On this page, you can find in a single place a comprehensive overview of all the important information and links for the action-adventure game which redefines what true blind accessibility in modern videogames means.
You can quickly and conveniently skip between the various parts of the page using the headings, or the navigation links above. Below in the footer, you can find links to the social networks and other important channels for the game.
The game was released on October 4, 2022 on Steam for Windows PC, and in April of 2023 also on an alternate distribution platform called GOG (see the footer of this page). The game can be controlled not only with the keyboard, or keyboard and mouse (if you have at least some vision left), but also using a controller.
The Tourney at the Bear Rock story expansion
On the 4th of November, 2024, a story expansion called Tourney at the Bear Rock was released on both Steam and GOG. You can find the links to its page on both respective platforms in the footer of this page. The detailed introduction to the accessibility features, which can be found in the Materials for download section, has been expanded with three new audio tutorials - archery, jousting and stealth.
Audio trailer
They say that a single picture is worth a thousand words, and the same is true even for audio! Listen to the exclusive audio trailer created specifically for you, the first of its kind, which will reveal even more about the game.
Game description
Shadows over Silesia is a dark action adventure game with fantasy elements set in real medieval Europe. With true historical events in the background, you'll be facing intricate puzzles, challenging battles and cunning stealth. You will come across possessed devil worshipers, sexual demons and beasts from hell, as well as creatures well-known from European mythology.
Dark fantasy story
Europe is in the middle of religious upheaval and many preachers predict that the end of the world is near. The year is 1428 and the Hussites have just set out on their Silesian campaign. These heretics appear to be the biggest threat in the kingless country. But true evil of a completely different kind is lurking nearby and it does not intend to engage in religious disputes.
You will experience everything from the point of view of the two main characters. Hynek, a grumpy Hussite hetman who doesn't hesitate to swear or mess around with anything, and Lothar, a Hospitaller knight, a man of good education and manners who stands alongside his brethren in the front line of the Silesian defense. Each has their own motivations and views of the world around them, and different equipment and abilities. Their fates will soon become intertwined. Will they face one another, weapon in hand, or forge a fragile alliance to stand shoulder to shoulder against a far worse enemy?
Challenging puzzles
The original puzzles you will come across on your dangerous journey will most definitely be tough. Classic adventure games of the 1990s were a big inspiration. You will have to take advantage of your surroundings, look for objects, obtain information, and solve puzzles or encoded messages. Some problems can be solved in multiple ways, or they can be cleverly worked around.
Sneaking in the shadows
Sometimes you'll have to blend into the shadows and sneak past enemies to avoid being detected. Following their patrol routes and habits will help you find the best path.
Tough combat
The combat system is easy to understand but it takes practice to fully master it. Remember one thing: being outnumbered is a problem! If three or more opponents attack you at the same time, you will die! The key is to take advantage of their mistakes, wait for the right moment, and then attack. You will face not just knights, villagers and robbers, but also various supernatural beings who are not to be underestimated.
Mature content description
The game includes nudity, rude speech, extreme violence, sexual acts, sexual content, non-consensual sex, suicide and alcohol.
Important notice
This is not an audiogame! The game contains hardcore mechanics, and can be very difficult. It may be challenging to master it for players who have never encountered any PC or console videogames.
Accessibility features overview
1428: Shadows over Silesia will be fully accessible to you. This makes it the first game after The Last of Us series, and the first ever on PC, to bring full blind support to an adventure of this scale. We're not talking about just text narration or some kind of rudimentary navigation here. The game brings all-new revolutionary elements that will allow you to enjoy a full experience not only of the story, dialogue and environment exploration, but also of stealth scenes and combat, including large scale battles! Although the accessibility in The Last of Us is a tremendous success and won numerous awards, Shadows over Silesia takes everything to a whole new level never seen before.
