John Dickens
@johndickens.bsky.social
Senior Accessibility and User Researcher at Tencent Games. Trying to make games more accessible for every player. Music, tech, adventure cycling nerd.
Wow 🥹
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...
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 1:54 PM
Wow 🥹
"Do players have fun?"
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
October 13, 2025 at 8:13 AM
"Do players have fun?"
Such is my deepness in the Apple ecosystem that, after accidentally putting my Sony earbuds in the laundry (sigh), I recently bought the new AirPod Pros.
My question to you, #accessibility hive mind, why are these AirPods making me nauseous? Never had this with noise cancelling earphones before.
My question to you, #accessibility hive mind, why are these AirPods making me nauseous? Never had this with noise cancelling earphones before.
October 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Such is my deepness in the Apple ecosystem that, after accidentally putting my Sony earbuds in the laundry (sigh), I recently bought the new AirPod Pros.
My question to you, #accessibility hive mind, why are these AirPods making me nauseous? Never had this with noise cancelling earphones before.
My question to you, #accessibility hive mind, why are these AirPods making me nauseous? Never had this with noise cancelling earphones before.
Our team are running user research concerning games accessibility. This is a paid research session open to UK residents. Please register your interest below if you are interested in taking part.
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
RI971: UK-Wide Digital Accessibility Research - £100
www.researchi.co.uk
October 6, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Our team are running user research concerning games accessibility. This is a paid research session open to UK residents. Please register your interest below if you are interested in taking part.
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
@researchi.bsky.social
www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
👋 I'm heading back across the pond to be at #GAConf once more in Redmond, WA later this month. I'm reserving a day free after the conference to catch up with familiar faces and meet new ones - hit me up if you're around and want to chat on the 31st 🙂
September 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
👋 I'm heading back across the pond to be at #GAConf once more in Redmond, WA later this month. I'm reserving a day free after the conference to catch up with familiar faces and meet new ones - hit me up if you're around and want to chat on the 31st 🙂
Saucony London 10K ✅
@specialeffect.org.uk
@specialeffect.org.uk
July 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Saucony London 10K ✅
@specialeffect.org.uk
@specialeffect.org.uk
This game rocked. And it took me until adulthood to realise it was made by Virgin despite the main character basically being the logo.
Randomass video of the day: Cool Spot youtu.be/wD5harXiVvk
Is Cool Spot Worth Playing Today? - SNESdrunk
YouTube video by SNES drunk
youtu.be
July 4, 2025 at 8:29 AM
This game rocked. And it took me until adulthood to realise it was made by Virgin despite the main character basically being the logo.
1 person going through redundancy is bad. 9,000 is just mismanagement - pure and simple. Heart goes out to all MS/AKB folks who, even if they kept their job, must be feeling pretty broken right now.
July 4, 2025 at 8:23 AM
1 person going through redundancy is bad. 9,000 is just mismanagement - pure and simple. Heart goes out to all MS/AKB folks who, even if they kept their job, must be feeling pretty broken right now.
I promise I’ve been working and not just sitting on the beach the whole time I’ve been in LA.
June 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I promise I’ve been working and not just sitting on the beach the whole time I’ve been in LA.
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
YouTube video by The Beach Boys - Topic
youtu.be
June 12, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Sooooo proud of our team's work in supporting Funcom's vision for Arrakis 💙🪱
Dune Awakening hits 142,000 concurrent players during full launch, smashing past record
www.eurogamer.net/dune-awakeni...
www.eurogamer.net/dune-awakeni...
June 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Sooooo proud of our team's work in supporting Funcom's vision for Arrakis 💙🪱
Truly brilliant exhibition at the Tate Modern - ‘Electric Dreams’. Digital art before it was digital, where artists pushed the boundaries of early computers and consumer tech to produce audio visual experiences that challenge how art is made and displayed. Right up my street.
