Salma Yasser Designs Egypt’s First Video Game Raising Awareness About ADHD
Salma Yasser, a senior student at the Faculty of Digital Arts and Design at Egypt University of Informatics, has designed Egypt’s first-ever video game aimed at supporting children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). According to the World Health Organization, approximately 5 in every 100 children worldwide are affected by ADHD, a condition often accompanied by social exclusion, discrimination, learning difficulties, risky behavior, and physical health problems.
Prof. Ashraf Zaki, Dean of the Faculty, emphasized that electronic games now play a central role in advancing technology, shaping culture, and strengthening social bonds. As games increasingly become part of everyday life for future generations, the college encourages students to create graduation projects that address real societal challenges, be they economic or related to quality of life, such as education, health, and mental well-being.
He noted that the university is fully supporting students like Salma Yasser, who designed a game that immerses players in the ADHD experience. The game allows users to navigate a world filled with distractions and challenges, mimicking what individuals with ADHD face in daily life. This immersive journey aims to foster empathy and understanding by highlighting coping strategies and everyday obstacles.
Dr. Ashraf Mahdy, Head of the Game Design Program at the Faculty, stated that the program mentors students like Salma, helping them craft compelling game narratives, design engaging environments and characters, and manage the entire development process. He also revealed that the university is working to help students formally register their games to protect their intellectual property while promoting these projects to companies and gaming centers in hopes of securing commercial investment and regional market release.
The game, titled “Conscious Chaos,” is grounded in Salma Yasser’s research on ADHD. She explained that ADHD is more than just difficulty focusing or hyperactivity; it also involves emotional regulation challenges and disrupted executive functions. People with ADHD have structurally different brains, particularly in areas linked to attention and impulse control. This understanding guided her in designing a game not just for entertainment, but as an educational tool to raise awareness and reshape societal perceptions of ADHD.
Conscious Chaos takes players on a journey through a chaotic mental world that reflects the inner workings of a mind with ADHD. Players face distractions, impulsive urges, and overwhelming thoughts, solving puzzles and overcoming obstacles while learning to manage symptoms and build coping mechanisms.
The game includes four levels, each visually representing the dynamic and fluctuating nature of ADHD. Some levels immerse players in dark, hazy environments with muted shades of blue, green, violet, black, and gray—conveying confusion, isolation, and inner turmoil. In contrast, other levels burst with vibrant energy, using saturated pastel hues of red, blue, yellow, orange, and pink to symbolize moments of creativity, focus, and stimulation.
To bring the main character to life, Salma drew inspiration from the visually rich style of the Arcane animated series. The character is designed using expressive 3D models blended with textured 2D shading, creating a visually striking hybrid that captures the contrast between calm and chaos—core elements of the ADHD experience.
Salma emphasized that every shift in the game’s environment and character design aims to deepen the player’s emotional connection to the ADHD journey, fostering empathy and raising awareness of the condition's complexity and impact.