ADHD and Video Games (Ft. James Stephanie Sterling) - Access-Ability 

aht aht aht, scroll back up. you're not done watching and you're going to read a comment and get distracted and have to go back 30 seconds and relisten to the thing you missed

Okay there's something really funny about how the Not So Breaking News Alert scrolling text was enough to distract my ADHD brain and make me lose track of what Jim was saying

I have ADHD and I feel as though it has impacted me massively. I make a lot of impulsive purchases with micro-transactions and pre-orders. I constantly switch which games I am playing and struggle to stay and focus on a single game and when people ask me about games I have played before, I struggle to remember a majority of the moments in the game.

I have ADHD and BLESS YOU for having subtitles that aren't just auto generated. APD is a pain in the rear and this is fantastic.

As someone with really intense ADHD: Listening to Jim talk about how easy it is to set down a game for a bit and just completely forget just it is you were doing over Hollow Knight footage, a game I was ready to give a 10/10 to till the precise moment I did exactly that, felt more than a little relatable.

Coincidentally..... I got distracted by my cats halfway in and forgot I was even watching this video. 💀

Jim basically summed up my whole ADHD gaming experience

Huh, so this is why ADHD is trending all of a sudden. As someone with ADHD, it's great to more discussions happening about it.

Being able to replay cutscenes, or being able to rewind them, would be a phenomenal help. One of the reasons why I like Code Vein is the ability to replay cutscenes in the hot springs. It was a big help when I missed one or two major plot points because I spaced out during the dialogue.

Me, with subtitles on, spacing out during the Hades bit Video: immediately brings up subtitles and spacing out after Hades segment is over Me: heck

I have autism and there is a bit of cross over between ADHD symptoms and autistic ones. So a lot of this is relatable. Thanks for pointing these issues out.

its probably too much of a tangent for the video but i think its worth mentioning that video games are proven to relieve stress in folks with adhd. the way a game provides structures, goals and mental/physical ways of engaging to produce results is enough to completely engage my mind and helps to overcome the chronic stress that adhd causes in my life

Big, undefined tasks becoming impossible to even start is super relatable. As well as “I can’t remember any right now, but I remember them all doing it,” at 7:53-I’ve said this so many times, and it’s frustrating because not being able to cite any examples makes you much less persuasive :p

"there are games that offer frequent reminders of things you can do. I can't remember any right now, but I remember them all doing it" Sounds like my whole goddamn life 😂

The biggest issue I struggle with when it comes to ADHD and gaming, is playing a game long past the point where I wanted to stop. It's especially bad in open worlds or games with open-ended goals. I'd love to see games with logical stopping/break points or the option to set timers or reminders to take a break after completing quests or objectives

I can relate to most/all of what was said here. I am, however, more willing to stick with long RPGs and games with "slow openings" than others. Side note, as a fellow ND person, at 14:24 it was actually rather distracting trying to listen to Stephanie and read the slow scrolling text at the same time. I failed to split my focus between them, and ended up watching that part twice, once to listen to Stephanie, and the other the read the text.

The fact that one of the clips in the background literally reminded me I got halfway through a game 3 months ago and have forgotten to carry on with since is fucking hilarious.

the number of times I restarted Majora's Mask from the beginning because I kept forgetting where I was, what I'd been doing, what I needed to do… I've resigned myself to never beating it lmao. I hyperfixate on games really easily, which helps my memory and focus, but any kind of grinding or excessive repetition really throws that off.

Oh also as a note, in the last section having a scrolling banner with different information on was super confusing to my little ADHD brain while trying to listen to what Jim is says

I have ADHD and I didn't realize how bad it could be for others. My long term memory is very good and for the most part I'm impeccable at remembering plots of games, shows, books even years spent away from them. I'm a big VN fan so uninterrupted blocks of text aren't the worst for me, but they can be aggravating on some days. My biggest issue is short term memory, I get lost easily and am very reliant on maps. I suppose all of that came from years of training my brain to remember things. I've gotten worse as I've aged but my long term is good, while my short term is absolute shit. I struggle to hold thoughts a lot. I've tried to be a writer but focusing on things has been so hard. What I'm saying is Jim Sterling is a goddamn inspiration, I can't imagine making a career like they have with worse ADHD than me. I feel like a lazy piece of shit.

This made me question if i have ADHD, because all of this sounds very familiar.

At 44, I was finally diagnosed with ADD. While my case is not as serious as Jim describes, I deal with those same struggles to a significant degree. A lot of these suggestions are areas I greatly appreciate in games, and it's interesting seeing them presented in that context.

