Elizabeth Easton Kirschner

Factory Reset

The design and evaluation of an accessible video game.

A single-player first-person puzzle game about a magnetic robot on a quest to find their way home through a Soviet-inspired cyberpunk world. Use your magnetic hands and feet to push and pull your way through three different levels!

Project Overview

Team

  • Elizabeth Easton Kirschner (myself) -Accessible Design Lead
  • Christian Orion Adler -Artist
  • Raymond Dolan -Gameplay Programmer & Audio Lead
  • Joseph Henry Stadolnik IV -Gameplay Programmer & Designer

About

Factory Reset was created as my Major Qualifying Project at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The game had a strong emphasis on accessibility, with many features and design decisions intended to make the game playable by a larger audience.

Accessible Features

The following features are an overview of the major accessibility featuers available in factory reset.

Remappable Controls

Adjustable Look Sensitivity

Resolution & Display Settings

Customizable Volume Controls

Hold or Toggle Control Modes

Disable Animation

My Role

As the accessible design lead I was responsible for the research, design, implementation, and evaluation of all accessible features in Factory Reset. I designed, developed, and ran the three rounds of usability studies conducted to test the both the game and its accessibility over the course of development.

Play the Game

Factory Reset is available for free to download on itch.io

Play The Game

Read the Report

Want to learn more about this project? Click the link to read our in depth report.

WPI Archive

Provost Award

Factory Reset won the Interactive Media and Game Development department Provost Award. This award is given to the most outstanding Major Qualifying Project in the department each year.

Learn More