Speed runs to games I know how to play.

Most horror games. My startle threshold is through the floor, even when I know a jumpscare is coming it still gets me a lot of the time. I also hate feeling panicked and chased.

Anything with a mechanic where every choice matters and will affect the next 50 hours of gameplay, and where it's possible to choose wrong. That's a lot of pressure, and I'd rather someone else deal with that.

Also, anything that's 100 hours of gameplay and 10 hours of story.

None.

I have absolutely no interest in watching someone else play a video game, excluding short clips of gameplay to get a feel for the mechanics.

Starcraft. I still love playing through the campaigns and coop, but I don't have the time or energy to keep up with the 1v1 anymore. Used to play it a ton back before Legacy of the Void, but you basically have to treat that game like a second job in order to be competitive and not get destroyed most of the time. I remember going like 3-4 days without playing back then and it'd take me 3-5 hours to get back up to my usual level of play.

It's still a lot of fun to watch pros or high level players play the game though, at least IMO.

I typically don't watch playthrough videos, but I would say games that require more time or skill than I can offer. If the video creator can take a long, challenging game, and make a video of the highlights and random silly things they encountered while cutting out the monotony that happens in between, I'll enjoy the video.

For example, Elden Ring. I played it for an hour and decided it wasn't for me, but the kids will watch Elden Ring videos, and I'll watch with them and learn about and experience that game without wasting my time playing something I don't enjoy.

Age of Empires 2. It's like watching a live chess match. The more I learn about the game, the more my own gameplay feels clumsy. Thankfully, the aoe community is larger than ever, even though it's been 20 years since release.

Competitive games and broken games (in the se se that there are glitches that can be expolited for fun)

I'll never be on that level, So i prefer to watch them.

for a bit a few years ago i watched a ton of minecraft experts create very advanced things that i never would've been able to. eventually i had seen enough.

Jump scare games, definitely. And survival horror, like that Alien game where you walk around and hide. Yeesh. Stuff like that. Also racing sims.

Hmm.

I think that there are a couple of ways to look at this.

First, there's just casually looking over someone's shoulder.

I haven't done this for many years now, but I don't enjoy playing jumpscare games -- don't enjoy being startled -- but I don't mind watching someone else play one, can enjoy the story.

I was, years back, at least okay at FPSes, but never outstanding. I had a friend who was really solid and didn't mind having people side-seat driving, and I enjoyed that.

Second, there's outright collaborative play, but where one person has the controls. I think that this often comes up a fair bit with adventure games -- I read about a number of guys talk about playing a game with their wife, but where they're doing the clicking. Adventure games aren't much about the control, but figuring things out and experiencing the story. I think that the experience watching and thinking it through here can be pretty comparable to playing. Maybe more fun if there are some tedious bits that you can just skip.

Third, there are professional streamers. That's a whole 'nother ball of wax.

Cataclysm: Dark Days has some streamers like Vormithrax that amount to being the tutorial to the game for many players, because it's so stupendously complicated and ever-changing, and he verbally walks through what he's doing.

There are e-sports players. I don't really like playing Starcraft or DoTA 2 multiplayer, but I can enjoy watching a presented event.

I understand that there are some "gamer girl" streamers; obviously there are people who enjoy that. I've never looked into it, but I imagine that it could be entertaining in a way that the game alone isn't.

I remember once watching a fighter pilot watch an arcade-ish air combat game (IIRC either something in the Ace Combat or Project Wingman series). They were commenting on tactics, realism, and plane capabilities. Again, interesting in a way that the game itself isn't.

Elden Ring and most other soulslikes - I don't have the skill, time or will to "git gud" at them, but they are a beautiful spectacle and a joy to watch, especially when watching someone who plays really well.

Dwarf fortress, I love to see how and what people build and the emergent chaotic stories when a giant or vampire or whatever shows up.

Horror games

Hearthstone. couldn't keep up with new cards and it's more fun to watch other people lose.

Singleplayer vanilla minecraft

I dont like playing alone

Walking sims/narrative games. I'm a sucker for gameplay, so games with non-complex gameplay bore the hell out of me

Literally none. I enjoy interactive entertainment much more than passive consumption.

Triple A titles with a story. I don't have the rig or the patience myself, but I stream some video gameplay on another monitor while I work...

Any of the 4x/grand strategy type games (e.g., Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, Civilization). I don't really enjoy the menu management of some of those games and the density of information and mechanics is anxiety inducing. However the emergent narrative those games provide really interests me so watching someone else play is the best way to access what I enjoy about those games.

games that I couldn't afford and also the games that requires a lot of grinding.

Counterstrike and Tarkov because I'm too bad at them to have any fun playing myself, but I really enjoy watching competitive matches or streamers raids here and there.

Also, Dark Souls 1-3 and Skyrim. I've played them all so much and still play through here and there, but I like to watch challenge runs and see all the modded or otherwise ridiculous playthroughs that I don't have the patience to commit to myself.

I really enjoy a good narrative roleplay, like Neebscraft's Subnautica.

...also this thread needs links!!!

Games that have no agency and are more or less just "interactive" stories. I am actually waiting for tomorrow when Game Grumps are gonna start up Danganronpa V3. I really like these games; but nothing you do really makes a difference aside from seeing a continue from the last checkpoint screen if you fail a challenge mini game. So, even if I played it and talked to all the characters every chance I had, it wouldn't change the overall story; so why not just watch someone else play it? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Cities Skylines - because ain't no way am I getting enough memory for the fluid huge city I want to be flying through. Also, it's fun to watch design nerds make some really pretty cities.

Dragon's Lair (old school). Too difficult and frustrating for a casual like me, but I want to see the later stages of the game!

Rust

I didn't really grow up playing video games. Never built the muscle memory for controllers, and I don't really have the time or desire to learn now.

But there are many games with intriguing stories that explore fascinating concepts. Some of them, like Disco Elysium for example, don't require any skill with a controller, and I would rather play those myself.

As technically easy as Detroit Become Human was, some points like the rooftop chase scene pushed the limits of my capability. So anything that demands more controller skill than that is something I would rather watch than waste my time fumbling around with.

There are a couple of occasions where I watch someone else playing: when deciding if the game is worth buying (gameplay vs cutscenes) and when I'm stuck in a part of a game I can't really google.

Dokapon Kingdom.

It's a cutesy looking cross between Mario Party, Rock Paper Scissors, and Dragon Quest. By the time you are done you will look at your now ex-best friend in the same way Guts looks at Femto. Watching someone else play it though, you don't have to personally deal with the consequences and can enjoy all of the drama.

Tetris

Used to live with 3 other guys in college just watching one of us play. Miss that.