As someone with ADHD, I can say that I don't necessarily demand quest pointers or gps lines for every game (I do demand maps, though). Sometimes it's just a matter of good game design. Take Morrowind for example. It didn't have quest markers, and it came with a lot of the old school jank of its time, but there was one element that I really loved about it that I wish would be used more often: the journal. The Morrowind journal was a far cry from later Bethesda games or any rpg quest menu for that matter. In fact, it was more than just a menu, It was a built in encyclopedia. Whenever you bring up a certain topic in conversation with another character, your player character would write down what they learned in the journal and you can look that topic up in a list of alphabetically sorted topics that you could conveniently access whenever you needed a refresher, and It also recorded quests. In skyrim, a quest description would say "Go fetch this wrist watch" and you would just mindlessly follow the quest pointer. In morrowind, the characters in the game would give you directions, and these directions would be copied onto the journal verbatim. While this still means you need to read, the directions would always be clear and concise enough that you would rarely even need a quest marker and it wouldn't be too hard to keep track of each step. It also encourages the player to pay attention to the world around them as well as explore it on the way to their destination, all without breaking immersion. This, in my opinion, is a fantastic concept that could be used to enhance the open-ended experience of any player, especially disabled ones, but is sorely underutilized in more recent games. I think the Morrowind journal proves that not all accessibility features have to be crutches, they can also be genuinely valuable game mechanics that *anyone* would be glad to have at their disposal.

This was super informative as a dev, thanks!

This kind of thing makes me seriously wonder if I've always had ADHD and never realised. Forgetting about features in games, getting overwhelmed by clutter, not seeing myself in any new postion easily. I read the entirety of Great Expectations as a kid for school, and couldn't tell you a single thing that happened in it until I watched the film version.

Hey Laura... It's also hard as an ADHD individual to focus on Jim's statement about predatory micro transactions vs impulsiveness while you have (admittedly important information) about Ubisoft scrolling across the top of the video.

As a gamer with ADHD, it's so fascinating to hear my experience in another person's words. Really appreciated this video. Oddly, my absolute favorite game, Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines seems to somehow be the exception to these rules for me. There are no mini-maps or quest markers but the way the way it's laid out is so immersive that I don't struggle in the same way I might with other games. I think it has something to do with the fact that the hubs are just big enough to explore and immerse yourself in without being so huge that you end up losing track of the main objective. That's actually a big issue I have with openworld RPGs like Bethesda games- it's so big and open that I actually end up losing my immersion because there's way too much to process. Imo Bloodlines is the epitome of RPG design just for that reason alone. I know this is also a personal thing and it helps that the game is something I can hyperfocus on, but I wish more games would devote their time to fleshing out a number of specific maps on a smaller scale rather than trying to create the biggest possible sandbox.

Something that wasn't mentioned for someone with ADHD is sensory overload. Part of ADHD is lack of ability to regulate what the brain focuses on. This means that the brain may not be able to prioritize information (as in, it's all taken in at once), or selective focus (meaning that I'm focusing on one element and my brain is ignoring everything else). There are already some easy gameplay options available: adjusting music volume vs. dialog volume, and the option to turn on subtitles, but others may be good options to have: turn off scroll-tickers (news boxes that scroll across the screen or across environment elements like buildings or signs), turn off or turn down flashing UI elements, and the option to turn off/limit annoying notifications or reminders (some reminders are good, some reminders are not). One other option that may be useful: the ability to take notes in the game. (though I might end up forgetting this is a thing. Maybe a prompt when saving: "Do you want to add a note to indicate what you were doing?") Alternate controller schemes might be fun too. Sometimes, I want to adjust the control scheme, but I don't know what to change. Other developers or players may have come up with some alternates that might make doing specific tasks more efficient/easier, so having a list of different options might be a cool idea. You could even list them by most popular, or most useful. One last idea: afk pausing...? Sometimes, I'll get up and go do other things and forget I'm playing a game. Then I'll come back, and realize I died 10 minutes ago, and all my stuff de-spawned. Maybe if the player is inactive for a period of time, then the game will pause and prompt the player? (Also an option to turn this off since it may annoy others)

I used to think constantly having available controls on the screen dozens of hours into a game was annoying, until eventually I realized they were the only thing making it possible for me to jump back into games with more than the most basic mechanics after a break.

