Unruly Forces and Marginalized Pleasures: Exploring Glitch Aesthetics and Agency in Alternative Control Schemes

Abstract

This research challenges the dominant design paradigm that prioritizes seamless, precise control in digital games, arguing that moments of breakdown—glitches, input lag, erratic force feedback, and unconventional mappings—constitute a productive aesthetic and political terrain. Framed by DiGRA 2026's theme of "Intersectional Pleasures, " the study investigates how these unruly forces generate distinct forms of pleasure and agency for players marginalized by mainstream design norms. Through a multi-modal qualitative approach combining digital ethnography, semi-structured interviews, and critical technical practice across communities such as disabled gamers, emulation subcultures, glitch artists, and low-bandwidth players, we analyze practices of custom controller use and intentional glitch exploitation. The study bridges accessibility discourse and critical aesthetics, theorizing pleasure rooted in struggle, re-appropriation, and the subversion of normative design. It concludes by advocating for game design that embraces openness, malleability, and creative misuse to foster a more diverse spectrum of playful engagement.