Exploring Friction in Video Games

What is "friction" in video games? We've got a taxonomy, of course! This week, the Triple Click gang talks about how Dragon Dogma 2 tries to push players away, the necessity of video game friction, and what it means when a game is impenetrable.

One More Thing:

Kirk: Girls5Eva (Netflix)

Maddy: The Holdovers (2024)

Jason: Secrets of Grindea

LINKS:

Triple Click LIVE in LA! Saturday, June 8, 6:30PM at the Teagram Ballroom: https://teragramballroom.com/tm-event/triple-click-podcast/

Tim Rogers’ “In Praise of Sticky Friction,” 2010 https://kotaku.com/in-praise-of-sticky-friction-555816

Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/

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Kirk’s Three Types of Video Game Friction

Mechanical Friction: Relating to inputs and interaction. i.e. kinesthetics, “game feel”

• Certain moves require complex inputs or timing
• Beating a boss means not just attacking but reacting/countering
• Combat’s relationship to animation, e.g. locked animation means you can't interrupt attacks and dodge whenever you want
• No jump button, you have to use the world to get vertical advantage (souls, monster hunter)
• Enemies can stagger or stun-lock you just like you can them
• Stamina bar limits the number of chained inputs you can give
• Delay on spellcasting means relying on teammates to provide cover
• Slow or complex reloads with modifiers, minigames for healing, sub-inputs required while in the heat of action (stratagems, active reload, far cry healing animations, etc)
• "Sticky Friction" (TM Tim Rogers) - inertia, weight, acceleration, the feel and heft of movement and interaction tied to pause/delay/rhythm and animation

Logistical Friction: Relating to planning, (in)flexibility, the need to prepare

• Customization is costly or difficult. e.g. to change classes or appearance, you have to go see a vendor in a town
• There's limited fast travel, so you have to plan trips carefully. Or can only travel from certain points on map
• The game's map is an in-game object and doesn't pause
• No pause option in general
• Penalty for death - lost progress, maybe the game even becomes harder
• Finishing a mission requires extraction, waiting, defending
• You can't save just anywhere, or have a limited number of saves
• Loot and upgrades don’t unlock unless you complete the mission
• Quests are complex and require a lot of micro-managing or specific steps
• Crafting and other similar activities require in-game actions or specific locations
• Often referred to as “Player Friendly/Unfriendliness”

Informational Friction: Relating to what the game does/doesn’t tell you

• The game doesn't tell you what you're supposed to do next
• The game doesn't spell out for you what's going on with the story and leaves it for you to figure out (Narrative Friction)
• There are a lot of concepts, mechanics, or rules to keep track of or understand (Conceptual Friction)
• The game's map doesn't tell you very much, or the game has no map (Navigational Friction)
• Branching narratives aren’t signposted, little or no warning for consequential decisions
• The interface is opaque or requires a lot of inputs to use
• You don't get notifications about status effects in the HUD, you have to look at your character (general world > hud approach)
• The game has hidden systems that you have to learn about via word of mouth or experimentation (e.g. If you want to explore the castle without getting arrested, wear the guard armor to blend in. If you die, your world becomes steadily darker. This guy will kill your NPCs, but there’s an elaborate hidden spell to revive them. Etc)
• Other players can leave notes to help you, but the notes are often vague; other player’s pawns can show you secrets, but you have to listen
• In-game multiplayer communication options are limited
• Item descriptions don't give specific stats, they just say vague stuff