Oh hell I have Adhd. I thought so much of this was just what people went through

Oh wow, i actually never made the connection between my gaming and my adhd. I only got a first diagnosis some time last year and I had no idea how many areas of my life it is actually affecting. In terms of different media, Text is hardest for me to pay attention to, then come video games, then videos. I love reading but it gets so bad, i get distracted by a comma sitting in a weird place, jumbling the entire sentence in my head so i have to reread it several times until it makes sense and by then i forgot everything else that came before that sentence. I fucking hate it. And in video games, I almost always loose orientation and things look similar. I love Subnautica, but I barely made progress because i unconsciously always went into the same direction, not recognizing, that I had been there before. I have an irrational fear of missing things in games, going over the same things over and over again, taking me ages to complete stuff. I started writing lists by hand to keep me on track. But eventually, I'd loose interest the moment I hit a difficult section, let the game lie around for months and when I pick it back up I can't get into it anymore.

Super spot on and very accurately reflects my experience as an ADHDer and gamer (and game tester!). Thank you!

This video had me thinking a lot about the plot of games, and specifically what I think is a good way to feature plots vs a bad way for someone with ADHD. The good way is what I think of as “sandbox plot”, which I think the Witcher 3 is a great example of: the sheer number of interesting side quests make it so that you can spend an hour on a Witcher contract, engage with a bite-sized plot, and wrap up the whole story within an hour. There is no need to further remember this story in the grander plot of the game. The Witcher 3 is full of these mini plots and so my memory of playing the game is full of these cool smaller plots/moments that had no bearing on the main story. ...Compare this to the kingdom Hearts series, which has virtually no sub plots. The allure of the present day kingdom hearts series is the opposite; the promise of Namura and the writers is that you’ll get a wild series that ties in *everything* that has *ever* existed in the series. The mobile games being presently produced tie in to the first game that came out in the 90s. Hell, some KH content creators are “researching” the title “The World Ends With You” because its suspected that game (A completely different franchise) will have lore implications for the next KH saga. To me this is poor storytelling and completely unplayable for someone with the symptoms mentioned in this video.. TLDR: Witcher 3, lots of side quests and not so important main quest = good storytelling, vs KH, no side quests and “everything is connected” philosophy = bad storytelling.

Soooo....I think I have ADHD. I used to love reading as a kid, but it’s significantly harder for me to focus now, so the only reading I do now is required reading for college classes. Also, everything Jim said perfectly describes my gaming experience.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia and apparently I probably have ADHD. Another great video! Loved that Jim joined in on the fun!

If a sequel to a game I liked comes out, I have to replay the previous game (or the whole series) so I can remember the plot and mechanics. On the other hand, I always seem to catch the little details that aren't supposed to be apparent, including (but not limited to) the foreshadowing of plot twists later on. On the other other hand, too many flashing lights and too much visual and audio "atmosphere" and I get so distracted I have a hard time focusing on the main game.

Are you getting distracted from the video by scrolling through the comments too?

Dragon Quest 11 gives you a brief recap on the story so far every time you come back after closing the software. Maybe more games should include this feature.

Thank you so much for this, Laura and Jim! My little sister, who's autistic and has ADHD, adores video games. This helped me understand her a bit better. While I don't have ADHD, I'm autistic, and I feel like a lot of Jim's suggestions could help autistic gamers as well! Wonderful video as always, thanks again

Great video Laura! I don't suffer from ADHD but if I decide to return to a game that I haven't played in a while recaps would benefit me greatly as well, so it makes sense for companies to start doing them a lot more. Plus, if a feature they spent ages designing doesn't get used because it wasn't communicated properly or in an interesting manner, is it no surprise that it doesn't get used? Hopefully more companies take on your suggestions.

This was incredibly validating as a gamer with ADHD. I have started a new character in Dark Souls 3 probably 5 times because if I put the game down for 2+ weeks, I feel like I have to start over. Jumping back into it when I don't have the combat memory. Stardew Valley gave me the same issue. There's so many things to remember when you get to a certain point that I need to play consistently to remember everything. However, I can jump back into Skyrim at any point and it's always familiar to me. The waypoints and quest markers and direction are so good for me. If anything, this video made me realize why I love Skyrim. The cave dungeons pose a bit of a problem when I get turned around, but their linear design for the most point helps keep me going the right way. Ace Attorney is also one of my long loves. I will sing its praises to anyone who will listen. Lord knows I've needed the previous dialogue text for something I just read. This video was so informative on my own disorder lmao. Everything you said about getting right back into things, avoiding backtracking, mapping, subtitles, it's all so true. I played Genshin Impact for 2 months, every day, and then one week during school I didn't have time to play even one day. And I just stopped. I haven't played since December.

