AutiSIM
AutiSIM: An Autism Experience Simulator
AutiSIM is a choice-based life sim about the parts of autistic life that are usually invisible from the outside.
You spend two weeks as a 17-year-old autistic girl, getting through school, family, friendships and a presentation she’s dreading. Every day costs something: noise and light fill up your sensory load, people drain your social battery, and masking keeps you looking “fine” while quietly using up energy you’ll need later. Small choices add up. Push too hard and the costs come due as shutdowns, meltdowns, or autistic burnout.
Some options are what “most people would do”, and you’ll see them on screen. You just can’t always take them.
AutiSIM draws on the lived experience of Feng, a late-diagnosed autistic woman, alongside wider autistic accounts and research.
Features
- Choice-based story across 14 days, with multiple endings
- Sensory load, energy, social battery, stress, masking and burnout systems that carry over from day to day
- Different ways to handle social situations, rest and self-regulation
- Optional recorded sound, with a Soft mode and a calm, low-stimulation mode
- Playable in 9 languages
- Designed to make invisible internal costs visible
AutiSIM is not a diagnostic tool, and it doesn’t claim that autism feels like this for everyone. It’s one perspective, made playable.
Content note: depictions of meltdowns, shutdowns, social isolation, mocking and ableist comments.
Comments
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Genuinely beautiful game...... See...... I'm autistic too, just turned eighteen, and I can really relate to what the girl in the story went through. It handles difficult-to-explain experiences with a lot of care, and there were moments where I felt seen in a way I don’t often feel in games.
If you’re on the spectrum, in my experience it might help to start with Sensory-friendly mode on and Sound set to Off or Soft… My first playthrough was on Full Sound. I thought I’d be fine......then I got completely sensory overloaded...... That is absolutely NOT the game’s fault. I just didn’t check the settings first. I’m really not saying the game’s bad...
Whether you're autistic or not, it’s worth experiencing. Thank you for making something this meaningful. I wish you happiness <3 <3 <3
Thank you so much for this 🥹💛 I’m really glad you felt seen, that means more to me than I can say.
And I completely understand, because when I was testing the Full Sound version myself, I got really overloaded too! That’s exactly why I added the warning. Honestly, apart from testing the sound, I play with sound off all the time.
I made the sound quite intense on purpose so that people who’ve never experienced this could get a sense of it, so it’s probably not the best choice for people on the spectrum. I’m sorry it caught you off guard, and I hope you’re feeling okay now.
Thank you for sharing your experience and the tip too, I think it’ll really help other autistic players. Wishing you lots of happiness as well <3
I'm a probably autistic girl and I think this game is beautyful. I have a mom who not really belive me. It's okay, I don't belive myself sometimes too. I a bit scared of taking diagnose, becouse if I'm not autistic this will mean I'm just "weird".
Have a nice life <3
Thank you so much, this means a lot to me 🥹💛
Your feelings are real and they don’t depend on a diagnosis. I was diagnosed late too, and before that I sometimes didn’t believe myself either. I was really afraid and anxious about getting the diagnosis and part of me even felt that I’d rather not get one. But in the end, here I am.
And if one day you take the assessment and find out that you’re not autistic, you’re still not “just weird”. The way you feel things is still real and still matters.
Take your time.
Have a great day, and a nice life too(≧▽≦)/
as someone who's familiar with this and studied it, this is such a good representation and very well done, I really love how you made it so people that struggle with this can play it without feeling overstimulated, and people who don't can play this experiencing something similar to what people with autism go through. Amazing game! keep going <3
Thank you so much! This really means a lot, especially coming from someone who’s studied it.
That balance was actually one of the things I cared about most, because I wanted autistic players to be able to play without getting overwhelmed, while still giving people who’ve never experienced it a small glimpse of what it’s like. I’m so glad it came through!
Thank you for playing, and for such a kind comment 💛