Help us improve accessibility of our game Idle Crafting Kingdom

By Michelle, 17 March, 2017

Forum
iOS and iPadOS Gaming

Hi everyone,

I'm one of the developers of the game Crafting Kingdom.
We just released the game today and we would love to know what you think, especially in terms of the game's accessibility.

The game focuses a lot on crafting resources, producing goods and then selling them.
You start out small, chopping logs in your lumberyard. Eventually you will work your way up unlock new products, buy new buildings and production facilities which allow you to produce more valuable goods.
You can also build out your own estate, if you have the necessary construction materials.

The game is incremental, which means one of the gameplay mechanics is that you need to restart your progress every now and then to get ahead. You complete quests and earn bonuses like faster production and higher sale prices for your next restart.

The game is free. There are optional ads, but no in-app purchases. The ads are voluntary rewarded videos, which will give you a powerful boost for watching (for example double log production for 10 minutes).

You can find the game here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crafting-kingdom/id1190611967?ls=1&mt=8

We tried to make this game as accessible as possible, but know that there are probably plenty of things that could be better. We would really appreciate some feedback on what could be improved. Any feedback is welcome.

Please note: The game uses Unity and the Unity Accessibility Plugin (UAP), so not all VoiceOver gestures are supported.

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Comments

By Roxann Pollard on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I have also been seeing the $0.00 for an item to be purchased. I have ignored that and purchased anyway without problem. Think this may be a bug.

I, too, have encountered the same situation when unlocking a new product. However, after unlocking it and started to produce it, I have sold it with no problem. You just need to go to the city and there you will find out how much is its value. Probably it is just a glitch.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Thanks to everyone for reporting this. There was indeed a bug that the sale price label in the production window wasn't updated when the product was switched. This will be fixed in the upcoming update.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, just wondering about treasure chests, I get that they appear in different places on the map, however they are a bit hard to find given that the information isn't always correctly read, sometimes the words map or castle are read even if your focused on the chest, also I assume sighted people can just look at the screen and instantly see where the chest is, seems a little unfair if this is the case that the time runs out very fast before we can check both locations especially if sighted players can instantly see where the chest is, and given that often inaccurate information is read out when we are sitting over the chest.
also regarding the sound that plays when a chest is on screen, is it supposed to be sometimes loud and sometimes quiet, is this supposed to be a clue or something about location?

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, was just looking at the actual app directory entry for the game, and the developer has requested that the twitter name be changed to a different one to the one listed, seems a little rude if the person who submitted the entry doesn't update it to give the most accurate information especially as the correct twitter info has been provided.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi Alex,
yes the treasure chests are hard to reach.
When accessibility is enabled, the treasure chest stays on the map significantly longer, to put everyone on somewhat equal footing. However, we realize it's still tricky sometimes.

The sound always has the same volume, and I suppose VoiceOver audio ducking is responsible for how it sometimes seems lower.

The next update includes two improvements. For one, the swiping sensitivity will be much better, making it easier to navigate any screen. And on the map, swiping down will immediately take you to the estate, so it'll be fast to check both locations for the chest.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, I fully realize the adverts in the game are nothing to do with the developers when you want a boost, but I have found them very difficult to close, I did try swiping up with two fingers like people suggested earlier in the game but didn't really help, the best I could do was find the button to return to crafting kingdom then I got the end of the video played and was thrown back into the appstore. so reluctantly I am simply not going to bother with boosts because there just two much bother, in the end I had to totally force quit crafting kingdom and the appstore to get out of this loop, I have never actually had much luck with these kind of video ads in many apps. again I do know this isn't the developers fault its probably just badly designed ads etc. Its a shame I will have to abandon the boost quest but its just two much bother. I did find a close button last time with the adverts but it didn't really seem to respond, to be honest I am patient I don't need to get ahead as fast as possible, just kind of annoying about giving up with this one bit of the game, still if its outside the developers control nothing to be done.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, I have VoiceOver ducking turned off so that's not it, to me I notice the sound of the chest does seem to change slightly not sure if its volume exactly, but it does change, I had an idea maybe it was a hint to show you had lots of gold in it or something, though if as you say the volume doesn't change guess there must be some weird audio bug going on that makes me think it has changed. also I play without VoiceOver to help responsiveness, but as to the chests being given slightly wrong info about if your say on the map castle or the chest needs addressing, often I am told I am on the map when I am really focused on the chest correctly.