Holy hell there are so many issues I've had in life that I didn't even know were tied to my ADHD. I'm so overwhelmed now that I know it's not weird for me to be soothed by having subtitles on, or that maybe me coming back to a game and immediately putting it down isn't always tied to game fatigue. And don't even get me started on mobile games micro transactions. This video is a gift and more people need to watch it!

As someone who does not have ADHD, I WANT ALL THESE THINGS TOO! These are great suggestions and as a game dev it's super useful to get these ideas so we can include them in our games. Thanks for this vid.

I want to thank you Laura for making this vid. I recognized myself in all the things Jim explained. I am 40 years old and as far back as I can remember I’ve had trouble with focusing on things. Was given alot of extra classes in school to try to keep up with the rest of the class but ADHD was something I first heard about when I was in my 30’s. And even then it was the narrative of: ”only kids can be diagnozed” and ”you’ll grow out of it”. I’ve loved gaming since I got my first NES with Ice Climber and Super Mario Bros. Lately, the only games that I have managed to stick with is things like Red Dead Online, The Division 2. The last story game I finished was God of War but it was hard and I can’t even tell you what the game was about. I started Ghost of Tsushima again after a loooong break and turned it off when I couldn’t remember the main characters name or why he was on the island. Sorry for the long comment but I wanted you to know that seeing this video made me feel a bit better about some of my own behavior in everyday life which drives me crazy sometimes. Like: starting the washing machine while I’m on my way to get the coffee I brewed before starting a game only to end up with a full pot of cold coffee, a machine with wet clothes that I notice when brushing my teeth for the night, and the start menu of a game when I turn on the tv after wondering why the Xbox is on but the TV is off. I was wondering if getting the diagnose from a doctor somehow makes life more manageable? Especially in your work life.

Thank you for talking for doing the research and sharing it. It makes me so happy.

OH MY GOD IT’S SO GOOD TO FINALLY HEAR PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT ADHD AND VIDEO GAYMES BAYBEEEEEEEEE

Muscle memory is the only reason i can return to games after a week or more, i may forget what does what, but after 20 minutes i'm back at it. ADHD means i can both be overly obsessed with a game and jump between others multiple times a day. It's why i played through all 3 witcher games back-to-back when i was a teen during summer break in a 2 week period. The games that that way felt like a TV show i binged as the story just kept going. Monster Hunter World probably has some of the most QOL for an ADHD person. Constant on screen combat buttons, item loadout saver, a gear loadout saver, and visual wish list for gear. the menu is a bit annoying to navigate, but workable.

i didnt see any mention of this but there are 2 types of adhd inattentive and hyperactivity

I completely understand the point about the lack of a map. Then again, another reason why I don't understand how Jim loves Soulsborne games.

My Switch has completely saved my interest in gaming. I love that, no matter what the game, I can pick it up and set it down in 15-20 increments. While you can technically do that with most other consoles, it just doesn't feel the same as turning off the screen and setting it down. I will buy potato-mode Switch ports over their console equivalents every single time, even when it's an inferior version.

Being able to re-read dialogue/plot in games should be a must. I don't have ADHD, and it's still pretty frequent for me to loose pieces of information just because the phone starts ringing, someone is doing something around the house or even the game itself (sound balance or intense gameplay, for example).

This is a good example of how accommodating disabilities is beneficial for everyone. Very cool

When it comes to ADHD, I think it’s important to remember (as with autism) that it’s a spectrum. It’s not something you have or don’t have, it’s a series of symptoms that affect your brain by interacting with each other in different ways. I always go back to the conveyor belt in the generation game. Some people can remember most of the things that go past, some people can only name a few, some people can only retain 1 thing before immediately forgetting it in favour of the next thing, and some people remember none of it and want to curl up on the floor and cry. Another thing I think about is “learning styles”. Visual/Audio/Reading/Kinaesthetic is such a well known about thing now that it always surprises me when games come out and just over and over throw walls of text at people. Japanese game in particular are horrendous for it, I can’t play Persona or Yakuza because it’s just reading a game and my brain just wants to skip.

As an ADHDer, I don't identify with all of these, but you've made me realize some of the stuff I've found to be "Normal" is apparently part of my ADHD. I just assumed people did without those game aides by using online tutorials. Also, I've seen my time blindness play out in Stardew valley in pretty much exactly as they do in real life. I keep having to wait another day to go to the store or the blacksmith because I left things too late or focused too long on other tasks.

