From Checklists to Playability: A systematic mapping of player reviews to the Game Accessibility Guidelines

Abstract

This study examines how accessibility frameworks intersect with disabled players' evalua:ons and deployment. We mapped accessibility reviews from the "Can I Play That?" website wriCen between 2019 and 2025 onto the Game Accessibility Guidelines through coding and scoring, then conducted a heuris:c evalua:on of MinecraN Educa:on as a case study. The analysis showed that reviews foreground basic hearing, motor and visual provisions such as sub:tles, remapping and legible text, while advanced guidelines remain largely absent. MinecraN Educa:on sa:sfies basic and intermediate items across domains yet leaves gaps. Taken together, the study interrogates whose accessibility counts in contemporary game design and deployment. The annota:on framework is replicable and open, in an effort to create a new prac:cal resource for the gaming community.