AuDHD here, and I certainly can't.
I'm specifically thinking about Big Walk, but this applies to every co-op game I've ever tried. Portal 2 co-op also springs to mind.
I figure things out way more slowly than everyone else. I have no sense of direction, so I constantly get lost and lag behind.
And the freeform, "Let's go and look at this… Oh, or, actually, we could go and look at that first…" shit is just overwhelming. Most of the time I don't really understand either of the two options, having not noticed the same landmarks as the other players – and even if I did, I can't visualise where I am in relation to them. So I just say "dunno" or "either is fine", and worry about missing out on the other option – even as I'm stuck not actually contributing anything to the game.
People walk into a new puzzle and can instantly start putting the pieces together. I could, if I had time to have a look around and figure out all the different "parts" to the puzzle… get my bearings, y'know? But in a co-op game, what invariably happens is that everyone else figures it out while I get more and more confused and feel like crying.
Either that or I end up basically being "the guy who holds the light" while the actual human players have fun all around me. 🙄
And then I get to be the "moody" guy who ruins it for everyone by having a shit time and complaining. It's unbearable, it makes me feel like such a joke of a failure of a person.
Can anyone relate? 🙈
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ETA: Thanks for all the replies, I'm loving hearing everyone's thoughts and it's made me feel SO much better. 💖
I avoid them like the plague.
I need to explore and play games at my own pace, which can get pretty chaotic. I don't want to spend extra brain power on keeping track of what someone else is doing, I want to be able to get up and use the bathroom when needed or get drinks and snacks when I want to, and when I abruptly get tired of playing I want to close the game and do something else.
But also, I'm going to spend an absurd amount of energy on worrying if I'm playing correctly and whether the other person is getting frustrated with me and actually hates my guts for ruining the whole game. So yeah.