Spectation: Make Interesting Thought Visible to Someone Watching
Technical terms: Spectation
Spectation is how rewarding and comprehensible an activity is to watch live, revisit afterward, or hear recounted. Visible state, understandable goals, meaningful highlights, commentary, and recoverable context all help an observer participate mentally.
See it in Wheel of Fortune
The shared letter pattern remains visible, every reveal changes the possibility space, and viewers can solve alongside the contestants. A private anagram search with no visible intermediate state is harder to follow.
What you can do with it
Show the state that makes thinking legible. A spectator need not see every private fact, but should be able to recover what is happening and recognize why one moment matters.
Ask a player
What could an observer see about your thinking without requiring you to narrate every step?
Nearby ideas
- Public information — reveal the state needed for understanding.
- Highlights — preserve moments worth recounting.
- Maker's note — explain intention after creation.
- Social metagame — turn observation into recognition and discussion.
Richard Garfield, Skaff Elias, and Robert Gutschera, Characteristics of Games (2012), pp. 220–226. ---