What Being Neurodivergent Means in Game Development

In this GDC 2022 session, a diverse group of game developers share their experiences with neurodivergence while developing games, and how neurodivergence affects the game development process.

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[LighthoofDryden]

The doodling thing Patrick talked about is so real. If I’m NOT drawing in a meeting/class, I’ll burn through my mental energy so much faster, to the point where after a 45 minute meeting I can feel completely cooked. And because of that it really *helps* me listen!

[OmniscientOCE]

Self-admittedly I'm usually pretty pessimistic about these kinds of talks but I tried coming in with an open mind and I think I got a few things out of it which was good. It'd be nice if we had a definition of 'neurodivergent' a bit earlier in the piece than 34:45 because a lot of us have not heard this term before. All the best everyone.

[mnmlst]

I'm autistic and ADHD, unemployed at 40, and I spent most of my life unemployed. I'm still seeking for a game design job, but I think because of my age my chances are very low. Most studios in my country are run by people much younger than me, and I don't even have an answer when I send them my resume, and the culture of hiring young people who have tons of social skills is strong here. I want want to make accessible games that have a positive impact in people's lives, but it seems impossible to find a job...

[everydaydragon]

0:12 Intro - Monica Fan (She/They)
4:21 Neurodivergence, Masking and the Workplace - Samara-Jade Sendek (She/Her)
14:33 Dyslexia and Accessibility - Radiant G! (He/Him)
20:11 Event Accessibility for Autistic People - Cameron Hopkinson (They/Them)
26:42 Finding and Making a Placing in the Games Industry - Emily Stell (She/Her)
33:30 How to Write Neurodivergent Characters for Neurodivergent Gamers - Alanna Linayre (She/Her)
42:40 Creating an ADHD-friendly game-dev environment - Patrick Sheegog (He/Him)
50:25 The Ethical Responsibility of Accessibility - Ezekiel Hauge (He/Him)

[soldiernom]

I got fucking distracted while trying to listen to this. The true ADHD experience

[danielle]

This was Great!! Hope it repeats and updates with more info soon :)

[micheller]

The boundary stickers are such a good idea! I'll definitely try to push this idea

[OmniscientOCE]

Is there a way to make games that can cater to both neuro-divergent and typical? Maybe settings toggles that might affect the in-game behaviour in some way. Guess it depends on the game / genre heavily.

[tbbivi]

I loved this talk! many interesting ideas & helpful recommendations to improve accessibility :)

[ShadesMan]

Interesting topic with a lot of stuff I wouldn't have thought people went through. Hiding your true self? Moving letters? I'm a forgetful person, if anything - and believe me that increases with age.

26:00 - hugs are fine, but hugging strangers? Heck if anything I simply FORGET to hug family ppl.

Too bad the industry isn't looking for mappers who like to design for retro-styled games, like 3D Quake environments. But one could dream!

36:00 - triggers? Hmmm not just map logic for spawning in more baddies, eh?

Artstation - Shadesmaster (links don't escape youtube bot apparently)

[Wylie]

Bruh this is an hour fucking long. You think my adhd ass is gonna watch this? The au side is very intrigued. But im not gonna make it through to the end

[dsbm]

Why did this talk have to be 56 minutes long? This could've easily been summarized within 10 minutes.

[AndersHansgaard]

Neurodivergence? Somehow, somewhere among ca. 100.000.000.000.000 connections – the workings of which we have but the slightest inkling – there's something that differs from the average?! An absurd term that I think will muddy the waters for many years to come.

[danielbelokon]

You could have posted the last 5 minutes of this entire talk and no value would have been lost.

[corriedotdev]

Neurodivergent.. neurotypical. Divide divide divide