Modern boardgames: a colorimetric analysis from the point of view of color deficiencies

Color vision deficiency is a condition that impairs one's ability to see color or distinguish between different colors. In Europe, around 8.8% of the male population and 0.4% of the female population are color deficient. When playing tabletop games or board games, color blindness can prevent players from distinguishing between different game elements, leading to a reduced enjoyable gaming experience. Color serves two purposes in board games: aesthetic and gameplay. The gameplay aspect is more critical as different colors are typically used to differentiate among game elements with different meanings or belonging to different players. While it is important for a color deficient player to fully enjoy the aesthetic design of the game, their difficulties to play the game can render it useless. Some games on the market are difficult or almost impossible for color deficient people to play, forcing them to come up with homemade solutions to play the game. This study aims to explore the use of color in various board games by measuring the reflectance spectra of the many colored components of the game, such as board areas, cards, pieces, and other game resources. The spectra are acquired using a spectroradiometer and are then used to calculate the CIE xyY coordinates to determine whether the colors of each game fall or not on the daltonic confusion lines in the CIE chromaticity diagram. This paper presents the preliminary results of this investigation.