The paper “Asymmetric Gaming Further Apart: Effects of World and Goal Sharing on Cooperative Play”, co-authored by LASIGE researchers David Gonçalves, Daniel Reis, João Guerreiro, Tiago Guerreiro, André Rodrigues and collaborator Kathrin Gerling (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), has been accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, a top-ranked journal. The work will also be presented at the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY 2026), which will take place in York, United Kingdom, from November 2 to 5.

The paper builds on the team’s past work exploring how intentionally introducing asymmetries in multiplayer gaming can create rich social experiences while catering to different needs. To understand the limits of this approach, the authors ask: how far can asymmetry be pushed before sociality breaks down? Specifically, what if players inhabit entirely distinct worlds or pursue separate goals? Through a mixed-methods study involving 44 pairs of regular gamers, the findings show that, while distinct worlds and goals introduce friction, they also enable new ‘flavors’ of cooperation, such as grounding challenges and moments of autonomy, without sacrificing the sense of shared play.

A preprint version of the paper is available.