How we rate games
We look at ten things that can overwhelm sensory-sensitive kids, and score each one from 0 to 3.
The scale
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | None |
| 1 | Mild, or can be turned off |
| 2 | Frequent |
| 3 | Intense and can’t be avoided |
The ten things we check
- Flashing or strobe effects. Including whether flashing can be turned off.
- Sudden loud sounds. Including whether there are separate volume sliders or a mute.
- Timers or time pressure. Countdowns, rushing, day clocks.
- Failure and losing. Game over, lost progress, and whether there is a no-fail mode.
- Difficulty spikes. Sudden hard parts, bosses, and whether assist modes exist.
- Scary content and jump scares. Dark areas, monsters, sudden surprises.
- Screen motion and camera speed. Fast camera, shaking, and whether there is a reduced-motion option.
- Competition and online strangers. Player-versus-player play, chat with people you don’t know.
- Ease of stopping. Save anywhere, pause, quit without losing progress. (Here a higher score means harder to stop.)
- Reading load and text speed. How much reading is needed and whether text can be slowed.
Scores are per game mode
Many games feel very different depending on how you play. For example, Minecraft’s Creative mode is much calmer than Survival mode, which has enemies, darkness and sudden sounds. Where it matters, we score each mode separately.
Where our information comes from
- Official ESRB ratings and platform accessibility tags.
- Accessibility resources such as Can I Play That? and the Family Gaming Database.
- Guidance and recommendations from parents, therapists and autism organisations.
- Hands-on review by a person before any score is published.
Each score will show its source and the date it was last checked. Games get updates, so we check again when something changes.
What “Not enough info yet” and “Still checking” mean
Not enough info yet: we couldn’t find good evidence for that item, so we left it blank instead of guessing. Still checking: the score is published, but there’s an open question we’re still looking into.
What “Not yet reviewed” means
We haven’t scored that game yet. We would rather show nothing than guess.