Neurodiversity Pride Week · annual theme
Gaming Day
Games, creativity and connection, with room for different ways to take part.
About this day
Play can be a way to belong without having to perform a social script.
Every 13 June, Gaming Day is one of the seven annual themes of Neurodiversity Pride Week (11–17 June). The Foundation continues this theme on the same date each year. What follows is a guide to the purpose of the day, not a list of confirmed events for a future edition.
What this day means
Gaming Day celebrates games as places for creativity, curiosity and social connection. For some neurodivergent people, a cooperative game offers clearer rules than an unstructured conversation. Others enjoy strategy, world-building, storytelling, puzzles or the joy of mastering a skill at their own pace. There is no preferred genre and no requirement to be competitive.
Games can bring people together across distance, language and age, but access is uneven. Cost, online harassment, rapidly changing interfaces, motor demands, bright effects and complicated group dynamics can exclude players. An inclusive gaming activity looks at those barriers before welcoming new participants.
Gaming Day can also honour the people who create games: players, designers, writers, testers, modders and communities who invent new ways to play. A game is not automatically inclusive because it features a neurodivergent character; choice, usability and respectful representation matter as well.
The 2026 programme: an example, not a promise
The official ND Pride Week 2026 programme connected Gaming Day with local board-game gatherings and the launch of an ND Pride Gamejam that, for that edition, ran beyond 13 June. These were examples of what the organiser offered in 2026, not confirmed events for later years.
Gaming Day remains the fixed annual theme for 13 June. Check the year’s official ND Pride announcements for any new game jam, meetup, stream or local gathering.
Ways to take part
- Host a small cooperative board-game table with a clear start and end time, written rules and an easy way to join or leave.
- Offer both online and offline possibilities: games on a phone, tabletop games, accessible puzzles or a shared story can all count.
- Invite players to set up accessibility options together, such as captions, remappable controls, reduced visual effects, longer turn times or text chat.
- Create a low-pressure design challenge: imagine a game that rewards cooperation, curiosity or different kinds of problem-solving instead of speed alone.
Make participation accessible
Ask people about sensory and interaction preferences; do not assume everyone wants voice chat, eye contact, surprise competition or a noisy room. Rules against harassment need a clear way to report problems and follow-up action.
Take breaks seriously. A participant who watches, sketches, plays for a few minutes or decides not to play is still welcome.
What can last beyond this day?
Keep a record of the accessibility features that actually helped. If you host another session, start from participants’ feedback rather than adding more spectacle.
The spirit of Gaming Day is not that everybody must love games; it is that play and friendship can take many forms, and people should be free to choose theirs.