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Ask HN: Gaming with one arm

by chrissyb on 10/21/14, 3:48 AM with 50 comments

• by ramLlama on 10/21/14, 5:42 AM

  http://www.benheck.com/controllers/

  Ben Heckendorn is known for very clever console modifications and has forayed into accessible controllers in recent years. He sells a custom made one-handed controller for a few hundred dollars, and this may be worth a look!

• by ericdykstra on 10/21/14, 5:13 AM

  Hearthstone is a great Collectable Card Game type free-to-play game. A lot of the top players were pros in faster-paced games, like DotA and Starcraft, before switching over. It's pretty fun and fairly deep. I've been playing for about a year. Twitch gaming skills peak at a pretty young age (as young as 25 or earlier) anyway, so switching to something slower is, in some ways, a natural progression anyway.

  http://playhearthstone.com

• by xerophyte12932 on 10/21/14, 5:21 AM

  What about Strategy games? They are usually mouse-oriented. i haven't played any in ages, so I don't know what's hot these days. But I have spent countless hours on

  - Age of Empires Series

  - Command and Conquer series (aka Red Alert Series)

  - Stronghold Series

  I am sure there are modern equivalent of these. Isn't starcraft in this genre?

• by yzzxy on 10/21/14, 4:22 AM

  First of all - lots of turn-based or slower games can be played with mouse only. That might not be his interest, however.

  Something like a Razer Naga[1], a mouse with a ton of side buttons, could allow him to play other games with one hand. Probably not FPS though[2]. Other manufacturers will sell similar mice, I just thought of that one first and have no idea if it's the best.

  You could get an IPAC[3] or other arcade control board (I've used X-Arcade kits[4] with success for other projects) and build some kind of custom control surface, maybe using a trackball or joystick and some big arcade buttons.

  Final idea, if you're crazy: Bolt WASD onto a mouse, and wire in as extra mouse buttons or to a keyboard controller.

  [1] http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-epic

  [2] Maybe sensors or pedals for movement? Seems like it would be hard to WASD with the side buttons on the mouse. That way you could get good enough mouse fidelity for aiming and still have enough buttons to do stuff.

  [3] http://www.ultimarc.com/ipac1.html

  [4] http://www.xgaming.com/store/arcade-parts-and-accessories/pr...

• by gfosco on 10/21/14, 5:28 AM

  Some games that only need one hand, or the mouse:

  Nimbus, Desktop Dungeons, Cogs, Osmos, Papers Please, Peggle, Bejeweled, World of Goo, Any poker game..

  Maybes:

  Machinarium, Evil Genius, World of Goo, Civilization V

  With a controller like the G13 there's many more which could be programmed to playable state: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G13-Programmable-Gameboard-Di...

• by timrosenblatt on 10/21/14, 4:31 AM

  I'm sorry to hear what happened to your friend.

  I have no special knowledge on the subject, but I did a quick Google search. I'm sure you might have run across some of these before, but I wanted to share them since I'm pleasantly surprised by the depth of things that are out there.

  * http://www.gamespot.com/articles/modder-creates-single-hande...

  * http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/1/AGS/AGS-bespoke.htm

  * http://kotaku.com/he-built-a-custom-controller-to-help-disab...

  * http://www.game-accessibility.com/index.php?pagefile=motoric

• by sbrother on 10/21/14, 5:29 AM

  I bet you could play League of Legends to a reasonable level with a good mouse with buttons mapped to QWER and voice communication over skype. The only tricky part would be activated items, but maybe you could rig something up with a foot pedal? It would be worth it - LoL has become pretty much the only game I play; it's got incredible depth, and a nearly unlimited skillcap.

• by randomdrake on 10/21/14, 4:26 AM

  There are a lot of really good previous examples of gamers needing alternate configurations that have been popular on the Internet over the years. From gamers that use their head for controls[1], to folks in the same position of having the use of only one hand[2]. Whether it be customized controllers, or just having to re-map a lot of keys or buttons, there doesn't seem to be a barrier to enjoy gaming.

