Honestly, even though I really enjoy gaming, it can still be tiring. Having to come up with strategies or execute some maneuver or even just piecing together a plot takes up brainpower that I don't always have. Watching someone else play a game lets me enjoy the game without having to invest energy into it.

So for me, it depends on the type of game and the content creator. When friends have asked me about streamer culture, I tell them to jump around and find a creator who thinks/makes decisions loosely the same as them but more importantly has a generally positive vibe in both themselves and their community - not everyone is sugary sweet screechy nightmare.

For story-based games, I get to experience all the artistic aspects (story, acting, level design, animation etc) without having to learn and/or put up with crummy controls, be distracted by poor performance or optimisation, get caught in thankless grind mechanics, or simply get experience a game in a genre/on a platform I wouldn't ordinarily.

Watching someone who is good at creating narratives play an adventure-crafter/ management sim adds lots of additional layers of interest, where I would otherwise check out after a couple of sessions playing by myself.

Shooters are less of a draw for me, maybe because I still actively play them. I have never clicked with any individual creator but find groups quite compelling, especially when the game has more tactics/strategy involved and they need to work together to succeed.

I haven't thought much about it but even as a child, when in a group I much preferred watching someone play than having a go myself and I guess that followed through to YT/Twitch when they came online.

Never done done this myself, can anyone recommend a good non-RTS strategy gamer they think worth checking out and watching? I'm very much a TBS strategy (or at least pauseable), simulation, citybuilder type gamer.

But in the spirit of exploration, I'll also take RTS watching recommendations actually.