May 31, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Truly brilliant exhibition at the Tate Modern - ‘Electric Dreams’. Digital art before it was digital, where artists pushed the boundaries of early computers and consumer tech to produce audio visual experiences that challenge how art is made and displayed. Right up my street.
My bank holiday weekend has involved a fair amount of chores but now I’m going to treat myself with a new adventure…
May 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
My bank holiday weekend has involved a fair amount of chores but now I’m going to treat myself with a new adventure…
Somewhat related story time... On day 3 of a week long play test, I noticed one of my participants brought a book into the lab. At one point he got it out of his jacket pocket and started reading it whilst 'playing'.
I went to ask him what was up, assuming he was getting bored and about to churn...
I went to ask him what was up, assuming he was getting bored and about to churn...
On the other hand it can be good to make sure you have behaviours like this players can do in down times to keep themselves engaged
For example sliding in Fortnite Battle Royale is a fun thing for players to do when in the relative downtime of navigating from one spot to another
For example sliding in Fortnite Battle Royale is a fun thing for players to do when in the relative downtime of navigating from one spot to another
April 28, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Somewhat related story time... On day 3 of a week long play test, I noticed one of my participants brought a book into the lab. At one point he got it out of his jacket pocket and started reading it whilst 'playing'.
I went to ask him what was up, assuming he was getting bored and about to churn...
I went to ask him what was up, assuming he was getting bored and about to churn...
Oh weird I suddenly feel very ill... I need some time off work, about 2 weeks? See you later.
BREAKING: Bethesda officially unveils its big Oblivion remaster. It's launching today! Details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/649795/...
Bethesda officially unveils Oblivion Remastered, launching today
It’s finally here after months of rumors
www.theverge.com
April 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Oh weird I suddenly feel very ill... I need some time off work, about 2 weeks? See you later.
Reposted by John Dickens
"Include, Learn, Iterate" by @johndickens.bsky.social teaches what accessible user research looks like, & how to adapt to fit different needs! It's an incredibly useful skill!
If you want to learn about what user research is & why you should be playtesting your games, check out John Dickens' talk!
If you want to learn about what user research is & why you should be playtesting your games, check out John Dickens' talk!
April 15, 2025 at 7:12 PM
"Include, Learn, Iterate" by @johndickens.bsky.social teaches what accessible user research looks like, & how to adapt to fit different needs! It's an incredibly useful skill!
If you want to learn about what user research is & why you should be playtesting your games, check out John Dickens' talk!
If you want to learn about what user research is & why you should be playtesting your games, check out John Dickens' talk!
Elden Ring for Switch 2 basically just means a higher risk of me launching this console out of a window than ever before.
I shall buy it.
I shall buy it.
April 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Elden Ring for Switch 2 basically just means a higher risk of me launching this console out of a window than ever before.
I shall buy it.
I shall buy it.
Reposted by John Dickens
The ESA and industry partners announced the Accessible Games Initiative at GDC today.
This industry-wide initiative provides a unified collection of accessibility tags, intended to help players more easily find out if a game is accessible to them.
caniplaythat.com/2025/03/20/a...
This industry-wide initiative provides a unified collection of accessibility tags, intended to help players more easily find out if a game is accessible to them.
caniplaythat.com/2025/03/20/a...
Accessible Games Initiative announced by ESA and industry partners - Can I Play That?
The ESA and industry partners announced the Accessible Games Initiative, providing unified accessibility tags for websites and storefronts.
caniplaythat.com
March 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
The ESA and industry partners announced the Accessible Games Initiative at GDC today.
This industry-wide initiative provides a unified collection of accessibility tags, intended to help players more easily find out if a game is accessible to them.
caniplaythat.com/2025/03/20/a...
This industry-wide initiative provides a unified collection of accessibility tags, intended to help players more easily find out if a game is accessible to them.
caniplaythat.com/2025/03/20/a...
Happy Monday
Electric Mainline
YouTube video by Spiritualized - Topic
www.youtube.com
March 10, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Happy Monday