Find Your Words feels like an educational experience hidden inside a cozy, friendly simulation. Yes, we’re watching our new avatar make friends. We’re perhaps taking photos. There’s a puzzle element to learning how to communicate with a binder that gradually gains more words we can use to talk. But what’s even more important is while we are enjoying the experience, we’re being taught about accessibility and learning what it could be like for someone different than ourselves to interact with the world in a warm and welcoming way.
Find Your Words starts out simply. We pick an avatar for ourself, then get dropped off at Camp Pals. Our character’s parent explains that they’re a little concerned about attending, as they’re nonverbal. However, the head of the camp Ian immediately offers a way to make them feel more comfortable. There’s a binder with words! We pick the ones that express the sentiment or request we have, then show it to other campers or individuals to make ourselves heard. From there, we can check the bulletin board and interact with people to take part in different activities to build our vocabulary and enjoy our time in the great outdoors.
To start, Find Your Words is incredibly accessible. We start simply with a few words that feature both images and the word on them. I loved this, since it showed a sense of accessibility and means of ensuring anyone seeing it could discern the meaning of the cards. Everything is divided into certain helpful tags, with core ones like greeting, assistance, and question words such as “hi,” “where,” and “help” in one area, then people, places, and things in their own tabs.
Capybara Games also doesn’t make Find Your Words too troublesome when it comes to working out statements. As long as you’ve clicked or pressed the button on the icons to make the one or two of them appear in the display section, order doesn’t matter. People will understand what you’re trying to say as long as the one or two necessary words are present.
I also appreciated that Find Your Words doesn’t just limit gameplay to question and answer fetch quests. Yes, sometimes it will involve going up to people and asking them for responses. Ollie’s request for dance moves falls into that category. However, there’s also some light riddle solving with the scavenger hunt and bird watching can almost feel like a hidden object challenge once you acquire the binoculars and task.
The only real downside is that Find Your Words is such a small and short experience. The seven quests aren’t too difficult to accomplish. Especially since you can be working on all of them at once as you talk to folks. None of the assignments are too challenging. I really only had trouble finding one bird. I’d say you could probably be done in about an hour.
But in a way, I think that also benefits Find Your Words in some way. Due to the nature of it, I could see this being a great experience for kids. It’s executed in such a way that they may see it as a game first-and-foremost and only along the way realize they’ve learned about augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies and devices. It’s presented in such a positive, encouraging, and charming way that it never feels like we’re being taught a lesson, even though everything about it is enlightening and encouraging. Especially since it is also free.
Find Your Words is a charming game that gets you thinking about communicating, with conversations sometimes feeling like puzzles. At the same time, it might offer a window into a different kind of life. This title could get you thinking about accessibility and how easy to might be to reach out to others and how easily it could be to connect to other beyond the more typical methods of communication.
Find Your Words is available for PCs.