games are hard: friction, fluency and meaning

books, when they're hard, ask you to make meaning out of the abstract. movies, when they're hard, ask you to experience unpredictable images, sounds and places. videogames, when they're hard, ask you to learn to live as an alien in an unknown world. in their extremes, everything we know about life (or indeed, other videogames) no longer applies. videogames ask us to live as children again,…