The Braille Bistro

A person is feeling braille text reading "sandwich."

Project Background

The Braille Bistro is a matching game designed to build empathy among sighted people for persons with disabilities and to encourage players to make their businesses, designs, products, or content more accessible.

A foundation and approach in scholarly research.

The project began with a hypothesis similar to the one set out in a study by Guarese et al. (2023), in which blindfolded participants tried locating an object using assistive technologies. The objective of the Braille Bistro was to determine whether a disability embodiment game experience can develop empathy and encourage increased accessibility offerings.

Mirroring a real-life dining experience.

The game was designed for players to experience what it's like to order a meal in a restaurant as if they were blind. This mimicking of an authentic experience was designed to better foster empathy through embodiment.

How to Play

The Braille Bistro can be played solo or by two people, with an additional person to moderate. Each player is given a menu, then they put on their blindfolds. The moderator will hand the first player a card with braille text that corresponds to a menu item. The player can feel the card for up to a minute, after which the moderator hides it and the player removes their blindfold. The player then may write down the dots they believe they felt to provide them with a reference, then they try to identify the corresponding menu item. Players alternate turns, competing for a high score in each of the four rounds (corresponding to the courses of a meal) and at the end of all four rounds.

Duplicates of all cards are provided to settle ties through players playing simultaneously and trying to make the faster identification. In multi-player mode, each player only plays two cards per round to ensure there are three options to choose from in case of a tiebreaker.

Read the full game rules.

The Research Process

The initial concept and some early feedback-informed changes.

After deciding on the Braille Bistro's restaurant theme, I originally envisioned the game as being designed for restaurant owners or managers. Feedback received early on in the brainstorming and research process led me to shift the target audience toward anyone who offers spaces, materials, or content that people with disabilities may interact with.

Additionally, I was unsure on the materials I wanted to use. I initially thought of players matching cards to cards, then thought of using only a menu (to closer mimic the real-life experience). After gathering feedback from the course instructor and classmates, I decided to match cards to a menu. This allows for randomization through the cards while still providing the experience that a menu offers.

Developing a gameplan through further resources.

Several additional resources were identified that I planned to incorporate into the design process and playtesting:

Kukanja & Planinc (2023): This study analyzes the accessibility offerings that restaurant managers view as strongest in their restaurants, and therefore likely prioritize. I intended to determine the offerings that my playtesting participants prioritize in their own jobs.
Mirete et al. (2022): This study predicts the most effective ways for people to develop empathy for other persons with disabilities. I planned to inquire about what the most effective ways are in the eyes of my playtesting participants, and if these opinions paired with the Braille Bistro's gameplay experience could drive societal change.
Beginning with Braille: Firsthand Experiences with a Balanced Approach to Literacy (Swenson, 2015): As the Braille Bistro was not designed to teach players to become fully literate in braille, I used this book to help identify further resources for players who would be interested learning more braille beyond the game.
As a beginner to braille myself, I reached out to the Michigan State University Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD) for insight into the writing system and how to produce braille materials.

A braille reference sheet provided by the MSU RCPD, as well as the typewriter layout showing how to emboss the letters.

The Design Process

Bringing the "restaurant" to life.

I began working on a rough prototype to be used for playtesting. The initial cards were simple: the name of the menu item in the chosen typeface, a graphic illustration of the menu item, and the menu item written in braille on a sticker that was made using a typewriter at the RCPD office.

Duolingo was used as the art style benchmark for the graphic illustrations (playful and geometric).

Although I had already finished the graphic illustrations for all menu items, only two of the four decks of cards were initially printed for playtesting as I felt I could still fully gauge effectiveness while preserving materials.

I also created the menu that players would match the cards to.

The menu and cards from the first prototype.

Playtesting

Can the Braille Bistro prove my hypothesis?

Two playtesting sessions have been conducted so far: one to test multiplayer mode and one to test singleplayer mode. The sessions were designed with three primary objectives:

Test the rules and mechanics to identify any areas to iterate.
Gauge the accessibility offerings of participants' employers.
Test the game's hypothesis: that this experience can build empathy which in turn would encourage increased accessibility offerings.

In the pre-test, participants stated that they interact with guests with disabilities often and see physical spaces (such as ramps and parking) as most important. This is consistent with Kukanja & Planinc's study.

