"It's Teamwork!" Cooperation & Collaboration in Social Casual Exergames

Helena Orädd, Erik Berglund, Aseel Berglund

This research is presented at CHI 2025, which is part of our genreal research on exergame design, games and health. This work also builds on the liopep.com digital gym, where some of our reserach is avaliable to a wider audience.

In the Coin Run experiment, we compare cooperative vs. collaborative play. Coin Run is a two-player exergame where players stand in front of a computer with a camera tracking their movements. Players control avatars by lifting their arms - one arm to rotate and both arms to move forward. Players navigate through connected rooms to collect coins within a two-minute time limit. The final score combines both players' coins, encouraging teamwork while tracking individual contributions.

In this experiment, we look at two game modes:
Cooperative: All passages stay open, allowing players to move independently.
Collaborative: Players must help each other by activating triggers to open doors.

Results: Players perceived "cooperative" as competitive and "collaborative" as truly collaborative. Those who enjoyed competition preferred the cooperative mode, while those who disliked competition preferred the collaborative mode. Most participants preferred collaborative. The collaborative mode also scored significantly higher on relatedness. Cooperative, however, gave a higher level of exertion.

Sidansvarig: Erik Berglund
Senast uppdaterad: 2025-04-26