5 Nintendo Switch games for the gamer with ADHD

Hades

Going to end this list strong with this boy.

You more than likely know about Hades at this point. It made just about every best game list of 2020. This year, when it came out for Playstation and XBox it plowed everything out of it’s way and became the number one selling game on both systems almost instantly. It’s that good.

Hades, in my opinion, has the best loop for the ADHD riddled soul I’ve ever seen. This is probably why despite the fact it SHOULD feel repetitive, it’s absolutely enjoyable even though I play a little bit almost nightly now since the Nintendo Switch version came out.

Sure, graphics are pretty. The voice acting is expert. And the controls couldn’t control any better if you hooked the game up directly to my central nervous system but that’s what makes the game good in general, why’s it good for someone with ADHD?

When you start out, you learn the enemies and the bosses and then you die…a whole bunch. I died over and over again. But every time you die something new happens. The hub world always has new dialogue and events keep happening. Nothing has looped even though I’ve easily beaten the game about 100 some times at this point. So even if you die, there’s a reward to it.

Not only that but every time you start, even if you just do the same weapon over and over again, the gods you meet and the boons they grant will completely change it up. You could have a sword that crashes lightning in it’s wake when you swing it thanks to Zeus or you could have one that has a bit of a greenish glow and every time you attack a spectral arrow leaves it and hits a near by enemy for extra damage thanks to Artemis.

Each of the six weapons has four forms with their own bonuses and each of them has things that change via the bosses.

And when you beat the game, oh my god the endgame content is masterful. I’ve been doing endgame content for months, constantly stunned by how much stuff is still in the game. You start getting bonus trinkets that work like summons, you can romance certain characters, you start to help certain characters get along, you unravel mysteries and build a working relationship with your father.

Every single playthrough gift wraps the finest cut of dopamine (have I said that word enough in this article?) and delivers it to you via chauffer. If you have ADHD and you’re having a hard time sticking with a game, this will more than likely be your zen. Don’t be fooled by it’s appearance either. It looks like some moody Diablo stuff at first but it’s filled with rich characters, humor, and a genuinely fascinating story that, as far as my experience has granted me, never truly seems to end and, quite frankly, I hope it never does.

Hope this list was able to help some of you. I know ADHD can be a whirlwind and I know it took me a long time to understand why I kept buying the wrong games. It took me forever to realize why I was stopping RPGs and massive triple A games like Skyrim and Witcher before the end despite my progress. Why I stopped Persona 5 Royale before the last boss despite being obsessed with it. It took me a long time to realize what I was really looking for and I hope this helps you find it too.

Oh, and if you have suggestions of your own, drop it below!