By Sean Terry on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, I don't have a problem with the audio volume changing on my end. Although, I wanted to say that My wife and I are both experiencing our phones getting quite warm with extensive game play. We both have an iPhone 7. I have accessibility mode on, and she doesn't. This is the only game that seems to do this.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, as I said before I tend to play with VoiceOver turned off just to improve responsiveness, I have noticed that on the production selection screen there is something that doesn't read with speech, this seems to be on all production selection screens where you pick what slots should produce. if I flick to where the production time is given then flick to the right I just get a click sound, if I then flick to the right again I get back button, actually I just tested and this happens regardless of if VoiceOver is on or not, there is just this one thing that doesn't read.

By Cory K on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Why not make this game work directly with voiceover? That would get rid of all these weird issues.

By Sean Terry on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

As the game is written in Unity, It really isn't possible. VoiceOver itself doesn't work with Unity by default. I hope I said this right, If not, Please correct me.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Yes, Sean, that's exactly right. Unity and VoiceOver can not work together directly. Unity's UI system isn't in any way that's compatible with VoiceOver. Because of the way it is structured, it cannot be made to work directly with VoiceOver either. There is for example no way of Unity knowing with absolute certainty what elements on screen are currently interactive or even visible. And that is just the tip of the iceberg of issues.

And to make it even more difficult, this game isn't even using Unity's own UI system. It's using a different plugin for that, called NGUI, which is a very popular UI system.

By snowyowl on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I agree with a previous comment about the videos and not being able to return to the game. I have had that several times where you click on return to Crafting Kingdom and it replays the video. I don't know if this is a bug or its to do with the video but I'm still enjoying the game. Just out of interest would it be possible to have another way of using the boosts say a certain amount of gold etc.

If this game ever became a paid one I'd gladly pay for it because its a fantastic game.

Thanks for all your hard work Michelle.

By Ornella on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I don't have that problem but for the people that do, if you have plenty aps running in the background that is why.

By KE7ZUM on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I don't have issues wiht the boots. The "l" button is there all the time for me. I dunno why most of you are having the sisue and the rest of us are not. As for the phone getting warm I don't yet have that isue, or I don't notice it.

Keep up the good work.

By Sean Terry on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Neither my wife or myself have any apps running in the background when playing. But, the phone still gets quite a bit hot and, in both of our cases, the battery goes pretty quickly if not plugged in. Again, we both have an iPhone 7. 128 GB for myself, and 32 GB for my wife.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi again, I was thinking about my treasure chest issue and I realized that part of the issue for me is that sometimes chests are on screen for literally only a few seconds but other times they are on for considerably longer, so the time that chests stay on screen doesn't seem to remain fixed.

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

hi all. I think I found a way to get around the boost videos unable to close issue, when u finish playing a video, and when u hear voice over or the back up voice saying, the boost is activated for so and so minutes, just go to app switcher and close crafting kingdom. and then open the game again normally. u then won't have to due with the different ways of closing the videos and your boosts will still be active. try it it works.

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

from what I gather from sighted players who are playing this game, it is even harder for them to get the treasure chests as compared to blind players. for sighted players, the whole map isn't viewable to them instantly. they will have to scroll around for that. and so for the treasure chests, they will have to scroll around to look for it. and there is also no sound to indicate that there is a chest for the taking, and so if they don't keep scrolling around, they will have a much higher likelihood of missing the chests altogether. I think we blind players shouldn't complain so much about something being difficult to do and should try to find a easier work around to do things. sighted players misses out on things like the treasure chests too remember. a really really big thank u to the developer of this game for already doing such a great job of making this accessible for blind players, will definitely get the inapp purchase when it comes out.

