Keyboard-only browser games at NoCharge
Which games have a complete keyboard path, how NoCharge verifies it, what Pass the Picture's exception is, and how to test one yourself.
Bottom line: 23 of 24 NoCharge games have a documented, code-verified complete keyboard path — start, every move, restart, and completion all work with Tab, arrows, and Enter/Space. Pass the Picture is the honest exception: drawing strokes need pointer or touch, so its core loop is not keyboard-complete even though its color and undo controls are.
What “keyboard-complete” means — verified
The catalog flag hasKeyboardComplete is true only when the game’s core loop is operable by keyboard alone, checked against game code (native focusable elements, roving tabindex, and explicit key handlers), not inferred from guide prose. The registry-facts page publishes the current count (see Registry facts).
Keyboard games in short
- Grids: Minesweeper (arrows + Enter, F to flag, chord on Enter), Nonogram (F fill, X empty), Lights Out (arrows + Enter), Beacon Lattice (arrows, 1–4 types, U undo).
- Words: Hangman (type any letter), Word Tile Rush (focused tiles + Submit), Word Search (cursor + Enter), Word Tile Rush.
- Logic: Mini Sudoku 6×6 and Sudoku 9×9 (arrows, 1–9, U/C/R), Twenty Forty-Eight (arrows/WASD).
- Cards: Klondike and FreeCell (Tab-navigable stock, waste, tableau, foundations; D/U shortcuts).
- Pass & Play: Tic-Tac-Toe, Dots & Boxes, Four in a Row, Reversi, Last Token, Gomoku, Nine Men’s Morris — all with arrow navigation plus the handoff Continue button.
Focus rules
NoCharge boards use roving tabindex: one cell is in the tab order, arrows move it, and the focused cell is announced by row and column. Focus outlines are visible and :focus-visible is not suppressed. The shared shell’s Game Mode keeps the same order while collapsing labels to icons.
Limits
- Keyboard-complete does not mean tested with every assistive technology, keyboard layout, or OS. The accessibility position states the test matrix.
- Pass the Picture’s core loop requires a pointer or touch; the guide says so rather than claiming a keyboard path that does not exist.
Next step
Open Minesweeper and play a beginner board with arrows and Enter only. The keyboard-friendly collection lists every qualifying game.