Cari Watermelon 🍉
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cariwatterton.bsky.social
Cari Watermelon 🍉
@cariwatterton.bsky.social
Gaming Accessibility Person. she/her
Worked on ⚛️ Atomfall, 🔫 Sniper Elite and 🐉 Skye Tales.
Witch who crafts, making games with my partner in crime and owns an unhealthy amount of board games. Has a black cat called Toothless.
Just how many games there were across all these award categories and the fact a AA category was viable just proves how much work studios are doing for accessibility!

Huge congratulations to everyone, and yes this has made my year a little bit 😅🖤
The winner for AA Excellence at the 2025 GAConf Accessibility Awards is.. Atomfall!

Info on all the finalists & winners: www.gaconf.com/gaconf-award...
January 30, 2026 at 8:34 AM
An enormous amount of work and effort went into this - I’m so incredibly proud and humbled 🖤

To me there are so many puzzle pieces that make up holistic accessibility, and one of those is actually informing players how your game can support them. More accessibility trailers please! 👏
The winner for Best Comms & Marketing at the 2025 GAConf Accessibility Awards is.. the @atomfall.com Accessibility Trailer!

Info on all the finalists & winners: www.gaconf.com/gaconf-award...
January 30, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
BSLGG launched today, a community-led initiative to create a glossary of gaming specific terms in British Sign Language (BSL).

@bslgg.bsky.social aims to help Deaf gamers, game developers, and BSL interpreters more effectively communicate gaming terms and names.

caniplaythat.com/2026/01/06/b...
BSLGG, British Sign Language Gaming Glossary launched today - Can I Play That?
BSLGG launched today, a community-led initiative to create a glossary of gaming specific terms in British Sign Language (BSL).
caniplaythat.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
This is free to submit to, and includes an accessibility category 👀 Get on it people!
#indiedev #accessibility
Submissions for our 2026 Indie Game Awards are now open!

Once again made possible thanks to the generous support of @gamemaker.io

Submissions are open until February 1st, 2026 - teamdebug.com/awards
December 9, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
SURPRISE! A new Keeper update just dropped with some EXCITING features!

🖤 NOIR MODE 🖤
A custom-tuned black & white experience!

⬅️ ULTRAWIDE SUPPORT➡️
For maximum immersion!

👁️ HIGH CONTRAST MODE 👁️
Accessibility options for players with vision impairments!

More Info: youtu.be/watch?v=Qhyf...
Keeper · Back In Black (and White) Update
Surprise! We’re starting December with a really cool KEEPER update, and it’s one we’re very excited to put into your hands. This update is all about color: 1. Noir Mode - A silly experiment by one…
www.youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Marking International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Electronic Arts adds eight more accessibility patents to their patent pledge today, making them free to use. They also open sourced colorblind simulation filters for their accessibility tool Fonttik.

caniplaythat.com/2025/12/03/e...
Electronic Arts adds eight new accessibility patents to pledge - Can I Play That?
Electronic Arts makes eight more accessibility patents free to use, and open sources colorblind simulation filters for Fonttik.
caniplaythat.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Today’s Community Soapbox highlight features @sightlesskombat.com, an award winning, multi-credited accessibility consultant and gamer without sight.

Unsurprisingly, his biggest barriers involve gaming independently with no sight at all.

caniplaythat.com/2025/11/27/s...
SightlessKombat - Community Soapbox - Can I Play That?
In this edition of our Community Soapbox we turn the spotlight on SightlessKombat.
caniplaythat.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
interested in reading how someone with cognitive and mobility related disabilities plays games? check out my Community Soapbox segment on the Can I Play That! huge thanks to @abitofaccess.com for including me in this fantastic series! #GameAccessibility #GameA11y #DisabledGamer #Accessibility
Continuing our guest highlights for our new Community Soapbox series with @shellelittle.bsky.social, a senior digital accessibility specialist and game accessibility consultant.

They tell us about the mobility and cognitive barriers they experience while gaming.

caniplaythat.com/2025/11/27/s...
Shell Little - Community Soapbox - Can I Play That?
In this edition of our Community Soapbox we turn the spotlight on Shell Little.
caniplaythat.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The talk videos from our event - @ga11ygathering.bsky.social - are up! Huge thanks to the wonderful speakers, sponsors, and volunteers who made it all possible 🖤
November 29, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Really excited for this and the first four interviews are all incredibly informative and approachable.

I can see this series being a great way to introduce someone to accessibility in games through the stories and experiences of players with lived experience. Thank you to all the contributors ☺️
What better day than Thanksgiving to introduce a new Community Soapbox series to Can I Play That?

With this interview series we aim to use our platform to better represent the wider and diverse disabled and accessibility community. (1/2)

caniplaythat.com/2025/11/27/i...
Introducing the new Community Soapbox - Can I Play That?
We proudly introduce a new Community Soapbox series, using our platform to give a voice to the wider accessibility community.
caniplaythat.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:12 AM
I finished this game and enjoyed it, but sadly lacking in some areas of accessibility for me.

This review mentions the lack of quest markers and map - both things that greatly support my memory and cognition. It also flared up my pain in my hands from a lot of movement and taps/holds…
November 26, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
The GAconf Awards (@gaconf.bsky.social) return for its fourth edition, recognizing and celebrating the efforts made in game accessibility across 20 categories in 2025.

Voting is now open to the public, and closes November 30th. Winners will be announced in January.

caniplaythat.com/2025/11/24/p...
Public voting opens for the GAconf Awards 2025 - Can I Play That?
The public can vote for the GAconf Awards 2025, with nominees across numerous categories covering development, communication, and advocacy.
caniplaythat.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Huge congratulations to every single developer, consultant and team member in the nominees. I hope you’re all incredibly proud!