By KE7ZUM on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

For the videos though you have to hit the "l" button to close out the video. I see it there all the time, after the video ends, then I hear the boost is active what ever, then I just hit the back button if I need to do that if I get stuck, like what happened in the podcast.

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

hi there michell, just wondering, is it possible to complete all possible quests in this game? I know that the estate can eventually max out, but what about the quests? is it possible to totally do all, and I know it will probably take a long time to do, but really all of them? I thought 50k of a certain item is the max in any quest, but wo! Ii just got a quest that I have to sell 70k leather strips hahaha. so I am wondering what's the max number of products in a quests. but of course, more quests can be added of course. I' not complaining that there is too many quests or they are too difficult to do, i'm just curious! really addictive game!

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

oh yes for the videos with the l button u can wait till the l button shows up, then u click it and then close. but for those videos that are in landscape, or when vo does not talk at all during the video playing, u can just go to app switcher to close the game when u hear that the boost has been activated, and things will be fine. I actually close the game from app switcher a lot anyway, as I find it makes the swiping glitch more manageable.

By Kristen on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I have an iPhone 7 and haven't been noticing too much battery drain or a warming of my phone. I'll keep an eye out for it, though, figuratively speaking.

Re: the treasure chests.
Fromt he sounds of it, the added 'jump to bottom' gesture will help with this.

I also suspect the chests are appearing on the map even when you're in the Lumber Yard or the Farm and you may only catch the tail end of them when you hit the 'Back' button to got o the map. Might be why sometimes it appears like they are there for longer or disappear fast. Just my thoughts. I have noticed the sound disappears really fast sometimes.

And I'm just glad a Unity game can be played with accessibility at all! Nevermind if it is not with VO directly. This is a huge step considering how many mainstream games use Unity. (For example, Pokemon Go uses Unity.)

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

not sure if anyone has got to this stage yet, I am now working towards the next level of estate upgrade, which requires 900 fishing rods and 900 fabric. fishing rod I do not have a problem with, but for fabric I know I will have to unlock the workshop for that. thing is I am wondering if to make fabrics, will I need any items that I can only get from the mine? because it would be more efficient to skip the mine totally to unlock the workshop faster. does anyone know the required resource for fabric? i'm sure things like tools and leather will likely be needed, but not sure of things like salt will be needed at all to make a fabric in this game hahahaa.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

The number of quests in the game is not endless. It is possible to complete all of them.
It will be very very hard though.
Also, we are currently working on two more quest lines; one that will require you to have a certain number of production slots in order to unlock the restart all automations button. And another to find a certain number of treasure chests to gain a significant bonus on how much gold will inside them.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Fabric is actually fairly easy, as it only requires wool to make.
Also: Kudos to getting your estate to level 7 already!!!

By Steady on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

hi, after playing videos that are in landscape mode, i click the get button which will bring me to app store. 4 fingers swipe right will be back to the game.
after playing for some time, focus will start jumping around more and not as responsive to gestures. just restart phone will temporary fix the issue.

I am not experiencing any trouble getting to the treasure chest. If you happen to be in the farm, lumberyard, at Cetera, and just go to the map area, sometimes the treasure chest sound it's already on and those are the times when it seems to last less. However, I can swipe up with two fingers and then look for the mat or else just keep going to the state. As you already know, the treasure chest is bound to be in one of those two places. I don't have any problems getting to it. I also don't have any issues with the volume sound of the treasure chest.

By DrummerGuy on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I use the booze all the time and I don't have any problems with them. As a matter of fact, I love using them. They make the game easier. I always click to go to the App Store because I have read that this is a good way to help the developers. Once I go to the App Store, I click return to crafting kingdom and then I just swipe up with two fingers and it takes me right to the back button. No problem at all. I am happy to help the developers in anyway I can. I am very thankful to them for having made this game accessible for all of us.

