42
What are some common videogame difficulties for people with ADHD?
(programming.dev)
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.
For me at least this does track. I often get lost in video games or miss out on clues the should guide me to the solution. I think this can be partially attributed to hyper focus on one specific thing (the “I was supposed to go right” in your example) but also to to my mind wandering as I play (“gee, I wonder who voiced that character” or “oh that was a lot like that movie we watched last night, I meant to look up the plot on Wikipedia because I think I missed something”).
Honestly, this is a large reason I just don’t play a lot of games. I enjoy them generally but it takes so long to make progress and I get stuck in ways that friends don’t do it makes me feel dumb. It’s better now that I have medication to help but I still gravitate to “easy” or more casual games (I love the Two Point series of games, and the LEGO Star Wars games but many see them as childish or too easy).
I'm not trying to diminish your experience and mean with with care and empathy: play the games you like. Life too short to worry about demonstrating your bona fides.