Slay the Spire Study Links Gaze Patterns to Player Skill
The study offers a concrete, data-backed look at how skilled players allocate visual attention differently in a strategy game, moving beyond simple fixation duration to examine gaze transitions between screen areas.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Researchers at the Australian National University published a study on arXiv analyzing how gaze movement relates to performance in Slay the Spire. The study of 32 players found that those who defeated the boss showed more balanced, diverse gaze patterns, while losing players dwelled longer on enemy information. The paper will appear in PACMHCI in November 2026.
The study, titled "Strategic Gaze: Attention Allocation and Transition Patterns Across Functional Areas of Interest by Gameplay Outcome," is available free on arXiv and is set for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 10, Issue 7, in November 2026.
Researchers set up nine initial Areas of Interest on the Slay the Spire screen, later narrowing to the six most-attended ones. They tracked how often and how long players looked at each area, then compared those patterns between the 16 players who beat the Act 1 boss and the 16 who lost.
Both groups spent the most time on hand cards and enemy intent. The winning group looked at auxiliary resources like potions more often and for longer, while the losing group dwelled longer on enemy intent. The team suggested the winners had a broader visual attention area, gathering surrounding information while focusing on key items.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.