Sometimes games are art, sometimes games are fun, and sometimes games attempt to teach you something. Case in point, Auti-sim. This jumble of code is less game and more “interactive experiment” as it places you in the shoes of an autistic child with Auditory Hypersensitivity. Get close to any of the other children and your whole world is a mess of uneasiness and outright fright. As silly as it may seem, this game is quite scary.
There is not much to the “game,” but it certainly left an impact on me. Exploring the small playground with the disability given, forced me to skirt around other children and basically stay to myself. Games like this could go a long way in helping people understand, in just a few moments, how people with disabilities suffer. Sympathy is a hard thing to come by these days and taking a walk in someone’s virtual shoes could help change that.