> Getting "old internet" vibes from this one. Good job.

Thank you. Neovim has radicalized my design sensibilities and I really miss the internet I used in the 90s as a kid.

> I'm not at all familiar with Autism, and I have no idea what "Masking" means at all, but every option I choose seems to lower that stat, to the point where I never make it to day 2. Is there a cheat sheet that lists the "correct" selections at each step?

I got a chuckle out of this because it's how I felt IRL for a long time. Especially "every option I choose seems to lower that stat" This is a good rundown https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/behavio...

No cheatsheet but I'll opensource the code in a few days when i clean it up a bit

Wow, thanks for the link, this and the other replies have been helpful.

I approached the game as a non-neurodivergent person making whatever the natural decision I personally would have made in each situation, and ended up dying to the "masking" every time! It kind of gives me an appreciation that what comes naturally to me, at no cost, imposes a tremendous cost to others. I suppose that might have been the whole point of the site. Well done.

Congratulations! By realizing this insight, you won the true game.

Masking is just acting in a way that you normally wouldn't, but have to. Think of a spy blending in avoiding to get caught, it's a conscious effort not to screw up and it takes more energy/willpower from you than not having to pretend to be someone else. I guess it gets harder the more different from yourself you have to act, like having an itch you can't scratch or will get "punished" somehow, damn.

Even just learning that there’s a word for this has kinda opened my eyes

Masking is someone suppressing their natural autistic behaviors. It's not even necessarily conscious but it takes a large toll on mental energy. Besides the energy required for the masking itself there's the compounding effect of setting unrealistic expectations in others. The better someone is at masking the more is expected of them which creates an even larger drain on mental energy.

>Masking is someone suppressing their natural autistic behaviors.

Well, masking is done by everybody, not just autists, but in this game it's used to refer to that specifically. Arguably autists have to do it more, or feel the exhaustion from it more strongly.