It’s great to see my boss, Tülay, nominated for the incredible work she does and the Stumble team for their wheelchair cosmetic. 🖤

And to my old family on Atomfall 🍻🖤
Our finalists for MVP - Unsung Hero are:

Paul Parsons, EA
Luke Heanue, EA
Holly Wescott, Amazon
Elizabeth Whyte, Bethesda
Tülay Tetiker McNally, Scopely

Public vote now open at gaconf.com/gaconf-awards-2025/
November 24, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
For this Indie Spotlight Marijn played An Unplayable Game?!

Limited controls and a few assists turn this free game into a thoughtful exercise in accessible game design. Showing that accessibility isn't about removing challenge, but making it possible.

caniplaythat.com/2025/11/11/i...
Indie Spotlight: An Unplayable Game?! - Can I Play That?
An Unplayable Game?! is a thoughtful exercise in accessible game design, showing it's not about removing challenge, but making it possible.
caniplaythat.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Free UK game accessibility conference coming up in a few weeks!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-access...
#gamedev #accessibility
UCL Accessibility day: Connecting research & practice in game accessibility
We're bringing together academics and industry professionals to collaborate on making games more accessible for everyone!
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Games for Blind Gamers 5 starts Feb 2026! Our community supports developers in making games accessible through planning and research. Join the jam and the challenge! itch.io/jam/games-fo... #GameJam #GameDev #Accessibility #BlindGaming #IndieDev #AudioGames #A11y
Games for Blind Gamers 5
A game jam from 2026-01-31 to 2026-03-15 hosted by Ericbomb. Welcome, Blind and Sighted Game Developers! Welcome to the fifth annual Games for Blind Gamers jam! The goal of this jam is to make games…
itch.io
November 2, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Just played this myself and that Timing Assist feature is completely new to me. What a great feature! I hope other games learn from this and iterate on it, I definitely want to see it again.
Had a great time playing this - what an incredible example of motor accessibility in platformers.

As someone with bad reactions, if more platformers had these settings, I could actually play them and feel skilful.

Also loved the dev commentary! Absolutely recommend to play and learn from.
#gamedev #indiegame #solodev #indiedev

with the end of next fest, my first solo game "an unplayable game?!" is officially out for FREE on steam!

its a short platformer about accessibility settings and why they're important. only about 5-15 minutes, depending on how fast you figure it out!
November 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Had a great time playing this - what an incredible example of motor accessibility in platformers.

As someone with bad reactions, if more platformers had these settings, I could actually play them and feel skilful.

Also loved the dev commentary! Absolutely recommend to play and learn from.
#gamedev #indiegame #solodev #indiedev

with the end of next fest, my first solo game "an unplayable game?!" is officially out for FREE on steam!

its a short platformer about accessibility settings and why they're important. only about 5-15 minutes, depending on how fast you figure it out!
an unplayable game?! on Steam
a game about accessibility settings that's just a *bit* too hard for you to play effectively. 10-15 minutes in length with 30+ minutes of developer commentary!
store.steampowered.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Happy Halloween! 🎃 We've compiled some of our favourite accessibility features in horror games to prove that we don't need to forgo accessibility to achieve a killer atmosphere.

Want to discover new ways to bring accessibility into your games? Learn more at www.playerresearch.com/what-we-do/a...
October 31, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
The latest Atomfall update adds phobia safe modes to the game, swapping aggressive animals for savory snacks with a bite to them.

There's also a new fast travel system to discover, along with some other smaller improvements and fixes.

caniplaythat.com/2025/10/29/a...
Atomfall update adds phobia modes and fast travel - Can I Play That?
Rebellion added a form of fast travel, phobia safe modes, and other small accessibility improvements in the latest update for Atomfall.
caniplaythat.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Cari Watermelon 🍉
Scopely shared the story behind the Axel skin in Stumble Guys.

Axel, who uses a wheelchair, was inspired by a visit from avid Stumble Guys player Fayçal. There, he had one important question: why isn’t there a skin in a wheelchair in the game, like me?

caniplaythat.com/2025/10/29/s...
Scopely shares the story behind Stumble Guys' Axel skin - Can I Play That?
Scopely shares the story behind Stumble Guys skin Axel, a wheelchair user inspired by a visit from 10-year old Fayçal.
caniplaythat.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Cool to see some dev opinions on yellow paint! I think it’s good as an option, to give player agency.

The video is interesting, but I wish they had a voice from an accessibility perspective. Some players need high contrast visuals to be able to play, and these methods can be a form of diegetic HC.
ign.com IGN @ign.com · Oct 29
The debate over yellow paint in video games to guide players has resurfaced again after Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi told GamesRadar+ that "there is definitely a need" for it. What do you think? bit.ly/4qA6JRL
October 30, 2025 at 2:18 PM
📣Developers and lived experience experts!

I'm doing research for something I'm writing, and I'd love if you could help.

The topic is "Including Players with Disabilities in the Dev Process" but you don't have to have experience with this to answer! (more info in 🧵)

➡️ forms.gle/cA56W4XVRfnS...
forms.gle
September 21, 2025 at 11:36 AM
The talk lineup for GAConf US is up!

Honestly can’t recommend this conference enough, regardless of how new or seasoned you are with games accessibility.

If you can go in person the value of meeting a11y folk can’t be understated. And I believe they offer free tickets if you’ve been laid off.
Surprise! One more speaker announcement 📢

@tabbyrose.bsky.social will be sharing all of @mightyyell.bsky.social's VR accessibility learnings from the development of Knight In The Attic!

Sept 29th - 30th, registration & line-up at gaconf.com
#gamedev #indiedev
September 16, 2025 at 10:20 AM