Great video, Laura! It's nice to see that other people struggle with many of the simple tasks that some games present to me. I still haven't finished Breath of the Wild because I forget the story, tasks, etc. BotW is pretty well made and accessible but sometimes I find it hard to get back into long, winding questlines. I sometimes rely on my little brother to help me with puzzles since he always notices things I don't notice.

As someone with ADHD I feel that you missed a crucial feature that is probably one of the simplest things that any game can include. This being a real time clock that is displayed at all or most of the time in game. I often find myself getting lost in a game to the point where i'll forget to eat or sleep and games that include clocks does wonders for this. This also can factor into that disability exploitation that Jim pointed out towards the end of the video. There's a reason why there are no clocks in casinos.

I found you while looking for videos about ADHD and video games, and followed immediately! Love your videos so far (and it's always a delight to see J.S. Sterling appear as a guest!)

It is very interesting to see how sometimes people with ADHD can have very different experiences with something similar, and yet there are still those threads of commonality that underly at all. I don't struggle quite as badly with the text issue that Jim suffers from, but I struggle very badly with the idea of tutorials and inactive components, things where I'm not actively engaged myself. I'm not quite sure how better to phrase it, but as a great example, I'm looking into doing some modifications to a 3D model, but I'm daunted by there being a barrier of learning it. As much as I would love to be excited about watching and engaging, I fear for how well I'll actually be able to keep my attention and not just forget, or not try to do things halfway through because of the compulsive aspect. That's actually something I didn't hear mentioned, and I think is another strong problem to bring up with ADHD, is that it does have a compulsive aspect, in line with true OCD. It's not the same sort of behavior that's compulsive, but I find it is all too often where I will get stressed out by a decision and compulsively choose something.

........... can we discuss the scrolling marquee making it hard for me to focus on Jim talking about predatory exploitation of compulsive behavior? I know that's the topic but there's A COLORFUL BANNER WITH WORDS ON IT

I was diagnosed with ADHD-inattentive type in November 2022, and listening to Steph talk about needing constant reminders about certain game mechanics made something I use to do when I was younger (well, up until a few years back when I had time) make a lot more sense. When I bought a singleplayer game, I always made sure I played it on a free day (no work, not meeting people, e.t.c.) because I always wanted to complete it in a single sitting. Reason being was that when I had spaced it out over several days it would become a chore to just start it up again because I knew there was going to be something that I would forget, or I would need to re-learn something, or I would need to catch up with the game's story ( if it had one of interest); it would just fill me with dread, making me avoid it and inevitably forget about it. Whereas doing it all in the one sitting I could keep track of what's going on (if it held my interest, that is) and feel like I had accomplished something at the end of it; no fear of missing out on anything. Nowadays, I usually stick to games that I seem to have a somewhat fundamental grasp of, which is FPSs ( Boomer Shooters, mainly). Seems a bit close-minded to stick to one genre, but at least I'm playing more games now, I guess. 😄 Great video, btw.

Interestingly enough I have severe add, the games that I have always been able to just sit and play for hours on end are grand strategy games. The game is so big with so much going on that it is an absolute joy for my add. I can get distracted with every little thing and its a GOOD thing. I have almost 3k hours in hearts of iron 4 and thats only because its a distraction fest! Oh what about that Frontline, ooooo look at these focus trees, oh crap what about my production of fighters should I upgrade now or later. Oooooooo spys, let's go steal technology. Ooooooo a full naval system i can get lost in playing designing ships. Where as games like metro or red dead 2 are beyond difficult for me to finish. I love the metro games and on average it takes me at least a year to finish a metro game. Because similar to Jim. As soon as I put it down its gone out of my head. My brain is wierd

Thank you for bringing awareness to ADHD. I hope to do the same in the near future.

A lot of these features are just useful for everyone as well. Letting you go back in text boxes, for example, is good when you accidentally click through it too many times.

I too am an ADHD goblin, reminders in games such as Total War are invaluable! If they aren't on/there i absolutely will never 'move that one army' or similar

Absolutely fantastic episode Laura and Jim! Great points and thank you for talking about this. 😃

Hi Laura and Jim, just wanted to thank you for this. I've recently been diagnosed with adult ADHD and this has helped me to explain and understand a lot of my own issues properly. It's also just a great video, sincere thanks to you both.

