EndeavorOTC®: Outplay ADHD

The game is fun and I appreciate the accessibility of being OTC. I think there’s also room to explore other games, but I think the baseline gameplay challenge needs to be super smooth. Like Super Mario is popular for both casual players and speed running because the gameplay is both accessible but also *feels* nice to play so you can grind away at it. My impression is EndeavorOTC works by getting me into flow state playing a continuous attention/motion game, while still requiring me to pay attention for quick visual pattern recognition. I think the pattern matching challenge is fine, except it’s hard to watch for patterns on a tiny screen while I’m physically shaking my phone around and need to also keep my thumbs off the screen to avoid false inputs. (Games like DDR address this by being edge-triggered rather than level-triggered; you don’t get penalized for continuing to stand on a button after activating it, and high skill players rely on this.) I’d like to be able to play with a video game controller though. For example, let me play on tvOS using a PS5 controller. I’d have a much easier time looking at a stable screen, using a joystick to pilot, and multiple available physical buttons to press whichever is most convenient (or make it an extra difficulty at higher levels that there are separate buttons to press for different obstacles )

I was just charged $130 after only 6 days when they say you get a week free. I was under the impression I had 7 days to cancel, not 5. This is intentionally misleading. The day even said the 24th was when I would be auto renewed however today is the 23rd. I was charged at 4pm so it’s not like it was close to midnight or anything. I will be reaching out to Apple as this is unacceptable. I’m updating my review as I have received a full refund. As someone with adhd I did notice a change after using the app after only 1 week. I must admit however I could be biased as it is the only video game I have played within the last 3 years. I will give them credit as this game did get increasingly difficult the more I played which I felt played I significant part the increase I felt in my attention and awareness. My only complaint is the $130 price tag which is billed annually. If it was half the price I would have kept it. Unfortunately $130 a year billed after a week is still too steep for me. The only alternative is $21 a month which ends up being close to double to $130 annual price. I do feel this subscription model preys on neurodivergent people as there is no reminders of the upcoming renewal. I even put it in my calendar to cancel a day before yet still was charged. If this app were free with ads I would use it every day to help my symptoms. I just can’t justify the current price tag.

I’ve only completed the tutorial and 5 minutes of gameplay, but this feels like the type of brain game I’ve been looking for for the past 15 years. When I was first learning to drive at 17, I had horrible hand eye coordination and kept crashing into things and confusing the foot pedals every time. After I stopped needing video game therapy for ADHD, I grew up always doing brain games that would help bring me to my optimal self. I played Flash Flash Revolution (keyboard version of DDR) and a phone game that required the same level of focus and multitasking required here in this game. From using those games, especially the latter, for 3+ months, I was able to drive better and more safely, and I could actually finally tell right from left. I then played DDR as much as I could, when I could, on the machine and when the DDR mobile game came out. This game so far feels like that game that helped me out to learn focus and motor skills to drive and reminds me very much of those rhythm games, but without the dance music. It’s the perfect combination of the two! I was surprised how well I could steer for as long as I did until I started making mistakes. I usually have a hard time steering in games. It also feels easier and less overwhelming than what I remember of the multitasking game that helped me learn better focus and motor skills to learn to drive. So to me, that feels like an upgrade. I hope that with an increase in enjoyment and a decrease in stress and overwhelm, that this game will help me improve myself far more than that one old multitasking game ever could.