I’ve been aware of this annoyance for years, but I thought it was just concentrated to my household when I was young, where mum would walk by me sat on the floor playing Tomb Raider and ask why I was taking the long way round when there obviously an easier way out (she wasn’t aware or artefacts and what not); but then I realised, just last night, it’s followed me.

So what is a backseat gamer?
I’ve decided they can be put into 3 different types.

Type 1: The Gamer

This type of backseat gamer is just watching you play either because they can’t get to a computer to play on, they are waiting to, or they just came to talk to you but ended up staying and offering “advice”.
They are possibly the worst type of backseat gamer because they are the ones who think they know best because they have already completed the game you are playing, and have decided their way is the most logical (though that doesn’t mean it’s fun), they are also usually the ones who will buy a game on release day, rush through it without appreciating it, purely to say they did it in X amount of hours.

Example -
I was playing CoD4 single player, the annoying American level where you have to rush to the TV station through all the backstreets of dust city, and decided running right through the enemy so I’m then stationed behind them and able to pick them off one by one was the perfect tactic because we were so outnumbered.
In walks my boyfriend who immediately breaks into a chorus of: “Why on EARTH are you doing that? You can’t just run through, you’ll get killed you know, that’s just a daft idea, they WILL see you”. However, I was right, it worked for me, and it left him in a huff but still protesting his way would have worked just as well and I just got lucky.
(I have to add here that she was playing on normal – The Loving Boyfriend)

Type 2: The Watcher

This type of backseat gamer watches you play because they either lack the confidence or skills (or both) to actually attempt the game themselves. I have found this type does however play casual games such as anything by Popcap, anything colourful or Audiosurf.
They shout out, what they feel are, useful bits of information for you, telling you someone’s behind you, or that your low on ammo, or if your playing something that involves a track or racing, they tell you when there’s a bend or corner and remind you your 7th out of a possible 8th which is really the last thing you need to hear.

I like this type of backseat gamer; sometimes it is nice to have an extra set of eyes, which I have found especially true since playing though Bioshock with a friend, and playing Tomb Raider with my mum (yes, my mummy plays games).

Finally we have…

Type 3: The Passer-by

This type will not have any previous gaming experience nor have any interest in picking up what you are playing, they may even dislike games altogether; instead they will walk past, realise your doing something, stand and watch for a moment and then proceed on with a list of things you should be doing, or things you are doing wrong without actually contributing anything of use.

Example –
My dad is possibly the worst for this, when I lived at home my PC was in the living room, and he was nice enough to get me Halo when it first came out, but he wasn’t kind enough to leave me alone with it.
He’d come in from work, walk past me realise I was playing a game instead of doing homework (Oops) and then start on one of his usual rants of “That’s just not going to work”, and then he would walk off. See now I was so annoyed by this I would usually turn and stare at him or just not concentrate for a few seconds and then BAM I was dead, and then he’d hear me swear and shout back “I told you so”.

This may seem like the worse type, but it isn’t, because in my eyes, anyone who wont play a game for themselves can’t really justify being a backseat gamer. It’s like telling a driver what to do when you have no licence, a crime which I am occasionally guilty of.

I hope this has been an educational ramble.