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What are some common videogame difficulties for people with ADHD? (programming.dev)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/adhd@lemmy.world
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A couple of times when I've played Dynasty Warriors with my girlfriend (who has ADHD diagnosis), I noticed that she would be literally running in circles having absolutely no idea where she was. She's not a gamer and controlling the camera can be finnicky for someone who isn't used to dual analogs, so there's that, but she also has trouble reading the minimap.

Yesterday I've had her play Crash Bandicoot 3 and she got "lost" in stage 2, the first underwater level. At the first sphere with electricity thingy, she thought she was supposed to keep going right, she didn't notice the pipe opening leading down.

Is "getting lost" like that common for people with ADHD?

She's also pretty lousy at Bomberman games, but she enjoys playing them.

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[–] 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Those are not consequences of having ADHD but of not knowing how to play video games. Video games have rules, expectations and clues non-gamers don't consider or know how to handle. The issues arising from that lack of experience may be made worse by having ADHD, but are not caused by ADHD.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 3 days ago (1 child)

    I wondered about that level navigation part, whether the path forward was clear enough or not, because my 11yo nephew, who is not a gamer by any measure and very rarely gets access even to a smartphone, didn't have trouble seeing that lower part of where she was supposed to go.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 days ago

    I'm fairly used to playing games (including but not limited to the first Crash Bandicoot on release), but I might get confused by that location as well.

    At least from the still image, the background is so busy and drowns out the pipe at the bottom. Like, I see it, but if you hadn't pointed it out I probably wouldn't have noticed it. Especially if it's a static image and a stressful level.

    I would certainly have found my way when actually playing, but for someone who isn't used to gaming you're more likely to "just keep going", in this case from left to right, than look for where you're supposed to go.

    Having that open pipe design background, in the same colour scheme, and bigger than the pipe you're supposed to be looking for, is not well designed to help people navigate quickly and easily if they aren't focused on it or know what to focus on.

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