The following is a summary of the accessibility features the game offers you:
Full narration of all in-game text
Including pop-up hints, character properties, active quests, journal entries and inventory
Closed captions in cutscenes
Subtitle narration for non-dubbed languages
The ability to skip forward and backward in text
Support for NVDA and MS SAPI
Special text descriptions of the environment
All important locations have their own text descriptions, so that even you can enjoy the game's dark atmosphere while receiving additional information you would otherwise miss
Advanced navigational features
Navigation to important story points, characters and even custom points that can be added on demand in an unlimited quantity
Reporting of the remaining distance to the destination
Compass narration as well as a coordinate system
Assistance with turning towards objects or characters
Sonar
A revolutionary feature that will finally allow you to freely explore and navigate the game world thanks to auditory indication of walls and impassable obstacles
The sonar also announces friendly and enemy characters and determines their locations
Indication of traps or destructible barriers
A large number of audio cues
Indication of objects and interesting interactions. Many of these provide additional sounds to let you know what's around you the moment you first hear it
Indication of the beginning and end of cutscenes, low health, leaving an area, and many other situations
Warnings about enemies
Lots of audio cues in combat, so that you can be as situationally aware as possible, and can react quickly and confidently
Optional adjustments of certain mechanics
Accessible combat, including large scale battles
Accessible stealth that maintains the atmosphere as well as difficulty
More time to successfully complete timed events
And a great deal of other extra goodies
Fully remappable controls, even on a controller
The option to receive sonar feedback not just via audio but also as controller vibrations
The entire user interface, including all menus and dialogs, completely accessible with both keyboard and controller
The possibility to lock camera rotation so that it's always facing in the direction of the playable character; this makes movement and controls easier for totally blind players and also enables strafing (sidestepping)
The option to configure sound to play as though in first person view. You will thus be literally in the center of the events and will be able to hear every single murmur and whisper even better, although the game is visually displayed in third person view
The option to have accessibility audio cues displayed also visually
Separate sliders for the game's master volume as well as the individual volumes of music, character voices, user interface sounds and the accessibility audio cues themselves
A wide array of graphics settings
The possibility to increase or decrease the size of the user interface as needed
System requirements
Minimum
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Operating system: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11
Processor: Intel i3-3220
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics card: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 or AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870
Hard drive: 8 GB of free space
Sound card: Integrated
If you want to use the text narration feature, you will need the NVDA screen reader or an MS SAPI compatible voice.
The NVDA screen reader for the text narration feature
Tips for text narration
If you use the NVDA screen reader, we recommend enabling the so called sleep mode after starting the game with the keystroke NVDA+shift+S in the desktop keyboard layout, or NVDA+shift+Z in the laptop keyboard layout. Otherwise, NVDA may not be able to say certain information while you are holding down a key, especially if you use the arrow keys for movement, regardless of NVDA's configuration. This issue does not occur with a controller.
Without the NVDA screen reader running, text narration is not activated automatically. If you are only using a SAPI compatible voice, you need to manually activate text narration in one of the following ways (necessary only once):
The first time you start the game, a spoken prompt will also play to activate the text narration feature. To do so, simply press the E key before the main menu loads. If you are unable to press it in time, restart the game and try again.
If you are able to use Steam with a screen reader, you can also set a custom startup parameter for the game. This is an alternate, backup method, meant only for situations like if you accidentally turned off text narration that was previously enabled, for instance.
Open Steam using the desktop or Start menu shortcut.
If Steam doesn't launch into the Library section, select it, or switch to the Library directly from the context menu of the Steam icon in the system tray.
Using the screen review or mouse movement features of your screen reader, right-click the image labeled "1428: Shadows over Silesia".
In the same way, find the Properties item and left-click it.
The next screen will read like a normal web page. Enter the following text in the edit box for the launch options (it is the only one in the window) -tts
There is no visible OK, Save, Done, etc. button in the window; just close it.
Anyone can try to translate all the text in the game into their native language if they want to and if that language doesn't already have text localization. Likewise, you can replace any of the accessibility audio cues with your own if any of the default ones don't suit you. In this case, the audio cue overview in the game will also link to the new sound.
Assuming you haven't changed the default location where newly acquired games from Steam are installed, you can find the relevant game folder here:
There are two more subfolders here, AccessibilitySignals and Translations.
After each change to a translation or the audio cues, the game must be quit and restarted.
Creating a new translation
In the Translations folder, you can create a new text file for the language you want to translate. Look at the format and file names of existing languages, and do the same for the new file so that the game understands it. You can also test the resulting translation as you go. Any language file in the correct format that is located in the Translations folder is immediately recognized by the game, so you can switch to it at any time by selecting Language from the Settings menu and the Game submenu. If you want to share your translation with other players, contact us using one of the methods listed in the footer of this page.
Modifying the accessibility audio cues
In the AccessibilitySignals folder, there is a file called "signals", with no extension. It is a plain text file that you can open in any text editor. This lists the names of all the audio files for the accessibility cues the game uses, each on a separate line. If you put an MP3 into the AccessibilitySignals folder with the appropriate name for any of these cues as listed in the signals file, the game will start using this new sound.