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Sightless Fun episodes
- #10 - Being a Blind Dungeon Master With Temple Smith
In this episode, Ertay talks to Temple Smith, a blind Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master. Temple has been playing DnD since the 1980s and talks about the visual accessibility of the game and how role-playing games can provide countless hours of entertainment with friends. He also explains how he deals with character sheets, dice, maps, and more.
You can get in touch with Temple on Twitter: https://twitter.com/blindtemple
Time stamps
- Temple's background, 00:53
- How often Temple plays DnD, 03:08
- Temple describes his preparation process, 03:49
- How Temple's process changed after he lost his sight, 6:12
- Temple talks about equipment he uses when DMing, 07:00
- Temple talks about dice, 09:27
- Dealing with character sheets as a blind DM and player, 12:40
- Sighted assistance in Dungeons and Dragons, 14:13
- Temple talks about blind DnD players, 17:24
- Advice for sighted Dungeon Masters when playing with blind players, 18:13
- Accessibility of different DnD editions, 20:55
- Advice for blind people interested in becoming a dungeon master, 23:38
- Final thoughts, 26:00
Links
- D&D Beyond - https://www.dndbeyond.com/
- Blind Sparrow Interactive - https://www.blindsparrowinteractive.com/
- Ready To Roll Dice Rolling App For iOS - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ready-to-roll-rpg-dice/id1445804669?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D8
- DOTS RPG - https://www.dotsrpg.com/
- Knights of the Braille - https://knightsofthebraille.com/
32 min - #9 - Sighted Assistance For Blind Board Gamers With Dale and Laura Rowe
Ertay talks to Laura, a blind board gamer, and her partner, Dale, a board game developer at Mythic Games, about the importance of sighted assistance when playing modern board games with blind players.
If you want to get in touch with Laura and Dale Rowe, you can send an email to [email protected].
Time stamps
- Laura's background, 1:12
- Dale's background, 2:09
- How often they play games, 4:29
- Current favorite board games, 5:17
- Learning and teaching board games, 11:54
- Accessibility challenges and hidden information, 14:25
- Patience and sighted assistance, 18:50
- Playing Power Grid with sighted assistance, 21:50
- Inaccessible dexterity games, 25:50
- Meeting Rahdo at UK Games Expo, 28:22
- Stories from game conventions, 29:30
- Positives of playing board games with blind players,33:07
- Advice to improve sighted assistance, 35:31
- Cardboard Jukebox, Dale and Laura's podcast, 36:50
- Final thoughts, 38:06
Links
- Laura's band, The Shining Levels - https://outredisque.com/the-shining-levels
- Cardboard Jukebox link will be posted when the podcast is published
Let us know how you liked this episode by sending an email to [email protected] or tweeting to @SightlessFun on Twitter.
41 min - #8 - Brailling Board Games With Nancy Feldman
Ertay and his third guest on the show, Nancy Feldman, talk about Braille in modern board games. Nancy is a blind board gamer that has a collection of over 200 games. She covers her process of brailling board game components, the common problems she has to deal with, and shares tips for blind gamers interested in brailling their games, Nancy also explains the limitations of Braille for board games and goes into some interesting workarounds to solve those accessibility issues.
You can contact Nancy Feldman via [email protected] and find her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/loravara
Time stamps
- Nancy's background, 01:11
- How Nancy got into the hobby, 01:59
- Nancy talks OrcaCon, 04:43
- How Nancy navigates at a con, 08:00
- Nancy's favorite games are Dominion and Near and Far, 9:30
- Learning and teaching games, 10:50
- How blind people read Braille, 13:23
- Nancy's brailling process, 15:01
- The extra effort needed to identify cards, 20:11
- Brailling the Black Lotus in Magic: The Gathering, 22:43
- How Nancy plays Sagrada blind, 24:34
- Common problems when brailling board games, 27:59
- Playing Ticket to Ride without vision, 29:47
- Time and cost of brailling games, 31:10
- Brailling Dominion, 33:48
- Accessibility of board game apps, 36:49
- Storing brailled games, 39:58
- Artwork and Braille, 42:53
- Tips for brailling games, 44:40
- Nancy's contact information, 48:48
Links
- Rulebook.io - https://rulebook.io/
- 64 Oz. Games - http://www.64ouncegames.com/
- Dominion Card Reference Website - http://www.marconius.com/dominion/
- AIRA Remote Assistance for the blind - https://aira.io/
51 min - #7 - A Blind Board Game Enthusiast's Journey In The Hobby
Ertay talks to Ryan Peach, a blind board game enthusiast, about his journey in the hobby. Ryan shares how he was introduced to the hobby, what his favorite games are, games he can't play anymore due to sight loss, and gives advice to both publishers and players on how they can improve the visual accessibility of modern board games.
You can contact Ryan Peach via [email protected] and find him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/redmeepleryan
Time stamps
- Ryan's background, 00:50
- Introduction to modern board games, 05:19
- Ryan's current favorite games, 08:44
- Ryan talks about why he plays board games, 13:59
- Accessibility discussion, 17:10
- Accessibility challenges as Ryan's sight deteriorated, 18:14
- Battlestar Galactica, favorite game he can't play anymore, 21:48
- Board Game modifications, 24:17
- Accessibility improvements in the past few years, 29:40
- Recommendations for board game publishers, 32:48
- Games Ryan would play if he got his sight back, 35:57
- Advice for other blind people interested in the hobby, 37:18
- Advice for sighted players, 39:13
- Final thoughts, 41:20
Please let us know if you enjoyed this episode by emailing us via [email protected]. You can also check our website at https://sightless.fun/
44 min - #6 - Teaching Board Games To The Elderly With Richard Canning
In this episode, Ertay talks to his first guest, Richard Canning, about teaching modern board games to the elderly. Richard is a veteran in the hobby who is very passionate about the teaching process and he shares the most common challenges he needs to deal with, as well as advice on how others can become better at introducing board games to the older generations.
