We designed, developed, and tested Neurotype Cafe, a visual novel video game about a young autistic woman with ADHD, Nia, who works in a cafe. Incorporating digital art, extensive programming, playtesting feedback, and game design principles, Neurotype Cafe was designed, written, and programmed by a core team of three students with art developed by four independent study students. The game explores themes of self-acceptance, anti-perfectionism, and bridging communication gaps between different ways of experiencing the world, centering the perspective of a neurodivergent main character. The primary goal of this game was to depict everyday experiences of neurodivergent people through both narrative events and game mechanics that both neurodivergent and neurotypical audiences can appreciate.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Dias, Lena
• Tanguay, Mitchel
• Larrabee, Harmoni

Subject

• Community
• Culture
• Computing
• Inclusion

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042623-113343
• 105246

Keyword

• lived experience
• visual novel
• Ren'Py
• neurodiversity
• representation
• service industry

Advisor

• Bohrer, Rose
• Schneider, Ben

Year

• 2023

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 5 - Gender Equality
• 10 - Reducing Inequality

Date created

• 2023-04-26

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Interactive Media & Game Development
• Computer Science

Source

• E-project-042623-113343

Rights statement

• In Copyright

License

• Creative Commons BY-NC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Last modified

• 2023-08-02