EndeavorOTC®: Outplay ADHD

I am a therapist that helps people with adhd. Whatever this is is stressful and annoying. And expensive. I’m deeply dubious. Would never recommend to a client.

This game is the same every time, over and over. I also hate having to hold my phone flat because there’s no comfortable position I can get in to do well at the game. It’s a NO for me.

I hate it so much. I want my money back. The character has jerky movements, so even when I hold the device like they tell you the character either 1. Doesn’t move 2. Doesn’t move as much as I’m tilting 3. Moves much more than I’m tilting. Basically the movement is unpredictable and I’ve missed plenty of power zones simply because the character “glitches”. Additionally, I’ve noticed that when I tap the screen the game says I’ve missed the ball even though it’s still on screen. I’ve missed several to the point where I believe the game I’m unable to register quick taps, and you must long press with a thick part of your finger not just the tip. This makes fast tapping nearly impossible. Further more when you miss an object your character stumbles, but this for whatever reason will also cause the character to stop responding to your taps or movements causing you to further miss objects. The graphics are terrible. It’s SO boring I can barely do a 10 minute lesson. There is no way to return to previous levels-like if you’re stuck on a challenge level but want to do a normal run-you can’t.

The game is really, really, REALLY repetitive. I’m sure there’s a methodological point to that, so, okay. But the only thing that really gets you through is that the scenery eventually changes as you gain levels, and you “earn” things for your character. Except the last time I updated, the app lost all my data and thinks I’m a completely new player so I have to start all the way at the beginning. Ugh, I just don’t know if I can do it. Probably I’ll continue to play off and on until my subscription runs out.

Spectacular. This is engaging, effective, based on good science, actually accessible. Wish more neuroscientists were doing this - super impressed by the UCSF lab that originally developed it and the game company that produced this. Telling everyone about it. Bravo!

I am the art lead at a game design studio, and I heard about this app through an article. I was very excited to try it out, since I have ADHD. I really like the idea, and it did force me to focus a lot. But there are some problems with how the game functions. First off, you have to hold your device flat, which means that you're uncomfortably craning over- that in itself is quite distracting, and doesn't seem necessary since there are so many racing games where the device can be held vertically. If there is a specific reason that it needs to be held flat, then that should be mentioned (neurological, focus?). If not, it's a pretty big design flaw and should probably be adjusted. Secondly, the experience is surprisingly OK on an iPad, but not on an iPhone. The touch areas on the left and right get obscured by your thumbs, so sometimes you can't see the target spheres flying at you and miss them. Finally, I found the actual tilt control to be overly sensitive, and the interaction boundary that you crash into extends past the actual edge mesh. Many times, I was punished for hitting the side of the path, when I very clearly didn't. There might be a consistent boundary set along there instead of a mesh-based collider, that would be my guess. I also have worked on edutainment games, so something like this is extremely exciting. It's only in early access, but these are the big three gameplay things I would try to improve. (As well as not forcing somebody to spend $25 to try a month for EA- there is no free trial available that I could find. I know game development is expensive, but that's too much.)

I like the idea of this but I really dislike the fact that you have to hold your phone flat and tilt it to make the character move side to side. First it’s terrible for posture as you’re literally hunching over your phone, second if your phone is not flat the functionality isn’t as good which then defeats the purpose of the game. It’s also annoying that you have to hit the targets exactly in the middle for them to count. Hit them only part way and they won’t register. The targeting is a little finicky too, if you don’t tap in the exact area on the sides of your screen (you’re tapping too far into the screen) it doesn’t work. Great concept but I’m not going to pay over $100 for something that clearly needs more work.

I had an annual subscription. Game was helpful and interesting in the beginning, but echoing what others have said, as you advance the game quickly got very boring and repetitive. I'm not quite convinced of their marketing claims and feel they are overhyped based on extant research and understanding, but I can see how it *might* have some small initial positive effects in the beginning. Interesting concept and I laud the developers and founders for their initial efforts. I just feel that currently, the tech, execution, business strategy, sustainability, and the efficacy of such games just aren't there yet to warrant the high price and extreme time commitment.

The experience was good overall, and the performance feedback initially felt informative. Using this app has helped improve my concentration during meditation and other tasks. However, I do have some issues—catching up to the guide feels more like a punishment than something I want to accomplish. The brief flash of distracting light limits my vision by at least 60%, and response timing relies too heavily on thumb placement and impulsive clicking, which makes it an unreliable measure of concentration. Additionally, the moving targets often create visual gaps that are nearly impossible to navigate without disrupting focus