Stuck on Hard Mode: The ADHD, Autistic and AuDHD Strategy Guide for Real Life

by Erin Phillips

Your energy levels are depleted; those laundry and washing up questlines are all flashing with red exclamation marks and nearly everything is on fire...but that's just an average day for many neurodivergent people, right?

Being autistic, ADHD or AuDHD can sometimes feel like you're stuck on hard mode with no option to toggle that difficulty setting. Fear not! The first ever neurodivergent-friendly strategy guide to everyday life is here to improve your gameplay in a world built for neurotypicals.

Hilarious, witty and packed full of gorgeous art and 'screenshots' from the ultimate videogame - real life - this strategy guide is your tool to surviving the missions and quests of the daily grind.

Helped along by your digital companion Erin and allies you'll meet along the way, this guide features advice on customising your character, developing your stats, managing tricky status effects like burnout, and even making friends and exploring relationships in multiplayer mode. In this guide you have all the strats, tips and tricks you need to thrive during all aspects of gameplay as a neurodivergent player. So, let's begin and establish a play style that works for you.

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Expected publication May 21, 2026

Reviews

[Val~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original and creative way of approaching the neurodivergent world from the perspective of an MMORPG gamer!

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy of Stuck in Hard Mode by Erin Phillips, to be published on March 19th, 2026.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

Stuck on Hard Mode is a self-help/information book for children/YA with ADHD, ASD and AuDHD told in a format of gaming which I'm sure will appeal to numerous children/YA and help them relate to the content told through a gaming narrative and language. The illustrations are fun and there is some good information within the book but what put me off the book and what I didn't think it contained when I requested it was the information relating to sexuality and gender which I do feel should be highlighted in the books information.

[Lotta Z (Not active due to sickness) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

DNF - I thought this book was going to be about Autism and ADHD exclusively BUT it's not. Gender and sexuality are being discussed early on and I didn't pick up this book for that sorry. I liked the idea of the book, but the subject matter should have been restricted to the title in my opinion.

Thanks for reading!

🤍🤍🤍

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuck on Hard Mode is a short how-to guide for teens (and maybe those older than teens) on the Autism Spectrum and/or ADHD to navigate a world built for neurotypical (NT) people. Based on the notion of these people living life on “hard mode”, comes a guide that sounds much like a MMORPG manual. Using terms like “level” for age, it’s written much like you’re playing a game, but in life.exe, you only have one and there’s no respawns. While this wording might appeal to a certain crowd, I didn’t entirely vibe with it, even though I’m a gamer. Otherwise, this is a great guide for teens to navigate the real world with their unique traits (termed stats) and how to make things easier in many aspects of life. I do like that the author is an older autistic that had to learn life without knowing they were on hard mode and speaks very much like a mentor. The most important thing is that the teens know that they aren’t broken, just different with their own challenges, which might seem harder in this NT world. Part of me wished this existed when I was a teen. Highly recommended!
*I received an ARC from Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers. All opinions are my own.*

[Kasey Szamatulski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Pubslishers for the advanced reader's copy!

As someone who is AuDHD, this book feels so wonderful to have! For a long time, I've searched books about Autism and ADHD to help me improve my life. While the advice would overlap, there wasn't much about someone with both conditions. In fact, some sources drew a hard line between the two-urging readers not to mix up the two conditions due to similar symptoms. What is a someone with AuDHD -essentially mixed up-to do? Wait for a book like this to come out!

I loved the explanation of life-as Life.exe the game we are all playing. However, the game was built for the neurotypical (NT) folks with neurodiverse (ND) folks feeling like broken NT builds. Yet this book helps show that is not the case-we can thrive and win at our Main Quest-whatever that is for folks that are Autistic, ADHDers, and AuDHDers. It's a matter of knowing how the mind works and working with it to help us thrive-it's not a matter of pushing ourselves to Burnout status to match others. With the game analogy, it really breaks down aspects of Austitic, ADHD, and AuDHD life-such as various stats and statuses- such Luck being level of privilege, Bandwidth being mental energy and Burnout being a status that you can recover from if you truly take care of yourself. Knowing that I’m not a broken NT, just a different build as an AuDHDer is so nice and comforting!
For a target audience, I’d say this would mainly be more middle school/ young adult mainly because the examples use characters or ‘builds’, that are either trying to get into university, struggling in class, or in relationships. Most of the art depicts teenagers/young adults as well. Still, I fell like it could be good for any age willing to learn about Autism, ADHD, and AuDHD.

Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone with Autism, ADHD, or both, or to family and friends that want to understand the neurodiverse in their life. I really look forward to seeing this book in stores!

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 ARC (Thank you NetGalley!)

Basically, this is the book I wish I had read when I was a kid.

An Autism/ADHD diagnosis can be anxiety-inducing, especially with the overwhelming vocabulary (and functionality) of it all. Enter this book: explaining neurodivergence using video game metaphors is incredibly clear and relatable. I really appreciate that the book focuses on both Autism and ADHD, showing that there can be a link between these categories. The overall tone of the book is empowering: The idea that neurodivergent people are not broken, just have different “stats.” I also particularly appreciated the section where the author encourages readers to stim if they need to (and offers many suggestions for how to do this covertly if readers are concerned about attracting attention).

My only question is why there wasn’t a quick note at the beginning of the book stating that not all sections may be appropriate for every reader (and that that’s okay). For example, I would feel comfortable recommending this book to a nine year old, but not if they aren’t ready to digest the lengthy section on sexuality. To be clear, the book is very encouraging and repeatedly reminds readers that everyone is different, however, I think some young readers may stop reading if they feel a section is not applicable to them (yet?).

For some young readers, this book will really speak to them and give them great insight into how they move through the world. The author uses “us” and “we,” which makes the tone welcoming and lets the reader know from the very beginning that they are not alone in facing the world (a great message for anyone).

[Janneke]

I really wanted to like this book. I think it could be a very helpful resource to many people, especially teenagers with autism or ADHD. Part of what makes this book stand out from others like it, is that it describes everything as if life is a video game. This drew my attention and made me pick it up, but sadly also got tiring very quickly for me. I guess I'm not familiar enough with video game terms, because I kept having to consciously think about what that related to in real life. The book does start with a comprehensive glossary of all the terms used, but having to go back to look at that or think about it, made this book take more mental energy than I have to spend currently and made me not want to pick it up to continue. I do still think this book could be great for many people, but I'm definitely not one of them.

*I received this book through Netgalley*

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited for this book as someone who loves video games and is neurodivergent. I hoped it would bring those two worlds together and even become something I could share with my daughter when she is older. Unfortunately, the book fell short for me.

The gaming analogies did not always translate well for me. Some sections felt like a lot was being said without actually offering clear or actionable insight. I also felt the book drifted away from what I thought its core purpose would be at times, which made it harder to stay engaged.

I can see this book being more helpful for young adults, particularly those who are just beginning to learn about neurodiversity.

I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.