**THREAD TIME**
saw something over on #GameDesign Twitter that's worth addressing more generally - poor eyesight is such a common disability that we don't even think of it as one. as a result graphic designers, artists, and publishers are largely awful at accommodating it (1/x)

the thread (that I won't link here) was someone very well meaning and thoughtful making sure their cards were color blind friendly. but the end result was muddy, low contrast and used such a goofy font with angled text I had to squint to read it on my phone. in my hand. (2/x)

while I don't consider myself a person with "low vision" I am very near sighted, have a VERY strong prescription, and a pretty severe astigmatism that makes reading small text difficult (I'm pushing 40 and NOT looking forward to the inevitable bifocals) (3/x)

I have gotten rid of games because the text layout or sizing made cards or boards hard to read, which gives me a headache. I have "NOPED" out of countless games based on preview pics or cards because I know I won't be able to read them on the table (4/x)

case in point: Imperial Settlers, a game I really enjoyed. it was impossible to play 2p for me because I couldn't see my opponent's cards across the table and difficult to play solo because my own card text was tiny and uncomfortable to read on the table in front of me. (5/x)

for this reason I no longer even consider "text on cards on the table" games because I physically cannot play them. people complain about Race for the Galaxy's symbology but I love it - I can easily read the icons. RFTG is more accessible because of them (6/x)

I recently sold my Game of Thrones LCG stuff, partly because I don't have the energy to solo it, but mostly because the font Fantasy Flight uses is hard to read. traditionally serif fonts are considered "more readable" but that's about cognition not vision (7/x)

adding to the reading difficulty is the colored textured background AND the italic text on most GoT cards. you've got a dense block of serif text in about an inch and half of space and I just can't read it on the table. ditto for the time I tried to play the Arkham LCG (8/x)

what can you do as a designer to fix this and make your game readable?

1. higher contrast text - text should be black or white on a contrasting background. no colored text. you want to color code cards of course but leave the text out of it. white text on black is best. (9/x)

2. no serif fonts - there are some character exceptions to this. ideally a font is sans-serif but still differentiates between 1, l, I, and |. though on card text how many capital "i" problems are you going to run into? and O and 0 can be a problem but mostly for passwords (10/x)

3. make the text bigger, bolder - just make the text larger. the amazing artist you hired is irrelevant if the art takes up so much of the card that I never play it because I can't read the text. Star Realms has good prominent art is still super readable (11/x)

4. reduce your word count - get someone who is a professional editor and native speaker of the language on your cards to edit the text. the fewer words the better. shorter words are better. short sentences if you must.

5. stop designing games where I need to read cards in my opponents' tableau - this is just a design thing. the angle of view across the table makes reading text on a card nearly impossible for me. I will not buy or play a game that requires it. (13/x)

I'm not getting any younger and my vision is only going to get worse. hobby gaming is flooded with first time designers doing it all on their own. that's great but a lot of them aren't taking readability into account.

if I can't read your game I won't buy it. (14/x)