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

thanks so much michelle! looking forward to the new quest lines! will it be in the next upcoming version of the game? the new quest lines I mean?

By Roxann Pollard on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Is it possible to give us a level number each time we expand the estate? For example the next time I expand, I will be doing it for the fourth time. So, could it be called something like level 4 of 8? This would ihndicate that I have expanded four levels and there are a total of eight levels to be achieved

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

The new quest lines won't make it into this update. We don't want to wait and fix the swipe and lag issue as soon as possible.

I'll add something that announces the estate levels in a future version as well, I think that makes a lot of sense!

By Kelvin Tan on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

so when should we expect the next update that will fix the issues that u mentioned?

By DrummerGuy on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Kelvin, I think the new version will be coming soon. Those of us who are in the test flight group are currently testing the new build.

By Kristen on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I am in the TestFlight group and have the new update installed.

I am not sure if it is just me but I am having problems getting the two-finger swipe up (to jump to the top of the page) to work. Previously this worked very easily, but now I can't seem to get it to work and it seems to default to what would have been a one-finger swipe up.

The new 1-finger down swipe to get to the bottom of the page does work well, though, and the swipes do seem a bit more responsive overall. Just the issue with the two-finger swipe up.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

No, it isn't just you. I checked and this is indeed a bug. The two finger swipe gets incorrectly recognized as a one finger swipe.
I submitted a fix for it already and I hope I can push it into Testflight later today.
Thank you for reporting!

By DrummerGuy on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

The lagging issue is less noticeable.
I have noticed that you can swipe up and down with two or three fingers to get to the back button or to the state. The down gesture works neatly but the up gesture has some improving to do. I also have noticed that now you can change the product that one slot will produce and it will be read correctly when you are done. Also, the double tap needs a little work but works OK most of the time.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, I am not complaining about the chests just trying to simply provide more information, for me the sound is sometimes long sometimes short, also speech doesn't always accurately announce when your focused on one, like it sometimes says map or castle, but then if you flick away from it and back you are announced treasure chest. also I have noticed that sometimes the treasure chest sound stops playing and yet the chest sometimes remains on screen. I am all in favor of making the game fun and interesting though and certainly don't want things to be made super easy just because we are blind etc, just trying to give info so that inconsistencies can be ironed out as its one thing to have a hard game, but another to miss things because of accessibility bugs which of course can definitely be fixed.
also just wondering did you see my comment above about the element that doesn't read with either accessibility or VoiceOver? just a bit of extra information I think for this weird element to be present that doesn't read a slot needs to be automated but not totally sure. I would certainly be up for helping with testing if you need a further tester, though I imagine you have been inundated with us haha. thanks for an outstanding game, so much more fun than the usual boring multi choice games, I hate loads of really text based story games with multiple choices which have little replay value.

By Anthony on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hello I have a question regarding one of the items to sell in a lumberyard there is a option for fishing rods I'm wondering if there is a certain amount of gold or certain something I need to be able to make them because I have all the necessary things to make them I believe I was wondering if there something else I needed to build them thank you start selling them Just was wondering if there something I was doing or something else I need to get I meant doing wrong

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, not sure if this has been covered, but I think it would be really helpful if the production places could tell you about resource levels on the production slots, this would help manage slots more effectively and save lots of running into the city. I wonder also has any form of gesture been considered for allowing quick switching between production items? as the iPhone does support a wide range of gestures, at the moment the switch process takes quite a while, and I am sort of thinking something like one number of fingers in a gesture could be quickly used to switch you to a preset item on the production list for a slot, so like 2 fingers for item 2, 3 for item 3 etc.

By Michelle on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

That's a pretty neat idea. I'm going to look into detecting rotation with two fingers on screen, like the rotator dial VoiceOver has, to cycle through the production.

By Kristen on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Thanks for fixing the 2-finger swipe up gesture! Much easier to play the game again.

Currently working on the estate expansion that needs 300 coal and 300 meat.