Participants also felt that exposure and relationships are most effective at developing empathy. Mirete et al. found this to be least influential in driving societal change, however having empathy was most influential. Further playtesting can gauge if increased empathy from the game can drive real societal change through the resulting actions of the players.

Some playtesting writing samples showing different approaches.

Insight gained following the gameplay experience.

The hypothesis was proven true: all participants (3 of 3) felt more empathy for persons with disabilities after playing and felt there was more their employer could do in terms of accessibility accommodations. Words used to describe the experience included informative and enlightening. All participants were also interested in learning more braille after playing the game.

What needs to be iterated?

A rule regarding the writing portion was misinterpreted by all three participants, who wrote down the menu items in Latin script rather than in braille. This came from the verbal overview provided, nonetheless the written rule was clarified further. I also rewrote all rules as second-person commands rather than third-person descriptions.

Old Rule: The player removes their blindfold and writes down the braille text they felt.
Revised Rule: Remove your blindfold and write down, in braille, what you believe you felt.

This misinterpretation also highlighted the need for a different approach to future playtesting (allow players to naturally interpret the written rules).

Additionally, two graphic illustrations were highlighted as being somewhat difficult to interpret as the food item they represent. This led to a redesign of the menu items to have a more 3D look.

Tomato Soup Before

Tomato Soup After

Lastly, one participant noted finger sensitivity/irritation developing through gameplay. This prompted the addition of a warning message to the rules sheet.

Read the full playtesting report, including some great reflections shared by the participants.

Additional feedback from other channels.

Six additional people played the game at the MSU GameDev Showcase. Feedback included reiterating the benefit of a 3D approach to the illustrations and the edges of the stickers providing an unintended sensory distraction. This led to the decision to emboss braille directly onto the cards. I'd like to highlight one particular player, who stopped by to play the game at the beginning of the showcase then returned later to attempt a perfect, not just approximate, transcription.

The cumulative feedback received led to the creation of additional gameplay modes to provide flexibility:

Challenge Mode: Disregard decks, prompting players to scan the entire menu rather than just one section.
Rapid-Fire Mode: Turns are ignored and players compete as fast as they can to get the most matches.
Time-Saver Mode: Decrease the number of cards or rounds played to account for time commitment or finger sensitivity.
Solo Mode: Play alone without a moderator, just make sure you flip over the cards so the match isn't spoiled.

A blindfolded player is feeling a card during gameplay.

A student playing the Braille Bistro at the showcase.

I also made changes to the way ties were settled. Previously, one menu item per deck was designated for tiebreakers, and duplicate cards were printed for these items only. This was changed so that duplicates of all cards were printed, allowing the moderator to pre-select one for each round. This adds to the game's replay value.

Additional Player Experience (PX) Enhancements

Improving the experience through visual cues.

I identified a few changes and enhancements to the cards to provide a better experience:

Change the card size and orientation from 2.5 by 3.5 inches to 5.5 by 3.5 to accommodate the longest menu item (mozzarella sticks) on one line of text.
Assign each deck a color and shape on the back of the card to provide visual distinction. These were also added to the menu.

The back of a card in the Appetizers deck.

The Result and the Future

The game materials as iterated through feedback have been professionally printed. I also created an add-on sheet that allows players to reflect on the game's hypothesis on their own, directs them to additional braille learning resources, and includes the alternative game modes.

More playtesting!

I would like to conduct further playtesting, focusing on a few key areas:

Allow natural interpretation of the rules rather than providing additional explanation (unless asked).
Rephrase a few questions to allow for a more open-ended response.
Test the alternative formats introduced since previous testing.
Recruit an additional person to handle the moderator role rather than doing it myself.
Focus on the long-term impacts the game can have.

See the Game in Action!

To see a demonstration of the Braille Bistro, watch the short video below!

My Role

Although the Braille Bistro was created as a solo project, I'd like to thank the following people for their help and feedback:

Tesia Freer and Kristin Campbell from the MSU RCPD.
Professor Amanda Cote.
My "Theories of Games and Interaction Design" classmates.
The three formal playtesting participants.
The additional people who provided feedback after playing the Braille Bistro at the GameDev Showcase.

Project Timeline: October 2024 to May 2025

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