Came to this video from the Elden Ring Jimquisition video. I thought it was fantastic as someone with a late ADHD diagnosis. Everything mentioned about needing reminders and ways to access information and maps is so important. It's so easy for me to lose interest if I feel like I can't make progress. I almost always play with a walkthrough next to me unless the game is extremely engaging and even then I'll have it there.for safety so I don't get as frustrated and fall off it. I feel like any features you mentioned would benefit every player, especially inexperienced or infrequent players. Thanks for the great video :)

Fire emblem 3 houses, persona 5, dragon age inquisition, and monster hunter worlds are games that frustrate me to a painful level due to adhd. It has literally taken me several hours doing just a few tasks because those games want 30 things to matter at once. Thanks for shedding light on this topic. There is more to it then "people have the internet now"

I kind of appreciate that some new games now ask if I want subtitles on before I start the game. It used to be I forgot to turn them on and had to force close the game to turn them on from the main menu. Which some games lock you out of from accessing the main menu until the first cutscene or tutorial is over. Only to then realize I once again forgot to turn on subtitles. Then redo the process until I finally turned on subtitles.

My boyfriend has adhd and he has all these exact issues. I'm learning about adhd to understand him. I have autism and schizophrenia and over process things so retaining information like objects is easy for me. I'm very good at visualization so I struggle to comprehend how he feels because I'm the extreme opposite of him And its better than neurotypicals but it often causes me to be too absorbed and overstimulated. This is a amazing video.

I’m so riddled with ADHD halfway through this video I lost focus and somehow ended up looking at Godzilla vs Kong memes.

Oh no, I was listening to this and I was like 'huh, I can relate to everything, are you sure that's ADHD and not just how it is?' UNTIL I heard the cleaning bit and it was so specific to a t... oh my god. :

Its like im listening to someone describe my relationship with games and media in general. Thank you SO much!

I only got diagnosed a few months ago and really haven't thought much about how it affects me gaming. I can definitely relate to struggling to stay focused on a single game and accidentially building up a huge backlog/having to restart repeatedly. If I'm really struggling I basically can't engage with any media at all, like I don't have the capacity to take that information in. I have to limit how many open-ended games I play and when, in case I hyperfocus and can't stop myself sinking hours into it at the expense of everything else in life. Really appreciated the video and especially Laura's description of ADHD.

add me to the list of adhd ironies bc i rewatched the first few minutes of this video like a half dozen times bc i kept getting distracted by twitter really enjoyed this once i actually managed to focus on it though lol

As a guy with ADHD who has used games as a coping tool, I'm so happy that you guys made this video. The fact that some of the games featured in footage were the same ones I played as a child (after my doctor prescribed me a Gameboy to help child me to train my focus) made it even more meaningful to watch. Thank you so much Laura and Jim. X

As usual with hearing about how ADHD impacts people, there were a couple of "...Is that undiagnosed ADHD or is that an overlap between autism and ADHD." moments

Great video. I shared this with my wife, who is both a gamer and someone with ADHD. She identified with the Jim's (Thank God for Them) complaints about how certain game design features are antagonistic to her enjoyment of some games. She did find the text scroll on screen (the one detailing Ubisoft's gross practices regarding the sexual predators they employ) EXTREMELY distracting though, just on the basis of being unable to follow either the spoken script or the on-screen text when both were running at the same time.

Damn. I didn't know anything about ADHD. Sucks that most of us are busted in some weird way others can't immediately grasp. Not trying to minimize anyone's struggles. I've got my own brain dysfunctions, but they kinda add up to the opposite of everything you said here about ADHD. I get TOO focused. Complicated plots stay with me when I'm trying to do other stuff and, while I can't vocalize most button combos, hand me the controller and I can play any game I've played in the last 20 years without thinking about it. "Accessibility" always struck me as a mostly physical thing. Internal struggles really are invisible. This is very helpful. I'll keep this all in mind... forever... no matter what... because brain...

