How can you design games to be more inclusive for players with ADHD?

1 Understand your audience

The first step to designing games for players with ADHD is to understand their needs, preferences, and experiences. You can do this by conducting research, consulting experts, and involving players with ADHD in your design process. For example, you can use surveys, interviews, or playtesting to gather feedback and insights from your target audience. You can also learn from existing resources, such as the Game Accessibility Guidelines, the AbleGamers Foundation, or the ADHD Gaming Network, that provide best practices and recommendations for making games more accessible for players with various disabilities.

2 Simplify and streamline

One of the main challenges that players with ADHD may face is processing and remembering a lot of information at once. Therefore, you should aim to simplify and streamline your game design as much as possible, without compromising the core gameplay. For example, you can reduce the amount of text, menus, or buttons on the screen, and use clear and concise language, icons, or audio cues to convey information. You can also provide options to adjust the game speed, difficulty, or length, and allow players to pause, save, or resume the game at any time. Additionally, you can offer tutorials, hints, or feedback to help players learn and master the game mechanics and goals.

4 Balance challenge and reward

One of the benefits of playing games for players with ADHD is that they can provide a sense of challenge and reward that can motivate and stimulate them. However, you should also be careful not to make your game too hard or too easy, as this can lead to frustration or boredom. Therefore, you should balance the challenge and reward of your game design, and provide feedback and support for players along the way. For example, you can use adaptive difficulty, dynamic difficulty adjustment, or player feedback to adjust the game challenge according to the player's performance and skill level. You can also use positive reinforcement, such as points, badges, achievements, or praise, to reward players for their progress and achievements.

6 Test and iterate

The final step to designing games for players with ADHD is to test and iterate your game design, and incorporate feedback and suggestions from your players. You can use various methods, such as usability testing, user testing, or accessibility testing, to evaluate the effectiveness and satisfaction of your game design for players with ADHD. You can also use analytics, metrics, or reviews to measure the engagement and retention of your players. Furthermore, you can update, improve, or add new features or content to your game design, based on the needs and desires of your players.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?