Friction Matters: Exploring Friction in Non-Anthropocentric Gameplay

Abstract

This article examines the role of friction as a critical principle in interactive media design, particularly within the emerging field of non-anthropocentric game studies. Departing from dominant paradigms of smoothness, efficiency, and user-centric flow, it argues that friction, when deliberately and thoughtfully applied, can operate as a mechanism for decentering human agency and foregrounding more-than-human perspectives, temporalities, and ontologies. Building on insights from user experience theory, game design, and posthumanist design scholarship, this article identifies thirteen friction dimensions that support non-anthropocentric approaches to game design. These include, among others, sensory mismatch, real-time pacing, collective agency, and refusal of interaction. 

The article begins by defining and contextualizing the concept of friction, initially examining its role in user experience design before analyzing its function within games and lastly focusing on its application in the context of non-anthropocentric game design.