ADHD or OCD Gaming – Which Do You Suffer From?

Note: I have no formal training in psychology, and this article’s unscientific use of terms like ADHD and OCD is just this gaming layman’s offhand commentary. Please don’t regard this content as sound advice for anyone suffering from legitimate mental health disorders. Seek help from a licensed professional.

What is ADHD gaming?

When I was younger, I used to really struggle to finish games. I had a bad case of ADHD gaming. I would start a game, enjoy a few hours or more, and then get distracted by another game. A friend would gush about a great game on social media, I’d see a game I’ve been meaning to play in a Steam sale, or I’d watch a Nintendo Direct and get sucked into a hyped new release. I’d move on and leave a game behind, always chasing something new and novel, trying to keep up with whatever trendy games had captured the zeitgeist in that moment.

Those with ADHD gaming tendencies may attempt to juggle too many games at a time. The games they are able to finish tend to be shorter, unless they’ve struck gold with a truly amazing game that has managed to keep their attention to the end. Thankfully, these incredible games do exist, and they’re able to get their hooks fully into even the most ADHD of gamers.

But what about the games that are left behind? Most of them are not bad games. Many of the games I started and have yet to go back to finish are good or even great games, but they simply lost my focus. Longer games are tough for ADHD gamers to finish. Want to finish Persona 5? Get ready to invest 100 hours, maybe more. Currently, the game that holds the title of Mo’s-favorite-game-of-all-time is Fallout 4. I spent a whopping 220 hours completing just about everything there is to do in that game. I enjoyed those hours immensely, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there were some lulls along the way. Long games can be repetitive and fatiguing.

Even the best games ever made can’t maintain a player’s interest at the same high level for its entire duration. Games have ups and downs, peaks and lulls. The main pitfall for ADHD gamers is when they abandon good or even great games after they get fatigued or hit a big lull. But gaming is supposed to be fun, right? Why keep playing a game when your interest begins to decline? This is absolutely true to a degree, BUT, completing games is also fun. That sense of completion and closure is, I’d argue, one of the most enjoyable aspects of gaming. Never completing the vast majority of good or great games you start will leave you to miss out on a vital part of the gaming experience.

So, what is the solution? Before we get to that, let’s address the other side of this coin.

What is OCD gaming?

In recent years, my gaming habits have completely shifted. The pendulum seems to have swung from one extreme to the other. In efforts to battle ADHD gaming habits, I seem to have developed some OCD gaming tendencies (side note: I do not believe that I have any kind of legitimate undiagnosed OCD).

Real OCD is no joke, and the only remotely related symptom I seem to exhibit is this need for a particular “ordering” when it comes to game selection. One quirky habit I can’t seem to shake is that I just HAVE to play games in their release order. I’ve had Breath of the Wild sitting unplayed on my shelf for years, because I just HAVE to go back and play all the old Zelda games I haven’t played yet — in their release order. Currently, I’m on Oracle of Ages, and I have many more titles to go before I feel “released” to play Breath of the Wild.

There’s a strange FOMO fueling this. If I were to play Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, there’s this concern (whether real or imaginary) that it will “ruin” my experience with the older games in the series I haven’t played yet. I still haven’t played through Mario Odyssey yet either, because I need to go back and play everything I missed, starting with Mario Sunshine. I don’t want to miss out on experiencing these games in their release order, as many other gamers were able to do through the years. There’s something about seeing the historical progression of graphics, gameplay, and sound from one entry to the next that keeps me locked into this rigid boundary. I’m a bit of a curious “historian” in that regard.

There’s another quirk that is more relevant to the ADHD gaming issue. Once I’ve set out to finish a game, I almost never allow myself to get distracted by other games. I must power through, even if I hit a lull. In the corner of my mind, I know that I will forget about this game if I don’t hold the course. There’s nothing more frustrating than putting 20-30 hours into a long game, putting it aside for several months or even years, and then trying to resume the same playthrough. Everything has been forgotten. What was I doing? Who are these characters again?

I started Assassin’s Creed: Revelations years ago, played about 5 hours, and then got distracted by some other game. I haven’t touched the game since. I know I’ll return to finish that game some day, but I might as well just start over at this point. I don’t remember anything about that game except for bare bones story context. This is one of the drawbacks of ADHD gaming. Completing a game within a certain time frame is important, so that details about the characters and the story remain fresh enough to provide some sense of continuity throughout the gaming experience.

Here’s the hang-up with OCD gaming. It can lead to a gaming slump. Have you ever had a gaming slump? You finally have an hour or two for some gaming, you’re in the middle of a game that you want to finish, but you just don’t feel like playing that particular game. Maybe you’d be excited about playing a different game, but that OCD gaming streak in you demands that you play the game you’ve set out to finish before starting another game. So, amidst this tension, you either saddle up and play the game you’ve committed to finishing, or, you don’t play at all. You watch TV, or doom scroll on your phone, or spend time doing other things.

Of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with choosing to spend your time doing something other than gaming. Balance and variety in leisure time is essential to a happy life. But, when several weeks have gone by, and you haven’t played video games at all because you’re mentally blocked by this one particular game you can’t bring yourself to play – you’re in a gaming slump.

