasp without clear spatial feedback for blind players.
The game used to drain my phone’s battery like crazy, which made it hard to play for long. One major issue was that you couldn’t delete or remove buildings using VoiceOver, which was a dealbreaker for me because if you placed something in the wrong spot, you were stuck with it, and that really pulled me out of the flow of the game. My workaround was to mess around until I lucked into a setup where all my buildings connected properly—like getting warehouses linked to factories for items like computer parts or fusion engines—and then I’d just stay on that planet, trading goods and managing resources without moving to the next level. I’d basically camp out in that one perfect setup, never advancing, because moving forward risked messing things up again due to the lack of clear feedback on building placement.
I hadn’t realized people were still posting about Galactic Colonies —I actually thought the developers had abandoned it, since I hadn’t seen updates in a long time. There was a lot of controversy back in the day with Michelle, one of the developers, who was dedicated to making both Galactic Colonies and Crafting Kingdom accessible for blind players. She put in a ton of effort, like replacing sliders with buttons for accessibility mode and working on custom UI to make the game playable, but she faced a lot of pushback from some folks in the blind community. They kept saying that the developers were making promises that they couldn't keep. Some persons were harsh, leaving one-star reviews and piling on a bunch of negative reviews because the accessibility wasn’t perfect right away, even though Michelle and her small, self-funded team were trying hard to improve the layout. If I remember correctly, some members were trying to give the game five stars to boost the ratings, because they were losing money due to the host of nasty comments. This was never a game built specifically for the blind community. Michelle was fighting with her team because she wanted the game to be accessible, but the other members didn't see the point to continue on this trajectory if they were only getting a bunch of Harsh comments. It got so bad that it frustrated the whole development team, and I think it soured their experience with the community, which is such a shame because their work on Crafting Kingdom showed they cared about inclusivity.
If you’re looking for tips on navigating the building placement issue, I’d suggest checking out older posts on AppleVis or the AudioGames.net forum, where players might have shared strategies that worked for them, like how to explore the hexagonal grid or manage resources efficiently. For example, some players mentioned dragging a finger to trace the map’s layout, though I found it unreliable because VoiceOver didn’t give enough spatial context to know if buildings were connecting properly. You might also look into the Discord server for Galactic Colonies —there’s a link in the game’s settings menu, though some folks had trouble joining it, so it might take some digging to connect with other players or the developers for more current advice. Unfortunately, I don't think the app is being updated anymore, or if it is, it's very sporadically. What you see right now, is probably the best it's gonna get. Honestly, getting the right setup in the game often comes down to luck, especially with the accessibility challenges, but I hope you find some solid tips to make it work.