Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was released on mobile earlier this year by Ubisoft, following a console and PC release in 2024. The console and PC release included a range of accessibility features on launch which were also added to in updates to the game following its release.
The mobile version on iOS [18+ Age Rating] and Android [PEGI 16] includes these features, but also includes some additional options to aid players using touchscreen controls, many of which can also be used by players using a connected game controller. On loading the game, it does ‘recommend playing with a game controller’. Many mobile devices can support a range of standard game controllers as well as some adapted and adaptive controllers, like the Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC) on iOS and Android.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a side scrolling action-adventure platformer (featuring Metroidvania elements) and requires the use of many of the inputs on a game controller. These are often used in combination and also in response to enemy attacks or for timing jumps when traversing and platforming, whether using the touchscreen controls or a connected controller.
Some of the optional accessibility features, such as Auto Potion, Auto Parry and Auto Hit, may aid players in reducing some of the controls. These and others, like Game Speed, Platforming Assist and Wall Grab Hold, can also reduce or remove some of the reaction times required.
In this post, we will introduce these and some of the other features that relate to the motor accessibility of the game. Some of the optional features from the original game, have been made default options on mobile, whilst some others will need to be opted in to, by changing settings in the menus or set-up screens.
The settings mentioned can all be used with either touch controls or a connected controller, unless otherwise stated. We will also mention when a setting is exclusive to the mobile version of the game. Information on these accessibility features, as well as features related to visuals and audio, can also be found on the Ubisoft site.
In the sections below, we will cover some of these individual settings grouped together within the menus or set-up screens that they appear in. Some of these settings can also be found within other menus and set-up screens, such as the ‘Gameplay’ menu, but we will go through them in the Difficulty, Controls Playstyles, Accessibility, and the Customise Controls menus and set-up screens.
Difficulty Menu
You are offered a difficulty level on starting a new game. You can also change the difficulty during the game from the pause menu by going to System, selecting Options, and then scrolling across to Difficulty. Some of the difficulty settings changed will only be updated once you next respawn.
The difficulty screen at the start of a new game is titled Fight Difficulty as the difficulty settings are all related to combat. You can choose a difficulty mode preset between Rookie, Fighter, Warrior, Hero and Immortal. Fighter is exclusive to the mobile version of the game. At the start of a new game, you can also adjust the individual settings within these difficulty presets, by selecting ‘Custom’ difficulty. The video at the bottom of this section shows the settings changed with each of the presets.
You will see various adjustable elements that make up this difficulty below, such as Enemy Damage, Enemy Health, Boss Health, Parry Difficulty and the Dodge Window. You can then adjust each of these to customise the level of challenge you would like. We will go through these settings, below:
Enemy Damage (0.1—6.0) – Adjusting this slider (in increments of 0.1) will change the amount of damage an enemy deals when you are hit.
Environmental Damage (0.1—3.0) – Adjusting this slider (in increments of 0.1) affects the amount of damage dealt by environmental elements such as traps.
Enemy Health (0.1—6.0) – Adjusting this slider (in increments of 0.1) affects the amount of health enemies have.
Boss Health (0.1—6.0) – Adjusting this slider (in increments of 0.1) affects the amount of health main bosses have. This is one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game.
Parry Difficulty (Hard/Normal/Easy/Very Easy) – Changing this alters how precise timing needs to be to carry out a successful parry.
Dodge Window (Long/Normal) – If ‘Long’ is selected you will have more time after dodging during which you are invulnerable for, compared with ‘Normal’.
Building Anthra allows you to use Anthra Surges against your enemies. Under Difficulty, there are some options for how these work. These are:
Anthra Depletion Rate (Off/Slow/Medium/Fast/Very Fast) – This affects how quickly your Anthra gauge depletes.
Anthra Gain (0.5—2.0) – This affects how quickly the gauge fills.
Anthra Loss Rate From Damage (0.0—2.0) – This affects the amount of Anthra lost through damage.
Refill Anthra (On/Off) – Turning this on allows you to refill your gauge when interacting with a Wak-Wak tree when respawning.
Above is a video going through the Difficulty options on starting a new game and then looking at the options available in the custom menu (these Difficulty options are also available during a game from the System menu).
Controls Playstyles (Presets)
On first starting a new game, after you choose your Difficulty setting, you are then given three Controls Playstyles options to choose from. These are PC/Console Experience, Mobile Experience or Casual Experience.
