The first time I turned three corners and ended up in a different place it feels like my brain threw the desk up at the idea that 3D space had euclidean rules, and I’ve been struggling ever since.
Of course I still continue to enjoy those types of games, so it’s not like a single game did all the damage.
Another great one is The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. [1] Initially, the game doesn't play around with spatial disorientation much, but certain branches of the narrative really lean into it in a delightfully satirical way.
Finally, Superliminal [2] explores some similar concepts to Antichamber but with a very different approach.
There a plenty more examples, but hopefully that gives you a jumping off point to see that gameplay in action. I thoroughly enjoyed all three!
[0] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/219890/Antichamber/
[1] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1703340/The_Stanley_Parab...
[2] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1049410/Superliminal/
So fascinating to see such opposite recommendations for these games! I'm not sure whether to try them, or run away haha.
I also have aphantasia, so perhaps that's somehow related? I don't physically create a map in my head, I just have an innate sense of where things should be after familiarizing myself with a particular area.
Perhaps since I don't physically create a map in my head, the disassociation between what is expected and what is actually happening in front of me for games like that doesn't create the same level of cognitive dissonance? Just spitballing here haha.
Personally, if I could go back and change it I’d still play them knowing what I know now. I would probably also keep a better eye on my brain and try to teach it to play games and trust euclidean space, but besides getting lost “in the old days” it hasn’t hurt me that bad
Unfortunately I looked and can’t figure out it’s name or even which system it was on (hopefully others can help), but here are the details that I still have:
It had blocky graphics but decent for the time. 3rd person over the shoulder. For some reason the image of a Roman helmet comes to mind but was the character wearing it? Was it a prop?...
You were in (a house?) and it seemed normal for most of the game. But then bit by bit your character went insane and you saw the world the way they were. It genuinely caught me off-guard when a bust on a shelf suddenly moved enough to be noticeable. Then other things changed, and paths didn’t lead where they were supposed to. I don’t know if I even passed that game, but it sticks out as possibly the first time my internal “rules of available directions” were broken.
Since then I’ve played with all sorts of non-euclidean things. From 4D Rubik’s cubes to VR environments that are nothing like the real world. Great fun, fascinating, and at times an enjoyable kind of confusing.
“..allow players infinite movement within their own place.“
You have to play roomscale and with only walking (+ elevators) for movement you explore huge procedurally-generated structures. It even adapts to the size of your play space.