About Me

My name is Ben Tyers, and I am the creator of TactivoPlay.

TactivoPlay grew from a long-standing passion for game design, accessibility, simple controls, and the idea that games should be enjoyable for as many people as possible. I have always loved making small, focused games that are quick to understand, fun to play, and built around clear feedback. Over the years, that interest has developed into a much bigger mission: creating games that do not depend entirely on sight, complex controls, or traditional game interfaces.

TactivoPlay is my latest accessible gaming project. It is a collection of audio-based games designed especially for blind and low-vision players, using spoken instructions, sound cues, simple controls, and clear audio feedback. Rather than taking existing visual games and trying to adapt them afterwards, TactivoPlay is being designed around sound from the beginning. The aim is to make games that feel natural to play without needing to rely on a screen.

My Background In Accessible Games

Over the years, I have created hundreds of mini games for PC, tablets, and phones. These have included puzzle games, reaction games, arcade games, memory games, card games, quiz games, racing games, and many other small game ideas.

One of my biggest accessible gaming projects before TactivoPlay was One Button Controlled Games, a collection of more than 50 accessible games that can be played using a single input. These games were designed so players could use a mouse button, spacebar, or accessible switch controller. The idea was simple: reduce the control barrier and make gameplay possible for people who may find standard keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, or controller layouts difficult to use.

That project taught me a huge amount about accessibility, game flow, player feedback, difficulty design, and the importance of keeping controls simple. It also showed me that accessible games do not need to be boring, limited, or treated as an afterthought. With the right design, a simple input method can still support a wide range of game types and experiences.

TactivoPlay builds on that same belief, but with a stronger focus on audio-first play. Instead of asking, “How can this visual game be made accessible?” the better question is, “What kind of game becomes possible when sound is the main way to play?”

Why I Created TactivoPlay

Many games still rely heavily on visuals. Menus, maps, enemies, scores, warnings, instructions, progress, and results are often shown on screen first, with accessibility added later if it is added at all. This can make many games difficult or impossible to enjoy for blind and low-vision players.

TactivoPlay was created to explore a different approach.

The games are being designed around:

• Clear spoken instructions
• Useful sound effects
• Audio cues that help guide the player
• Simple controls
• Game ideas that work without needing visual reactions
• Feedback that tells the player what happened, what is happening, and what to do next
• Fun, repayable gameplay that can be understood through sound

The goal is not just to make games “accessible enough.” The goal is to make games that are genuinely enjoyable as audio games.

TactivoPlay includes a range of different game types, including card games, racing games, memory challenges, music-based games, quizzes, adventures, and more. The first games are currently being shaped through testing and feedback, with the final collection planned to include 20 audio-based games.

Designed With Players, Not Just For Players

One of the most important parts of TactivoPlay is feedback.

The project is currently being developed with input from beta testers. This means players can help shape how the games work, what audio cues are needed, how instructions are delivered, how menus should behave, and what kinds of games should be added next.

This matters because accessibility is not something that should be guessed from a distance. The best ideas often come from the people who will actually use the games. By listening to players, TactivoPlay can become clearer, more useful, and more enjoyable.

The final 10 games in the collection will also be shaped by player suggestions, which means the project can grow in a direction that reflects what players actually want.

My GameMaker Experience

Alongside making games, I have also written several books about game programming and GameMaker.

I am the author of GameMaker Fundamentals: Learn GML Programming to Start Making Amazing Games, published by Apress. This book teaches the core programming skills needed to create games using GameMaker, including important topics such as variables, layers, sprites, levels, GUI design, and publishing games.

I also wrote GameMaker Programming Challenges, a book containing 500 programming challenges designed to help GameMaker users improve their GML knowledge. The challenges cover a wide range of game development topics, from simple beginner tasks to more advanced programming ideas.

Writing these books helped me think deeply about how games are built, how beginners learn programming, and how small game mechanics can be broken down into clear, understandable steps. That same approach is part of TactivoPlay. Each game needs to be simple enough to understand, but interesting enough to enjoy. Each sound needs a purpose. Each control needs to make sense. Each player action needs clear feedback.

My Design Philosophy

My approach to game design is based on a few simple ideas.

Games should be easy to start. Players should not have to fight through confusing menus, unclear instructions, or complicated controls before they can enjoy the experience.

Games should provide clear feedback. When a player presses a button, makes a choice, wins a round, loses a life, catches a fish, answers a question, crashes a car, or collects an item, the game should tell them clearly what happened.

Games should respect different players. Not everyone plays in the same way, at the same speed, or with the same needs. Good design should make room for that.

Games should be fun first. Accessibility should not remove the excitement, challenge, humour, surprise, or satisfaction of playing. It should help more people reach those experiences.

TactivoPlay is built around these ideas.

A Project Built Around Sound

Audio game design is an exciting challenge because sound can do so much more than simply replace visuals. Sound can create atmosphere, direction, tension, timing, rhythm, reward, danger, movement, space, and personality.

A racing game can use engine sounds, lane cues, crashes, countdowns, and finish-line feedback.

A fishing game can use water ambience, splashes, casting sounds, bite alerts, reel tension, and catch sounds.

A quiz game can use spoken questions, answer options, countdown cues, correct and incorrect sounds, and score announcements.

A memory game can use patterns of tones, voices, instruments, or effects.

An adventure game can use footsteps, doors, treasure sounds, character voices, environmental audio, and spoken narration.

This is what makes TactivoPlay exciting to develop. Each game is not just a visual game with the screen removed. Each game is an opportunity to design around listening, memory, timing, reaction, and imagination.

What I Hope TactivoPlay Will Achieve

My hope is that TactivoPlay becomes a fun, useful, and affordable collection of audio games for blind and low-vision players, families, schools, support organisations, accessibility groups, and anyone interested in non-visual play.

I want it to be something people can pick up, understand, enjoy, and share.

I also hope it encourages more discussion about accessible game design. Accessibility should not be treated as a small extra feature hidden in a settings menu. It can be a starting point for creative design. It can lead to new ideas, new mechanics, and new ways to play.

TactivoPlay is still growing, and player feedback will continue to shape the project. Every suggestion, test session, comment, and idea helps make the games better.

Thank You For Supporting TactivoPlay

TactivoPlay is a project built from years of making mini games, experimenting with accessible controls, writing about game development, and listening to what players need.

Thank you for visiting the site, supporting the project, sharing it with others, or becoming part of the beta testing process.

Whether you are a blind or low-vision player, a family member, teacher, accessibility supporter, game developer, or someone who simply believes games should be more inclusive, I hope TactivoPlay gives you something fun, useful, and different to explore.

TactivoPlay is about simple controls, clear sound, accessible fun, and games designed to be played by listening.