These change how some of the controls are assisted and whether any accessibility features are enabled. For instance, choosing PC/Console means none of the control options are assisted. Mobile Experience has some assisted controls and Casual Experience has more assists on, reduces boss health and also slows the game speed down to 90%. These can all be customised further on this screen or via the Options menu once you are in the game.
The video above shows which settings are affected by choosing each of the three choices of Controls Playstyles at the start of a new game.
Accessibility Menu
The accessibility settings are found by pausing the game and navigating to the System menu and then selecting the Accessibility sub-menu. We will go through the settings below and the options available.
Game Speed (75—100%) – This slider adjusts the global game speed. It affects your character (Sargon), enemies, and all obstacles. You can adjust it in increments of 5% from 100% down to 75% speed. This will give you more time to react in combat, but also when platforming, too. This is one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game.
Potion Trigger (Manual/Semi Auto Potion/Full Auto Potion) – In ‘Manual’ you use a button input to take a potion. With ‘Semi-Auto Potion’ you can still use a button input or you will automatically take it when you have low health. With the ‘Full Auto Potion’ option, you will automatically take a potion when you have low health, too, but, with this option selected, you cannot use a button input to take it. This is one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game.
Parry Input (Tap Left/Button/Auto Parry) – Leaving this setting as ‘Button’ will require a well timed button input to parry against enemy attacks. Using ‘Auto Parry’ you will automatically parry if you let go of all inputs (timing is still required to release all inputs). Choosing ‘Tap Left’ only applies to touch users and will put a large UI on-screen on the left-hand side that can be tapped to parry instead of using an on-screen button. ‘Auto Parry’ is one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game. ‘Tap Left’ is also one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game and, of course, touch users. There is a video of ‘Auto Parry’ in use at the bottom of the ‘Customise Controls’ section below. NB – If using a button or ‘Tap Left’ for parrying, you can increase or decrease the window for parrying in the Difficulty menu by adjusting the Parry Difficulty option.
Wall Grab Hold (On/Off) – If you turn this on, you will not slide down a wall during a wall grab. This means that you do not need to press the jump input again as quickly, to jump from a wall before sliding and falling. This is one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game. An example of using the Wall Grab Hold option is shown in the video at the bottom of this section.
Melee Targeting Assist (On/Off)- When on, this will automatically turn your character towards the enemy when attacking them.
Aim Assist Strength (Strong/Normal) – Using ‘Strong’ will increase the aim assist when targeting enemies using certain weapons and powers.
Platforming Assist (On/Off) – When turned on, this will give you the option to go through portals to get past sections of platforming gameplay. Ubisoft state, ‘Please note that you will only be able to skip platforming sections that will help you progress in the main story.’ An example of using the Platforming Assist option is shown at 1:47 in the video at the bottom of this section.
Auto Unfreeze (On/Off) – When on, you will automatically shake off the Frost Effect. Removing the need for quick button presses to do this.
Mutidirectional Parry (On/Off) – When on, this means that you do not have to manually turn your character to face an enemy in order to carry out a parry action.
There is another option, like Auto Parry and Auto Potion, that can remove the need for an input to carry out the action. This is the Auto Hit setting. This is not found in the Accessibility sub-menu, however, and can only be done via the controls customisation screens (Pause>System>Customise Touch Controls>Settings Cog). Please see the ‘Controls Customisation’ section below for more information on this setting.
The video above shows how some of the above options (Game Speed, Wall Grab Hold and Platforming Assist) affect response times required in gameplay and how controls are used during platforming sections.
Customise Controls Menus
You can access controls layout options for either a game controller or touch input controls by pausing the game and navigating to the System menu and selecting the button under the controller or mobile device graphic. You can’t access these from the main menu so you need to start the game and then pause it to find them.
Customise Controls (Game Controller):
If using a game controller connected to your iOS or Android device, you can remap controls from the System menu by selecting ‘Customise Controls’.
On this screen, you can swap the stick inputs between for Movement and Camera actions, or use the D-pad for either of these instead. You can swap other actions between the digital buttons or trigger inputs. Some actions will be displayed as ‘Unknown Ability’ until you unlock them.
From the System > Controls sub-menu, you can also customise a few other game controller settings. Here, you can choose to invert X and Y axes independently, for both movement and camera inputs.