I've been waiting for a video like this to existtttt I agree with the contents, but this isn't even the half of it for my personal experience with ADHD/executive dysfunction! Wall of text incoming: I usually sit down with a game for up to about a week at a time (part of why i put off playing most of my library for so long). I do like putting the time in to learn things, out of a love for the medium and the mechanics, and I do typically succeed in understanding them, and putting them into my muscle memory stops them from leaking as easily. It's immensely rewarding (even though I don't always get there). This informs what kinds of games I play (I tend to like more complex ones) and thus some of my general difficulties: - if a verb or strategy is too infrequently used (or even too optional), it's mentally out of reach, worsened by how complex it is. Similar is true for map navigation: smaller map is better. - The passage of time can erode more fundamental knowledge similarly... although sometimes I also inadvertently get better while not playing a game (either from having a clearer head, a different perspective, more transferrable skills, being less tired... who knows) - I tend to use rote memorization as a crutch when it's available, which easily becomes unsatisfying. Ironically, fear of punishment (game over etc) can help me focus more, but only up to an extent, and only until it happens. (That said, that suggestion to take a break from the game is appreciated.) - have i saved yet? I better save again anyway - turns in a strategy game *never* end because i will continuously double-check things i've already double-checked, while scrolling exhaustively through all of my allies' and enemies' options, trying to get a perfect turn because it's the closest thing to a plan i can envision. - your completion checklists better actually tell me where and what i've already got. - pausing, interrupting the action, leads to me forgetting how fast hazards were travelling in action games like platformers or shmups. I get forgetful when i pause in cutscenes too, so i'd double up on that rewind suggestion. - bad object permanence means that in busy situations or bad cameras, I constantly forget that something usually hits me at the same point in the level every time. - games that are intense 100% of the time are impossible to play for long because it's so hard to focus for all of it, but games that ease up at random can get boring to sit through. How does one balance a gameplay loop for a fickle focus at all? How much of the pacing can be in the player's control? - have i saved yet? I better save again anyway - I have "save" highlighted... does that mean I just saved, or was going to save? I better save again anyway - for frick's sake the save file says i just saved 2 minutes ago, but was that before or after i changed that one piece of equipment? BETTER SAVE AGAIN - after the dreaded time limit of "about a week", i get tired of thinking so much about one thing for too long, and put it down. I may or may not pick it back up, weeks/months/years later. competitive games get their own list. a lot of these things apply to roguelikes and other hard games as well: - because of not knowing what to focus on, i'm noticeably unobservant. complex strategy is difficult to catch onto. But most competitive games don't even *try*? Not even at the most basic level of "here's the simplest thing you should focus on". (of all things, *Pokkén* labels the main damage dealers etc in the movelists and i love it for that) - at the end of a play, I have NO idea what i did right or wrong. Learning these games is actively insurmountable without help, and they do not give ANY. The best you usually get is a deathcam; they can sometimes point to why you died, but they are NO GOOD at advice or at reinforcing anything you did correctly. - getting beaten up at a game usually feels like you've lost agency, to the extent of feeling like you're not really playing anymore. Respawning, getting hit out of attacks, etc... Those are largely necessary parts of the game, but it ties into the other thing: if you keep doing things that don't work, but you don't know why they don't work, it's absurd to keep playing. - it is demoralizing to play a game without being sure of your ability to improve in it. Learning these games and understanding them and their meta is a treasure, and I feel so often locked out. - if a game makes me sad (or angry), my head's no longer in it. - please include a decent replay function. It's not only useful for learning, but fun to share with friends too. - It also takes effort to maintain some distance from my own performance; not just emotionally but in terms of decision-making, as even watching replays i find myself playing out the same choices in my head. - i only have so much focus ability in me at a time. it's like drawing from fuel, glucose in your brain from what i understand. Once it's out, sometimes mid-match, sometimes before i even start playing, it's just gone. Huge, stealthy source of tilt. I can have the most high octane ultra instinct perfect moment in a match ever, and then i turn to mush for the rest of the evening. This applies to both my playing ability and my learning ability. - Learning to stop playing when you're just frustrating yourself is so hard. And yet, typically when games badger that you've been playing for too long it's at inopportune moments and I just mash through it. - Earlier I mentioned games being in general hard to play if the player can't control the pacing. In competitive games you kinda can, but also can't, because it's also in your opponent's hands. I know discussing ableness in competition is prickly, but if you have ADHD and your foe doesn't, you are at an extra disadvantage, especially if your character has no emergency safety buttons. And if your opponent does also have ADHD, good luck being enough in sync to have a close match. non-adhd concern: aside from the lack of positive feedback, competitive games still have so much work to go in the design of ladders etc. I've never heard of a competitive ladder that didn't feel toxic as heck, and the longer a game's matches are the more it's exacerbated. It takes so much active effort to not rage at extrinsic progression even though in theory you're playing because you like the game. Couple that with my social anxieties (which partly come from autism, and partly are a kind of indirect symptom of adhd (society hates us)), and I just don't play with randos anymore: i'm afraid to take my time if i'm playing online. I'm afraid to be a boring or weak opponent. Doesn't help that i'm afraid of even just... misinterpreting emotes.

