SweetieGames

Before my autism assessment last year, I was putting together a list of my special interests over the years when I noticed something. There’s a handful of games that are beloved by many neurodivergent people. As a kid, I was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog (more specifically, Tails!) and today I still consider UnderTale to be a special interest. These are only two examples from my personal experience, but there’s still other games that see huge amounts of neurodivergent fans. What is it about these games and franchises in particular that draws us to them?

Like many autistic people, when I’m unmasked I love info-dumping. Sharing details of my special interests makes me feel closer to people. This is pretty vulnerable for me, as I hold them so close to my heart. Someone disliking one of my special interests almost feels like that person doesn’t like a part of me! Of course, I know a lot of details about my special interests, which is why I’ve found myself particularly drawn to games that allow for research, lore deep-dives and fan theories. I believe that is what draws neurodivergent people to these kinds of franchises; rich worlds and characters that we can share with others.

Games giving little titbits of lore, but not the whole picture really scratches that itch in my brain to do research, find out as much as I can and make my own conclusions that I can talk about with my friends or others online. Take UnderTale, for example. You play the game, and enjoy the unique take on turn-based RPGs, great music and loveable characters but there’s still plenty more to discover. The game dots clues around of lore that isn’t covered anywhere in any of the routes, like the previous humans and the infamous Gaster and “fun” events. I feel that I have to know everything about my special interests, so I find myself digging deeper into Wikis, other blogs and Twitter accounts to learn as much as I can from others, on top of playing the game over and over to pick up new things myself. I even found myself delving into the attached notebook files on my copy to get all of the fun events myself; I’ve never been more exhilarated by clicking on a mysterious figure who disappears. There’s so much to discover, but it’s just out of reach. There’s a deeper world; so much more than what we see in the game’s runtime, but we never get to fully interact with it. There will most likely never be a definitive answer to our lingering questions. This is what made this game stick with me for all this time; autistic people have a keen eye for detail, and nothing in our special interests will slip past us. We’ll pick up every tiny detail before we come to a conclusion. We’ll even notice that nobody in UnderTale uses toilets.

Lore may not be the only reason neurodivergent people enjoy certain franchises. Games that allow for character creation can also bring in a huge audience of neurodivergent people, especially those who enjoy creating new OCs and coming up with their own backstories. Sonic is a famous example of this form of fandom ecosystem. As a child, I was one of those people who would create original characters for the Sonic universe and write little stories about them; their background and how they came to be friends with the Sonic cast. These are now lost to time, but I clearly wasn’t the only autistic kid doing this. Some examples of Sonic OCs from the early 2000s still exist online today. Not every person making their own Sonic characters is neurodivergent, but I have seen plenty of neurodivergent people taking part in this side of the fandom. These characters are a way to see ourselves in our favourite fictional universes and feel more immersed than ever before.

These kinds of franchises that are popular with neurodivergent people aren’t only limited to games; TV shows, films and even TTRPGs have been able to provide rich environments for neurodivergent folks to thrive. The very concept of fandom itself offers so much to neurodivergent people; a whole community based around our favourite things!

I’d love for more games to not tell me every single thing; let me come to my own conclusions myself. That way, I can info-dump and build on my theories with all of my neurodivergent friends.