If you want to get in touch with Richard Canning, you can email him via [email protected]. He can also be found on BoardGameGeek under the Bremic username: https://boardgamegeek.com/user/Bremic
Time stamps
- Richard Canning's background, 01:09
- How and why Richard started focusing on teachin board games to the elderly, 02:07
- Description of Richard's process when teaching elders, 06:21
- Common problems when teaching the elderly, 11:04
- Rulebook accessibility, 14:35
- Game recommendations for old people, 17:53
- Guidelines for teaching visually impaired elders, 24:34
- Tools to improve accessibility, 28:35
- Problems with hidden information games, 32:16
- Game recommendations for visually impaired elders, 34:32
- A story from PAX Australia 2018, 37:09
- Final thoughts, 42:34
Special thanks to tonks music for helping with the post processing of this episode. If you are looking for someone to help you with your recordings or podcast, you can find him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonksmusic/?hl=en
If you have any questions or comments, you can email via [email protected], tweet to @SightlessFun, or visit our website at https://sightless.fun
47 min - #5 - Love Letter, Skull & Print and Play Games
In episode 5, Ertay talks about two simple, yet highly entertaining games, Love Letter and Skull. The topic of this episode is about Print and Play games and the pros and cons of DIY board games for blind players.
Time stamps
- Recently played games, 01:11
- Love Letter, 03:09
- Skull, 09:55
- Print and Play Games, 14:37
Links
- Nyctophobia Visual Accessibility Analysis - https://sightless.fun/boardgames/nyctophobia-game-visual-accessibility-analysis/
- BoardGameGeek Print and Play Guild - https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/477
- PnP Arcade - https://www.pnparcade.com/
25 min - #4 - Pandemic & Quarterbacking
Ertay talks about how he plays Pandemic without vision. The topic that is covered in this episode is commonly talked about, especially by those who dislike cooperative games. Ertay tries to show that by introducing mechanics to mitigate quarterbacking, board games become less accessible to the blind and visually impaired.
Time stamps
- Recently played games, 01:34
- Pandemic game overview, 07:10
- Pandemic visual accessibility, 10:23
- Quarterbacking and accessibility, 14:13
Links
- Looking For Group subreddit: https://reddit.com/r/lfg
- Pandemic: Board Games You Can Play Blind - https://sightless.fun/Pandemic-Board-Games-You-Can-Play-Blind/
23 min - #3 - King of Tokyo / King of New York & Tips For Playing With Blind Players
In this episode, Ertay and Jed talk about the visual accessibility of two monster battle dice games, King of Tokyo and King of New York. The discussion topic is aimed at sighted players and provides tips and suggestions for improving the gaming experience of blind players in their group.
Time stamps
- Recently played games, 01:09
- King of Tokyo game overview, 03:47
- King of New York overview, 06:30
- Accessibility discussion, 12:56
- Tips for playing with blind players, 20:02
Relevant Links:
- Board Games You Can Play Blind: King of New York - https://sightless.fun/King-Of-New-York-Board-Games-You-Can-Play-Blind/
- Things To Know When Playing Board Games With Blind People - https://sightless.fun/boardgames/things-to-know-when-playing-board-games-with-blind-players/
41 min - #2 - Sagrada & Board Game Meetups
Ertay and Jed take a look at the visual accessibility of Sagrada, a dice drafting puzzle game, and then talk about attending board game meetups and how a blind or visually impaired person can improve their experience at such game nights.
Time stamps:
- Recently played games, 01:27
- Sagrada game overview, 05:32
- Sagrada accessibility discussion, 11:25
- Attending Meetups as blind and visually impaired, 25:32
- Tips and game recommendations for organizers, 34:13
If you have any questions or comments, you can email us via [email protected]
43 min - #1 - Secret Hitler & Helper Apps
In the first episode of the Sightless Fun podcast, Ertay and Jed talk about Secret Hitler and how smartphone apps can help make board games more accessible to people who are blind and visually impaired.
Time stamps:
- Recently played games, 01:13
- Secret Hitler game overview, 09:19
- Secret Hitler accessibility discussion, 18:01
- Helper Apps, 32:39
Links:
- Secret Hitler Blog Post - https://sightless.fun/secret-hitler-board-games-you-can-play-blind/
- Secret Hitler Helper Android App Prototype - https://1drv.ms/u/s!As0NUJnxyVaqktUujLwTlUZ2aT6uvw
- Secret Hitler Helper App Github Source Code - https://github.com/ertay/board-game-aid/
- Seeing AI iOS app - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seeing-ai/id999062298?mt=8
You can email us via [email protected].
41 min
About Sightless Fun
From the publisher's feed
Sightless Fun is a podcast about board game accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. We analyze various tabletop games and try to come up with solutions that would make them more accessible…
to people with sight issues. You can find our website at https://sightless.fun and contact us via email at [email protected]