In 2022 Supermassive Games released their interactive horror game The Quarry. It was a super fun werewolf slasher with surprisingly relatable characters. It also re-invented an accessibility feature that made the game much more accessible for players with fine-motor skill impairments. This is why we are giving a new Barrier Breaker award to Supermassive Games, for the outstanding Aim Assist mechanic featured in The Quarry!
I love playing the games Supermassive designs. They offer a narrative driven experience like an interactive movie, but with simple combat included. Still, these games often have moments that need quick decision-making and precise shooting ability. So what did I do when I was nearing the end of my Quarry playthrough while my last remaining characters were Dylan, who only had one arm, and Kaitlyn, who only had one silver bullet? I turned on the Aim Assist feature in the options menu and it made shooting werewolves a breeze!
Aim assist in The Quarry
The Quarry lets players change the aiming setting to home in on moving targets. Not only that, but the developers went the extra mile and included an “Auto” mode. When enabled, this mode automatically made playable characters aim and successfully shoot enemies. This freed up my time and allowed me to focus completely on saving people and enjoying the story.
As someone with severe fine-motor skill impairments, I can speak to the fact that too often games don’t even offer aim assistance as an option. However, Supermassive created a unique Aim Assist mechanic that allowed players to automatically aim and hit targets on the first try. From this, there is huge potential to utilize similar aim assistance for other genres of games. Improving disabled gamer’s experiences overall. For these reasons, we are proud to give Supermassive the Barrier Breaker award for excellent implementation of aim assistance in The Quarry.