  You should let your friend know that they are not alone and they almost certainly can still have plenty of enjoyable gaming ahead of them.

  [1] - http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/video-games/disabled-gamer-shows...

  [2] - http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/120per/ama_...

• by damonpace on 10/21/14, 5:45 AM

  I commend you for helping your friend. When I was a child, my fathers friend lost his left arm and all but two fingers on his right hand in a train accident. My dad hired him to work around our yard and help out. He eventually taught the guy how to tie his shoes with only two fingers. I'm still impressed by my fathers patience and inventiveness in helping his friend get back on his feet. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen for your friend as well.

  My initial thought is there has got to be some kind of foot pedals for the left handed controls. If you can't find one, take an old keyboard and eliminate all the keys except the ones needed for gaming. Then attach foot pads to the gaming keys he needs. It will probably take some time, but he'll eventually get used to it.

• by kor_ on 10/21/14, 6:54 AM

  Maybe he could try the OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator (if they still sell it). I once tried it and after a few weeks' practise it worked quite well. It uses your brainwaves as input and you can bind different waveforms to certain actions, like pressing a button.

• by cgdangelo on 10/21/14, 4:57 AM

  Sorry about your friend. Good on you for helping him out here.

  Unfortunately I don't know of anything in the way of custom joysticks/setups that might be helpful, but maybe I can offer some reassurance for your friend. Even with the standard input devices (mouse/keyboard, controller) people[1][2] have been able to adapt to very extraordinary circumstances. Anything's possible.

  [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bONUFkP3i8s

  [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83nSodg-HTU

• by wguyman on 10/21/14, 6:45 AM

  I also have one hand and have been gaming on the XBox 360 (and recently the One) for a while. One-handed controllers are hard to come by and a couple links have been posted to this thread.

  Many of them were built for the PS2, so you need an adapter to play with something like the XBOX or Playstation, try http://xim4.com/.

  Also check out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70308014/kings-assembly...

• by cmonroe13 on 10/21/14, 4:35 AM

  If he likes PC gaming, there are a few mice that have several extra buttons that you can bind to keyboard input.

  I recommend the Razer Naga, or Razer Naga Hex. The hex has 6 extra buttons while the original Naga has 12 I believe. Both mice are in the $60-$70 dollar range but are well worth the purchase.

  I stopped in to comment ( my first comment actually ) because games are a big part of my life, and I couldn't imagine a world without games. I'm a game developer by day and player by night. My best wishes go out to him and I hope he continues to keep playing games!

• by VPrime on 10/21/14, 4:22 AM

  Have you looked at the Stinky Board? http://stinkyboard.com/ Should be able to map standard WSAD keys to it, then use mouse for aiming.

• by brudgers on 10/21/14, 1:14 PM

  One of my buds from architecture school is quadriplegic from the neck down. It was an obstacle not a barrier. It would have been less of one if the Kinnect existed.

  He ran 3D Studio by pushing the trackball and hitting keys with a stick gripped in his teeth...and with a pen, he could kick most of the studio's ass sketching - so long as someone set the sketchbook on his lap...he used that as a pickup line with the ladies.

  Your friend is grieving. You can't fix that. But it will work itself out.

• by justinmarsan on 10/21/14, 8:00 AM

  My cousin has lost an arm about 10 years ago and now beats me at every single game he owns on ps3, using the standard controller. For some games he'll use his feet for the triggers, but other than that, he just plays with one hand over the controller, and has gotten really good at it.

  Looking for alternative controllers might be nice, finding some way to make do with the standard one could also help him gain more agility with the one hand he has left, which will be useful for many other things in his life.

• by staunch on 10/21/14, 5:00 AM

  With foot pedals and a mouse and he could probably play FPS games at a high level. It's mostly about the mouse hand.

