Someone should make a game about: wheelchair mobilisation Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Someone should make a game about: wheelchair mobilisation A different perspective. Feature by Vivek Gohil Contributor Updated on 26 Aug 2020 53 comments Games are great for allowing players to experience different perspectives. And I have some ideas about different perspectives in general. Wheelchairs need to be reinvented and celebrated as independence equipment rather than used as a prop in horror stories. Games would be perfect for this. I'm not suggesting a 'disability simulator.' The wheelchair needs to be an interesting game mechanic, and one that can be used to explore how wheelchair users navigate their environment from a different perspective. As a wheelchair user who has severe muscle degeneration, bumpy obstacles are uncomfortable and make it difficult to keep my body steady. Sometimes driving a wheelchair outside can be like a Trials game but without that safety net of hitting that restart button. Driving a wheelchair outside is a challenging task, in other words. I'm constantly scanning the environment with my Iron Man visor to find the best route with the smoothest terrain, deciding how to get past obstacles, navigate around meandering pedestrians and most importantly stay alive. There's a clear risk/reward mechanic hidden behind wheelchair mobilisation. For example, imagine you had two route choices to navigate around a parked car blocking the pavement. Option one is to try to slowly squeeze past as Sam Fisher, secretly wishing that he could scratch the car. Option two is to drive against oncoming traffic to find a drop kerb, like a badass Doomslayer. Death Stranding already made the ground a central character - a good start for any game about wheelchair mobilisation. Now just add cobblestones. Every gamer has played a game from the lofty perspective of a biped, traversing environments using virtual legs, facing plain old crate puzzles or using a plank of wood to get over gaps. Games have been trying to disguise these puzzles in clever ways for years. Now, with a wheelchair, prepare for the miraculous reinvention of the humble plank-of-wood puzzle. Picture the scene: It's The Last of Us Part Three, and a wheelchair using protagonist and Ellie are running away from the jaws of a horde of Clickers. Your only hope of safety is a courthouse behind a set of steps. What do you do? You miraculously spot a large piece of wood nearby to create a ramp - or...? Now I'm thinking about it, game worlds could introduce how different surfaces affect wheel traction or bounciness. For example, in Watch Dogs Legion your sandbox is a facsimile of London, right? So evil cobblestones would be common! This could affect stealth, as cobblestones need to be traversed very slowly or completely avoided. In other words, wheelchair using characters have untapped potential to increase narrative scope, but they can also allow us to explore new types of gameplay mechanics. You never know, 2021 in gaming could be the year of the wheelchair. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 12 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 4 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store