Like the 3.3 billion other people in the world who consider themselves gamers, I spend a lot of my time entering different worlds, exploring new terrains, and building environments of my own. Gaming has always been something I’ve deeply loved because of the freedom it gives me to express myself and tell stories. In many ways, it feels like the natural evolution of building houses from Jenga blocks or using chess pieces as characters when I was younger, only now the worlds are digital and far more expansive (and expensive).

I’m also neurodivergent, which can mean many things, but in this context it means my attachment to interests can be… intense. The kind of intense that takes over your entire brain and fills your head so completely it feels like your thoughts are physically pushing against the inside of your skull trying to make more room. So of course the idea of taking gaming concepts and applying them to “life.exe” immediately appealed to me.

A couple of weeks ago I was sent Stuck on Hard Mode by Erin Phillips, an AUDHD author who combines their experiences of neurodivergence and gaming culture to create a strategy guide for surviving real life. The book takes experiences many neurodivergent people are already familiar with and reframes them using gaming terminology in a way that feels intuitive. Feeling exhausted and overwhelmed? Your bandwidth is low. Had adjustments made to help you access something? That’s a buff. The circumstances you started life with? Your game mode. You get the idea.

What Phillips does particularly well is make difficult conversations feel lighter without diminishing their importance. The book uses humour, familiar language, and game mechanics to explain experiences that are often frustrating, isolating, or difficult to articulate. It does exactly what games themselves are designed to do: make hard things feel manageable.

As a result, reading it reminded me of aspects of 'Reality Is Broken' by Jane McGonigal, particularly the sections discussing the origins of gameplay and gamification. McGonigal explores how humans have historically used games and play as tools for coping with hardship, stress, uncertainty, and survival. In many ways, Stuck on Hard Mode follows that same philosophy. Being neurodivergent can be difficult, but humans are naturally inventive when it comes to creating systems that help us adapt. Viewing life through the lens of gameplay can make challenges feel less intimidating and objectives more approachable. Personally, I already find myself re framing tasks in game-like ways, and this book gave me even more ideas for how to do that.

If I had one criticism, it would simply be that the book is very text-heavy. For a book aimed at people who may struggle with focus, processing, or executive dysfunction, the density of text can occasionally feel intimidating. I would genuinely love to see these ideas adapted into a comic-book format in the future because I think the concepts would translate brilliantly and the book is already filled with great illustrations.

Overall, though, I think this book is fantastic. For neurodivergent readers wanting to feel seen, while also picking up practical and genuinely useful strategies for navigating everyday life, this book offers insight, humour, and validation in equal measure. Equally, for neurotypical readers looking to better understand a neurodivergent experience, it provides an engaging and compassionate perspective.

Give it a read. You might find a few new ways to add more play into your own life.

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