Game Design Friction Journey Audit

Audit a design by mapping where friction appears across a player journey, what kind of friction it is, how it accumulates, and where useful challenge mutates into harmful drag.

Use this skill when a feature feels sticky in the wrong way, when progression seems to slow down for reasons players cannot articulate clearly, or when you need to separate meaningful challenge from accidental obstruction.

Core principle

Not all friction is bad.

Some friction creates commitment, decision-making, anticipation, and mastery. Other friction creates confusion, paralysis, resentment, or churn. The job is not to remove all resistance. The job is to identify which resistance is doing design work and which is merely getting in the player's way.

What to produce