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Theoretical Article

No. 5 (2024): Welcome to Join: Exploring Access and Accessibility in Analog Role-Playing Games

Reimagining Calibration Frameworks Through Crip Theory

Submitted
May 22, 2024
Published
2024-11-23

Abstract

The intersections between calibration, disability, and access in TRPGs remain understudied, although they can be integral to the play experience of players with conditions such as autism, anxiety, PTSD, or others. Not only can the tools scaffold an experience of informed and acceptable risk for everyone, they can also equip players to tackle topics in-game that they may not find entirely comfortable but still wish to engage with. Game designer Jeeyon Shim calls this Type 1 and Type 2 fun. Importantly, safety tools do not encourage a culture of pushing through unwanted topics and can, in fact, provide for more communalised gameplay, worldbuilding and clearer boundaries. These tools, and other safety tools that do not have formalised mechanics, are inherently adaptable to 'crip time', which can widen access for disabled players through using time as a resource that benefits the game rather than constrains it. 

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