My strategy seems to be to work until I get the next Estate Expansion and get as many of the Quests done as I can .. then collect the Quest upgrades and start over.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

I like that idea of using the rotor gesture to cycle through what slots produce, as it is seriously time consuming shifting the production focus of areas from one resource to another especially with like 10 slots, also at the moment its very confusing because once I change what a slot produces it still shows as producing what I was making with it previously, for example if a slot was making meat and I set it to make wool, the accessibility will indicate that its still producing meat even when its correctly set to wool till I back completely out of an area and reopen it. I think I read somewhere that this had been fixed, looking forward to it.

I am particularly enjoying this game as I remember when I was younger seeing sighted people play a game think it was called war of the worlds or something and I seem to remember that was similar to this in that it was about resource management and such, though actually I think there might have been combat involved, but you had to do things like allocate resources to things like research new technologies and be strategic etc, I got very board of resource management games which were purely online text, are there any plans for things like being able to research new technologies or materials in the game? I don't mean like scifi though that might be fun, but I am sure there is plenty of real stuff you could elect to spend in game resources on developing. also another thought, but maybe prices for things in game could go up and down like a real economy. Or possibly world events could happen both good and bad, so like maybe some of your storage could burn down, or someone leaves you gold plenty of other possibilities I am sure. of course I realize your a small team and I am sure a lot of this would be incredibly complex to code but just putting it out there.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, I managed to figure out the boost video thing, I must say it is tricky, and I find it easier to leave VoiceOver on when a video is playing, flicking up does seem to eventually allow to navigate the screen but there is a serious nack to it, also the fact that the l you must double tap isn't actually labeled as a button threw me, still I am now happily using boosts, a question can you use the same boost multiple times at once in different slots to massively boost production or get much higher prices? if this video platform is apples work it needs serious improvements.

By lori21 on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi I'm a totally blind player, and I just started playing Crafting Kingdom on my iphone 6 with voice-over. I'm really enjoying the game, however I'm finding that when I double-tap to select things nothing happens, and I've to wait a few seconds before trying again. It's like the game is laggy, or it might be my phone. I also tried to watch a video to earn a reward, but was unable to exit the video screen. Is there anything else I need to do to build production, other than working with logs and timber? Thanks, this game makes me think a bit of the kids mindcraft games, which have always annoyed me for not being blind-friendly at all. Thanks for the accessability. From Lori.

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi, just a thought, I was just thinking about the rotor idea for accessing available items to produce on the production slots, I just thought another area where it could be useful is on the buildings like lumber yard quarry etc, you could focus on one of the buildings then have a rotor to turn to quickly select a boost. It would save lots of running into the castle, what do you think, I was kind of thinking it might help production become more streamlined.

By snowyowl on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hi.

For some reason the L thing is apprearing now which is fantastic. I did wonder going for all quests as possible and the estate expansion at the same time is probably a good idea. Really enjoying this game now. Thanks Michelle to you and your team for making a fantastic game. I am totally hooked.

By Roxann Pollard on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

Hello lori21. This particular forum has been quite active of late. Your questions about Voiceover lag have previously been addressed here. Fortunately, the developers are working on this issue and I think should be resolved in the next update.

With regard to production, basically, you make and sell products, increase your storage, and then expand the estate, which is the goal of the game. Be sure to use the boosts and quests, seen in the castle, to aid in what you are trying to do. for example, if you are going to sell in the city, then use the Salesman boost first. If you are going to expand your storage, then use the one that decreases the storage price, etc. There other boosts and quests available, depending on what you want to do next. It's all about the numbers. The princess will give you a gift every day, if you visit her, too.

HTH

By alex wallis on Monday, April 3, 2017 - 07:26

what does the realestate mogul boost do? says it makes expansions cheaper, now way I would read this is making either building purchases or storage upgrades cheaper but it doesn't seem to do either. although I have got boosts working those ones without the l button are a total pain lots of mucking around with closing crafting kingdom etc.