  There are also mice with a lot of buttons, like the Razer Naga: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004AM5RAM

  Voice commands in games is becoming real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsuTiuRaog

• by warriar on 10/21/14, 7:26 AM

  I hope hes right handed.

  For PC FPS i would try a mouse with a lot of buttons on the left so you could put wasd on 4 buttons on the left so he could control the shooter enirely by mouse.

  Depending on how much use he has with his left arm he could also probably build a simple custom Joystick to replace wasd movement keys...

  Also i would get some One-Handed Keyboards for fast Typing with one Hand.

  Hope he gets adjusted quickly!

• by jiri on 10/21/14, 7:28 AM

  I hearded about joystick-like device that can be controlled with your feet. Never tried that, but it could solve wasd movement controls for your friend and other actions can be surely mapped on something like Razr Naga.

  I couldn't google any of this device, but I saw one in university lab. It was circular board - much larger than usual pedal-size with 4 springs at edges. It may be possible that it was custom built though.

• by failrate on 10/21/14, 4:28 AM

  A coworker in a different department is missing his left arm above the elbow, and one of his team built him a set of foot switches both to do his job as well as to participate in gaming nights. A gamer mouse with lots of buttons is also included. Then, macros to change the contexts of what the different buttons and foot switches do, and he's able to recover a significant amount of functionality.

• by kubiiii on 10/21/14, 5:44 AM

  Pretty much any rts even if keyboards have practical shortcuts. Some rpg too. I'm playing shadowrun dragonfall with only the mouse, awesome game (rpg with turn based combats, bargain price). But its very cool from you to try to come out with a solution for your friend. It would be useful mostly for fps shooters or rpg.

• by NamTaf on 10/21/14, 7:21 AM

  for FPS, I'd be interested if you could recreate the WSAD setup for moving with foot pedals? Your feet can be quite dexterious, just most of us never use them for more than walking. I'm thinking something like using the whole foot to control the buttons, not toes. Something sort of like how a kick drum works maybe, but with two degrees of freedom for the heel and toe?

  edit: I mean, hell, dance dance revolution sort of does that already and the savants that play that can do crazy speed with their feet.

  There was a girl at my school a couple of years above me who was born with no arms. She could write reasonably well, feed herself, etc. via her feet by using her toes like fingers. I was always impressed with just how able she was. She ended up getting her drivers license and everything with a steering wheel that she can use with her feet.

• by robin_reala on 10/21/14, 6:20 AM

  A typical FPS control setup maps one hand to movement, and the other to observation and actions. If he can work out a control scheme that moves actions to the movement hand (i.e. Q and E on top of WASD if he’s a PC gamer) then observation controls could be moved to the position recognition of a VR helmet?

• by thethomaseffect on 10/21/14, 10:01 AM

  There's a lot of portable games that are stylus/touch-driven. Kid Icarus came with a cradle for the 3DS and if he likes RPGs the recent Final Fantasy Theatrhythm would work great. It supports a one-handed mode for the buttons too.

• by bowmanb on 10/21/14, 4:37 AM

  Maybe the Razer Orbweaver[1] can help. Best of luck.

  [1] http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-orbw...

• by dragonbonheur on 10/22/14, 4:56 AM

  Get him an Emotiv Headset http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs2GDSYYCoA

• by Jam0864 on 10/21/14, 4:23 AM

  Depends what he wants to play. Sim racing could work, as it's mostly foot control with some arm movement for the wheel. Can be done with one arm and one leg if need be.

• by iaw on 10/21/14, 4:13 AM

  How much of his left arm did he lose? (eg, is there a stump with enough motion that a rig could be devised for d-pad control?)

  What type of games does he play?

• by CmonDev on 10/21/14, 8:08 AM

  Oculus + Joystick + Eve Valkyrie could work.

• by zalzane on 10/21/14, 5:12 AM

  recommend world of tanks with a footpad set up for wasd