For Australians, playing sports, going on outdoor adventures, and "having a go" are all at the heart of our cultural identity.
But what do you do if you can't have a go because of physical or mental disability?
In 1996 I was born with the very rare Maffucci syndrome which stunts growth, causes physical deformities, weak bones, and loss of mobility.
It's a random mutation, it's not inherited, and there aren't predictable causes. It can't be cured, only managed and only about 300 cases have ever been reported in modern literature.
In my case my legs and arms are different lengths and as a child I had surgery every few years to lengthen my legs so I could walk.
These operations left me in a wheelchair for up to six months at a time while my leg was held in a large frame and lengthened a millimetre each day.
Needless to say, growing up in schools in Australia was hard. Finding common ground with my classmates, particularly with the other boys, who revelled in the competition of sports training, was tricky.
My reports almost always read "not applicable" under physical education, and my participation in sports carnivals and camps was ruled out well in advance.
Running and jumping without limits
But in 1999 the Sony PlayStation arrived in our home with a copy of Croc 2, a video game about a young crocodile who runs and jumps through colourful landscapes to find his lost family.
As a person living with a disability, playing video games is one of the most liberating experiences that I can think of.
The joy of video games comes from leaving behind the pain and frustration of not being able to move my body and imagining myself running, jumping, and going on adventures all my own.
And I'm not alone. I spoke to other gamers at PAX Australia in Melbourne, Australia's largest video and tabletop game convention, who shared their experience with disability and saw games as a positive force in their lives.
For many gamers living with disabilities, their favourite virtual adventure is more than just data on a disc, it's a portal to an even larger community of gamers, many of whom also live with and understand the struggles of their specific disability.
'If I can't get out of the house, I can jump online'
Wolfie, as she is known online, is a Geelong-based gamer and Twitch streamer who focuses on playing horror and simulator games.
Following the 31-year-old's diagnoses with a series of illnesses she was forced to reconfigure her life, but has found joy in these interactive environments.
"I think it's just been a process over the last few months, especially with dealing with chronic fatigue syndrome and all that, just having to relearn how to live life, basically," Wolfie says.
"I am a very go, go, go, go, go person. So all of a sudden I had to stop and reassess everything, just focusing on what makes me happy — and that's content creation and gaming.
"Even if I'm having a bad flare day and I can't get out of the house for whatever reason, I know that I can jump online.
"I can jump into Discord, I can hang out with my friends that way, and it just gives me that community and that connection that I otherwise might be missing out on because of my disabilities and chronic illnesses."
A community that gets it
Matty Ellis, also 31 and who lives in Darwin, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease at age 15 and said that he found a community who both loved games and understood what he was going through.
"I've never known anyone with Crohn's [disease] until gaming. I've never known many people with rheumatoid arthritis until gaming," he says.
"So it's been really cool to connect with more people and be able to talk about Crohn's, and all the intricacies that it brings, with people who also understand."
The need for purpose-built hardware and specialised software allowing gamers with disabilities opportunities for play and connection is increasingly being prioritised by the major gaming companies.
However, the multitude of unique disability experiences makes it difficult for video games to achieve full accessibility for everyone.
'We just want as many people as possible to come play with us'
Kaitlyn Jones is a senior product manager at Microsoft's Xbox gaming accessibility team.
Her team builds new hardware like the Xbox Adaptive Controller with a large gamepad, two large buttons and connections for different inputs at the back, and the software that allows it to work with any game.
Ms Jones says that while most people think of gaming as a relaxing pastime, it could be quite physically draining for some players who use specialist hardware to help with fatigue.
"We hear that a lot, from a lot of players, that 'I can use a standard controller, but when I use my standard controller I get really inflamed and have a lot of pain'," she says.
"They can take some of the more intensive physical actions, like stick clicks, clicking the sticks down to sprint. Those sorts of things. Map them to maybe the large buttons on the Adaptive Controller and press them with their feet."
Ms Jones says the lessons learnt from accessible design research and development are making games better for all players.
"We want as many people as possible to come play with us and be part of our communities," she says.
"That means investing more and more in accessibility, that means tapping into a huge pool of people who, one, deserve to be able to play games if they want to, and two, were previously not part of our gaming ecosystem.
"As companies innovate in the accessibility space more and more we get more clear and tangible data that accessible design is good design, and it creates customisable and flexible experiences for anyone who needs it in that moment."
Mike S, also known as MikeDropGames, 34, is a Twitch streamer who specialises in survival horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill and was born with cerebral palsy.
He said developers are on the right track in terms of accessibility, but efforts to make video games more accessible must continue.
"The answer varies based on what you deal with on a day-to-day basis. I don't think that there's one cookie-cutter [solution]," he says.
"I think that there's still room for improvement. There will always be room for improvement. But then at the same time you can at least see the effort being put into [accessibility in games]."
As an adult, I face new challenges caused by Maffucci syndrome. While my operations are few and far between I now need to regularly monitor for malignant tumours.
Many basic physical activities still present too much of a risk of a fracture which limits my participation in many social activities.
But I haven't missed out on experiencing friendship and close connections.
My two best friends, Daniel and Scott, who have known me for over 30 years combined, travelled with me to Melbourne to help report this story.
I met them at school, but our friendships grew from playing video games over several console generations and stayed strongthrough interstate moves and changes in our lives because we are connected by a shared love of games.
'Video games are for everyone'
Playing video games is a form of self-expression, a pathway to friendship and personal connection, and a doorway to meaningful participation in a larger community, especially for people who live with disability.
Mike S, who presented a panel about disability and video games at PAX Australia, says it felt like an important moment.
"Seeing the turnout and hearing the feedback from people that had attended it showed that it was obviously needed, and that it resonated with people to hear other people's stories. It was vastly important," he says.
"We often hear terms like 'gaming is for everyone' … including people who use different peripherals or different instruments to play."
"You can make lifelong friends from playing video games.
"So whether you have a disability, a chronic illness, or you're someone that doesn't deal with disability, it doesn't make one person more important than the next."
With additional reporting by Gianfranco Di Giovanni.
This article was commissioned as part of the ABC's coverage and recognition of International Day of People with Disability.