There have been a few games that have forced me into a gaming slump. Kirby Triple Deluxe is my most recent example of this. Until recently, I’d played every mainline Kirby game except the 3DS Kirby games. It’s been a goal of mine for years to play every mainline Kirby title. Thus, when I finally got my hands on Kirby Triple Deluxe, I knew I had to stay focused and see this one through to the end. It’s not even that long of a game. But, unfortunately, Kirby Triple Deluxe had a pretty significant lull right in the middle. The game just wasn’t giving me those “gotta play it” vibes. In fact, I think I went more than three weeks without playing any video games at all, because I had essentially forced myself into a slump. I had a desire to play some other games, but I wouldn’t allow myself to be distracted. I couldn’t bring myself to resume Kirby Triple Deluxe, and the three week slump was the result.

I know this is weird. Maybe you can relate, or maybe you’re thinking “Mo. Dude. Just play other games.” Because of the reasons I’ve listed above, it is very difficult for me to give up on a game that I know I really want to complete. I did eventually go back to Kirby Triple Deluxe and finish the game. I even collected all 100 sun stones. Completionism can be another OCD gaming quirk. I’m really glad I did stick with Kirby Triple Deluxe. I pushed through the lull, which honestly wasn’t that bad, because video games are amazing. Sometimes we just need a little break from the constant dopamine drip. The end of the game was great. Completing the game was very satisfying, a just reward. This is the payoff for seeing games through to the end.

So what is the solution? How do we find a balance between these two extremes? ADHD gaming leads to forgotten games and forever missing out on satisfying conclusions. OCD gaming can lead to mental blocks and long gaming slumps where you don’t play any games at all. There must be a proper path forward.

The solution.

I’m still percolating all of these questions and concepts about gaming, and I’m not sure that I have any clear answers. But thankfully, the truth is — it doesn’t really matter. Gaming is just one of many hobbies in a healthy and balanced life. If you hardly ever finish games that you start, it’s not that big of a deal. You’ll always have a chance to pick up games where you left off, or you can simply start over. It’s not the end of the world. If you find yourself mentally blocked in a gaming slump, that’s also not a big deal. There are so many wonderful things in this life that we can enjoy other than gaming. Enjoy some great TV or a movie, read a book, learn to play an instrument, or go to your local park and play some disc golf. Time spent away from gaming is certainly not wasted time.

However, in my quest to get the most out of my gaming time, I’ve assembled some tips for navigating these pitfalls of ADHD and OCD gaming.

• Know when to intentionally DNF. It can be difficult to discern between a genuinely good game that just has a few lulls in it and a bad game that isn’t worth your time. This is highly subjective. It may help to identify what you look for in games you love, so your decisions aren’t just based on your current mood. Why do you want to play this game? Is this a genre that you typically enjoy? What is the game’s Metacritic rating? Do have good reasons for wanting to see this game through to the end? Weigh and measure, and when necessary, make the choice to drop a game that you are not enjoying. There should be no guilt in that. Intentionally protecting your time by choosing not to play a game that is just not for you is not the same as getting distracted and unintentionally neglecting a good game.

• Know when to say no to completionism. For those lifetime games that make it into your top-10-all-time list, getting that 100% save file can be very enjoyable (or 102% for DKC2). However, most games are not worthy of the full completionist run, and simply rolling credits is enough. Don’t wear yourself out going for that platinum unless you draw a particular enjoyment out of that approach to gaming.

• Follow the rule of 3. Juggling a dozen games at once is definitely ADHD gaming territory, and you will likely struggle to remember all the little details in each game that would typically make a prioritized playthrough more rewarding. On the other hand, limiting yourself to just one game at a time is pure OCD gaming nonsense that will doubtlessly lead to mental block and a gaming slump. So then, how many games should you play simultaneously? Again, this is subjective, but I believe 3 games is a good place to start. From time to time, we all need a break from a game, especially those 100+ hour RPG epics. Limit yourself to just 3 active games at a time, opting for a variety of genres, and you will get the most out of those three games.

• Follow the two week rule. This rule works in tandem with the former. It’s best not to have more than one story-heavy game in your rotation of 3 games, but try not to go longer than two weeks before revisiting a story-heavy game so you don’t forget everything that’s happened. All those little details are important to fully enjoying the narrative. This two week window can also be a good impetus to break a slump. In my experience, when I don’t feel like engaging with a game, I try to just boot it up and start. Almost always, within minutes, I’m enjoying the game again and enjoying the feeling of making good progress.

• Avoid game franchise marathons. I made a crucial error with the Pokémon franchise. I wanted to catch up on all the old games that I missed, so I played generation 4, 5, 6, and 7 in sequence. It was one long marathon of Pokémon games. This is not ideal. Because the games in this franchise have such similar gameplay, I quickly developed some Pokémon fatigue. This can be true for any franchise with multiple releases (Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Donkey Kong). Break it up, space out the games, and play through something from a completely different genre before tackling the next entry in the series.

Hopefully these tips will help you to get the most out of your gaming experiences. What are your thoughts on these concepts? Do you lean more towards ADHD gaming or OCD gaming? Leave a comment below.