Description of App
Earcade is a collection of nine audio-only games for blind and low vision players. Every game is played entirely by ear; no visual information is required at any point.
The games use binaural HRTF spatial audio, so the position and movement of objects is conveyed through where sounds appear around you. Headphones are recommended. Haptic feedback is used alongside audio in most of the games.
Menus and navigation are built for VoiceOver.
The app is free, has no ads, and no gameplay content is locked behind a purchase. There is an optional tip jar which unlocks nothing.
Comments
What games?
What games are included in this app?
The Nine Games
Sure, here they are:
Maze Escape — find your way out of a maze by sound. Hold your finger down to get a hint about the direction you should be heading.
Traffic Monster — cross a road by ear. You judge the traffic from the sound of the cars approaching and passing.
Hunter Fish — eat the small fish while staying away from the big one that's hunting you. The small ones move faster, so you run into them while you're surviving.
Back To The Sky — climb upwards, timing your jumps by what you hear.
Piano — free play, follow along, or play a song. Touching a key plays the note rather than speaking its name, and sliding your finger across gives you a glissando.
Pong — the old one, played by ear.
Signal Hunter — tune a frequency until the static clears, then work out which of three buttons decodes the signal.
Cannonball on Deck — a cannonball rolls on a ship's deck as you tilt the phone, and you keep it away from the holes. Hold your finger on the screen and you'll hear the direction of the nearest target. This one uses binaural audio, so sounds can be in front of you or behind you.
Air Combat — a dogfight. You tilt the phone left and right to move your plane and tap the screen to fire. Some planes take more than one hit before they go down.
They're all short, a few minutes each. Difficulty levels in most of them.