Toy giant Mattel is gearing up to make 80% of its popular game brands more inclusive to players who are color blind by the end of 2024—and the target for the following year is 90%.  

Color differentiation has traditionally been an important component in board and card game design, so the initiative is significant. But it should help Mattel’s products appeal to an estimated 350 million people worldwide who experience some form of color vision deficiency. 

Multiple versions of UNO will be affected, as will other family-friendly titles like Tumblin’ Monkeys, Phase 10 playing cards and strategy board game Blokus. Working with experts in color blindness and also consulting with individuals who experience the condition themselves, Mattel’s designers have developed visual and tactile clues that help players differentiate game components without relying on color. For instance, UNO cards will now feature distinct symbols for each color, and Blokus pieces will be shaped with different patterns corresponding to specific colors. 

Mattel Games plans to donate some of its new color blind games to local YMCA camps across the US this summer. And free updates will also roll out for app versions of popular card games including UNO! Mobile (played by more than 300 million users since launching in 2019) and Skip-Bo Mobile. 

This is not the first time the toymaker has made moves to include color blind players. Back in 2017, it launched a special edition of UNO in partnership with ColorADD, featuring the organization’s universal symbols for the color blind community.

Featured image: Mattel showcases how symbols, patterns and tactile clues will be added to popular games, ensuring that color is not the only way to differentiate between cards and other components.