Controllers like an XAC (pictured above with an iPad Pro) are supported on many iOS and Android devices. Within Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on mobile, controllers supported by the device should also be compatible with the game itself. Please note, controllers like the XAC may need to be up to date with their firmware to be compatible (e.g. via an Xbox console or using the Xbox Accessories app on Windows PC).
Customise Mobile Controls (Touch Controls):
If using touch, you can customise these from the System menu, too, by selecting ‘Customise Mobile Controls’ and then ‘Edit Controls’. On first loading the game, and starting your first save, a screen appears showing the touch controls and a button to ‘customise controls’ can be selected, which goes to the same area. Please note, Ubisoft state, ‘Some sensitive areas do not allow access to Mobile controls customisation’, so there may be times where these options are labelled as ‘currently unavailable.’
Button, Joystick and D-pad Positions/Scale – In this area, you can adjust both the position and scale of the on-screen buttons, and the virtual joystick. You can also adjust the transparency of each of them individually. You can save up to three different layout profiles. Some onscreen buttons will show a question mark icon (‘?’) until you unlock these currently unknown abilities.
You can also choose to have an on-screen D-pad, if preferred, instead of the joystick. If using a D-pad, you can customise various elements related to the size and shape of the inputs. The D-pad is always in the fixed position on screen where you choose to set it and does not follow your finger around the screen.
If using this input as the joystick option, you can also choose whether it is ‘Dynamic’ and whether it is ‘Pulling’, or not. When ‘Dynamic’ is on, this means the joystick will appear wherever you put you finger on the left side of the screen. When off, it stays where you chose it to be positioned on set-up and can only be used by touching it in this position. It will remain on screen at all times with this setting.
If using Dynamic mode, with ‘Pulling’ on, this means that the joystick will follow your finger around the left side of the screen when moving beyond its boundary. When Pulling is off, the joystick will appear wherever you place your finger on the left side of the screen, but it will stay in that exact position until you remove your finger from the screen and place it back on somewhere different.
The video above shows the Customise Mobile Controls screen for adjusting the position and scale of buttons and the joystick/D-pad.
Auto Hit (On/Off) – If you select the settings cog on this screen, you can access more controls- related settings. These include three that are also found in the Accessibility sub-menu. These are Wall Grab Hold, Potion Trigger and Parry Input . However, also included with these is Auto Hit, which is exclusively found in this menu:
When on, Auto Hit will ‘trigger attacks automatically within melee range of enemies’, so you do not need to use an input for attacking enemies with a melee. This is one of the settings exclusive to the mobile version of the game. Whilst designed for touch input and only accessible within this mobile controls (touch) customisation screen, if you turn it on, this feature will still carry out Auto Hit actions when playing with a controller. The Auto Hit option also appears when editing the Melee Attack button within this screen. You need to enter this screen using touch in order to turn on the Auto Hit option to then use it with a controller when back in the game.
Within this screen you also have a ‘gym’ area to test your controls and make tweaks from the options available in this area.
Above is a video demonstrating the Auto Hit and Auto Parry options in the gym and then some in-game combat against the first boss in the game itself. Please note additional controls to use in combat will be added (and needed) as the game progresses.
We hope that this post has been a useful introduction to using some of the features in the mobile version of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, that can be used to reduce the number of controls and also some of the reaction times required to play.
There is a playable demo available to test these features within the prologue to the game, which includes some combat, platforming and a boss battle: Google Play Link / App Store Link. As this demo is the start of the game, seeking out and watching some gameplay videos showing footage deeper into the game may be worthwhile to get an idea of the platforming and combat gameplay when this becomes more challenging.
For more information on accessibility features in games, please use the ‘Games‘ category on the site. And for more information on accessible controllers, please use the ‘Equipment‘ category.
SpecialEffect’s Developer Resource:
For video examples of how developers have improved the motor accessibility of their specific games, please visit https://specialeffectdevkit.info/
To see examples of how other games have offered automated actions like the Auto Potion, Auto Parry and Auto Hit options in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on mobile, please see module 7.3 Automatic Digital Actions under the ‘Simplification’ topic in the SpecialEffect DevKit.
To see examples of how other games have reduced or removed the need for quick or precisely timed movements, like the Game Speed, Parry Difficulty and Dodge Window settings do, please see 6.4 Timing Elements under the Assistance topic.
Finally, to see more examples of how other developers have assisted players using touch by allowing them to customise the size and position of on-screen controls, please see module 6.5 Analog Action Assists.