Watching to win: When watching others play improves performance
Johanson, Wessels and Friehs, Entertainment Computing 56, 2026. Two controlled studies using an obstacle-dodging game clone. Study 1: 23 participants in player-observer pairs. Study 2: 69 participants across observing the same obstacle sequence, observing randomised sequences, or playing. Observers outperformed players at equal play time, in person or on video, only with the same sequence; playing produced greater final improvement. Reading depth: abstract.
Johanson, Wessels and Friehs, Entertainment Computing 56, 2026. Two controlled studies using an obstacle-dodging game clone. Study 1: 23 participants in player-observer pairs. Study 2: 69 participants across observing the same obstacle sequence, observing randomised sequences, or playing. Observers outperformed players at equal play time, in person or on video, only with the same sequence; playing produced greater final improvement. Reading depth: abstract.
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Johanson, C., Wessels, H., & Friehs, M. A. (2026). Watching to win: When watching others play improves performance. Entertainment Computing, 56, 101067. doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101067 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2025.101067