One of my dream videogame features is to be able to rewind or speed up story cutscenes with the left and right triggers. Like the cutscene gets faster depending on how much you press the right trigger down. It'd be so perfect because how fast I want a cutscene to go can change depending on whats happening. And I think it'd be a lot better than abruptly skipping past dialogue by mashing A. Like sometimes I just want to fast-forward a slow camera pan or establishing shot, but I don't want to skip it entirely.

After watching this I headed right over to one of those not-very-scientific 'do I have ADHD' tests, and while it sure wasn't very scientific, it ALSO looks like it might be worth speaking to a doctor about this sometime soon...

Maps should be mandatory. It's not "immersive" or "realist" to be lost in a game. There should be always a list of goals and where they are on the map. And there should be always a way to have directions to said goals. Some people want to turn it off, fine, but the option to use it must be there

This video has actually been doing more to help me understand my own ADHD than any of my doctors. Thank you all for this !

As someone with ADHD I tend to hyperfixate on my games. Every game becomes a Neurotypical Simulator because I am suddenly able to remember things like specific systems and my usual object permanence problems aren't as bad because I can just open my inventory and remember what I've picked up and look at a quest log and it'll remind me what I'm to do next. The downside is that I can't play as many games as I would like because going from one game's system to another is tricky. Especially if the hyperfixation didn't kick in immediately via story/characters grabbing my attention. If a game didn't catch my attention enough, I will forget I even have it in my library and then likely never play it. I have about 5 games in total that I play regularly, and I've replayed them all to hell because even if I know exactly what's going to happen, the gameplay loops and narratives trigger that reward center of my brain. But I still keep buying games that pique my interest and then I forget that I ever purchased them, despite the absence of $10-$30 from my bank account.

This video helps me a lot! Thank you very much!

This was great! Thank you so much 😁

I just wanna point out the irony of trying to focus on you speaking while my eyes keep going back to the hollow knight gameplay at the start.

Thank you so much for making content like this for people like me.

Holy hell, it’s always mind-boggling how...unalone I am with various quirks from adhd. Let me tell you, the biggest “accessibility” features I’ve seen was in deus ex; the game records every conversation, and you can go back to review each conversation, which I found vey helpful in a game that avoids map markers. Personally, I prefer to turn map markers off. It causes me to ignore the environment and beeline for my objective.

Oh my God - have you ever done a video on OCD and video games? Lemme tell you, I spend double the projected amount of time sometimes because I’m stuck in inventory management and looking over areas to make sure I’ve picked everything up.

The little recaps at the start of fire red and leaf green was super helpful.

Patterns help me. If I can set up a pattern in my mind it helps me remember a great deal. I would also LOVE PAUSE BUTTONS for cutscenes and rewinds and all that it would be amazing.

Thank you for the research and video, enjoyable and my did it help

wow all of this, i relate to it so much as an autistic person who may have adhd. the microtransaction stuff too, i’ve fallen prey to it before and the loot boxes... ugh. can’t go back to those games. and i lose my connection to a playthrough when i need a break and then stop playing for MONTHS bc i forgot... then i have no idea what the hell im doing! and i gotta start over but then all that progress that i KNOW i made is lost. thank you so much for making this video.

ive only recently realized at 25 that i may have adhd. i hardly ever finish a videogame on my first playthru even if i enjoy it because i will just forget about it for no real reason. and i didnt even know that object permanence was related to adhd. i just always thought i was just forgetful.

As someone who loves Metal Gear Solid so much, but had to play each of them 10 to 15 times to really grasp them, I really appreciate this

I know that one of my ADHD problems pops up in games like Borderlands, where there's a lot of *stuff*. Guns are most of the loot in Borderlands, and you have to swap guns out on a fairly regular basis as you and they level up. It makes it hard for me to play co-op, because after every encounter, I want to look at all the new guns I've collected and see if I got better ones, meanwhile my friends are impatient to get on with the next objective. However, if I don't optimize after a fight, I won't want to sell guns I haven't looked at, and my inventory gets clogged up, which makes the eventual sorting process even longer. If these games gad some sort of "optimize" feature that looked at all the loot I had and just equipped me with the stuff with the highest numbers, I think that would really allow me to spend less of my time fiddling in menus, and more of my time playing with my friends. Final Fantasy has it, so it's doable; just let me do it.

Thank you for this❤

I felt very seen watching this, & it helps me get a better idea of what games I'll vibe with in the future. When y'all talked about save points and making back-tracking not take so long after a failure (usually death), I hollered "YES!!". I'm understanding why I get *so mad* at Hollow Knight now.