Audio Adventures from Truman Toys & Games is a handheld games console that can be played purely with audio and four buttons. The story of how it came about links to a redundancy during Covid, self-taught online electronics and discovering the joy of audio games and how they can be played by a huge range of people including the blind.
This small handheld games machine, with interchangeable game cartridges, uses sound and four buttons (A, B, C and D with illumination guide) for play. The rich and varied game audio is played through a small built-in speaker or via stereo headphones (hold B or C to adjust the volume). If you’ve ever played a Choose Your Own Adventure/Fighting Fantasy branching narrative gamebook, and have good hearing, you’ll be right at home here.
Gameplay story interaction varies widely considering the relatively simple control method. Most decisions you are posed with will not rush you. Some will though. Some games have a tricky puzzle element to them. Some are more action based. Some are more for exploration in the game world. Some players will certainly need additional help in a team-play setting.
The Games:
The Psychotronic Mind (action adventure – derring-do adventure in WWII, in the style of vintage radio thrillers), Hotel of Secrets (exploration/drama – crime drama, in the style of film noir), Bewilder (quest and puzzle – whimsical adventure in a magical land with puzzles and moral dilemmas) and Ice Cold (action, survival and exploration – sci-fi action and survival). Two more are in the pipeline: Bank Robbing Bunnies and How Close is the Ghost? People interested in creating new stories for the system are welcome to get in touch, but it would be a big undertaking. I’d personally love to see a football manager game made, perhaps with some Roy of the Rovers type drama chucked in. Also anything from the early Fighting Fantasy book days such as the City of Thieves and House of Hell. Also, some play for the day, Tales of the Unexpected, Black Mirror type interactive stories. Thinking of the Bandersnatch interactive film from Netflix. The possibilities seem endless.
Games can be paused at any time by holding the A button. Checkpoints will auto-save but there are not many of them, so you may find yourself having to replay scenes if you’re unable to reach a checkpoint. Battery life seems to be long. Packaging is designed to be easier to open, without layer upon layer of unwrapping needed. Cartridges are embossed with Braille labelling aimed at blind readers. Good hearing and understanding of English is needed to play. The four buttons are quite stiff to press, with embossed letters on them, giving a very clear tactile click response. You know when you’ve pressed them.
Accessible Switches
For accessibility switch users, such as those needing light-force or heavier duty buttons, the PCB (printed circuit board) has been designed to make it easier to add standard 3.5mm sockets. The pictures in this post show a modified Action Adventure console with a rear break-out box with four switch sockets for each button as one example. Again, some games do require quite fast reactions at certain points in the game, so this will not be fully independently accessible for all. It’s also currently quite easy for some to lean on the “D” button and end up hard resetting the game. Avoid that! Hopefully this will be revised in the future.
If interested in switch-adapted access to games, please use the “Switches” category on GameAccess.info.
