Game Mechanics — Space in Games

This text is a part of an ongoing series on game mechanics which have spawned as a result of a course I am giving at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at the University of Belgrade.

Space is the final frontier. Space is our physical reality. We are immersed in what we perceive as a three-dimensional space in which in general, we have the freedom to move freely in each of these dimensions, provided that we are not subject to the influence of other physical forces. If these conditions apply, we have to say that we can move in space with six degrees of freedom, translation along each of the six dimensions, and rotation around each of the axes defining our frame of reference.

In practice, most of us will never leave the confines of the surface of the planet Earth. We are thus somewhat limited to the movement in an almost two-dimensional space mapped onto the surface of a gigantic sphere. We have a relatively limited freedom of movement along the third dimension.

Video Games are little virtual worlds that try to mimic the properties of our physical world. This has been true from some of the very first video games. One of the earliest proto-video games, Tennis for Two, played on analog computers using an oscilloscope as a display tried to mimic the realistic movement of an object in 2D space moving under the influence of gravity and one additional physical force.

Simulated Tennis Match on Oscilloscope Display in Tennis for Two.

Games in general treat space in very different ways. The way in which games treat space can be fundamental for the gameplay and player experience. So much so that it can be a genre-defining element of the gameplay.

World in 2D

One of the fundamental distinctions between various types of games divides them into 2D and 3D games. This division might seem obvious and trivial however, even in the case of 2D games the way the games treat space can be radically different. Shigeru Miyamoto states that the original Zelda was made with a top-down projection deliberately in order to make it as distinct as possible from the previous Mario game.

Top-Down Adventure Exploration in The Legend of Zelda.

Zelda was meant to be a game embodying the spirit of adventure and exploration. The original Mario game was groundbreaking with its side-scrolling mechanics and platform-jumping physics. In this game, the player has limited freedom of movement in 2D space. The player can move freely along the X-axis of the screen. The player’s movement along the Y-axis is limited by the effect of gravity upon the player’s avatar, and the character’s ability to jump. The scenery moves following the player keeping the avatar always roughly in the same area of the screen.

In the Zelda game, the player has freedom of movement along both axes of 2D space. This distinction creates fundamentally different player experiences. It is still somewhat discernable even after both of these franchises made a jump into 3D space. Indeed even the newest incarnations of the main branch Super Mario franchise obey the constraints of the original. Note that the side branches have been deliberately designed to subvert those restrictions. Paper Mario line of games deliberately plays with the idea of switching between 3D and 2D gameplay. Super Mario 3D line of games are set in the more conventional 3D environments while Super Mario Galaxy games deliberately play with the idea of replacing a flat 2D world with the spherical 3D one.

Similarly Angry Birds Space took Angry Birds slingshot action from a rectangular 2D world into one of radial coordinates.

Radial Coordinate Gameplay in Angry Birds Space.

The original Mario game has two restrictions on the movement in the game. However, even those might be removed or replaced with other constraints. In horizontal/vertical scrolling shooter games the player has a freedom of movement along one of the axes (either X or Y) limited by the size of the screen. The player is bound to a constant movement in one direction along the second axis.

Gameplay from Raptor: Call of the Shadows (DOS), a classic vertical scrolling shooter.

The games such as Moorhuhn offer another take on this sort of restriction. The player is free to scroll the screen in both directions along one direction and is free to aim at targets in 2D space. In the game known as Operation Wolf the player is deprived even of control over the screen scrolling.

The 3rd Dimension

If you look at their history, even 3D games started evolving from motion in 3D space. Even Wolfenstein 3D and Doom the earliest of the first-person shooters remained confined to movement in 2D space although the graphics were presented as 3D perspective projection. Nop, not even stairs. That comes with Quake.

First-Person Shooter Action and Level Design in Doom.

Modern 3D games present a spectrum of freedom of motion from open-world games such as Minecraft, indeed in the creative mode of Minecraft player is not limited to the motion on a 2D ground plane, to rail shooters at the opposite end of the spectrum. Rails shooters are games in which the player’s motion is restricted to a predefined path and most often predefined speed. The player’s actions are usually limited to aiming at a particular set of enemies and obstacles. Original Starfox is an example of such a game.

Space Combat on Rails in Original Star Fox.

Constraints are a powerful element of game design. They often serve to focus and channel the gameplay in particular patterns. Limiting a player's freedom of motion can be an essential tool for driving the narrative and the action of the game. The entire art of level design revolves around this.

Example of map design as presented in Kreonit.

Games such as The Last of Us II restrict player's movements at key points of the narrative to force the player into engaging with difficult emotional moments. They strive to convey the notion of drama. Limiting the player’s ability to move away or look away serves to emphasize the drama of particular scenes.

Narrative-Driven Restrictive Movement in The Last of Us Part II.

Half-Life 2 limits the player's ability to move by confining the player in narrow spaces creating a sense of urgency, tension, or helplessness even near claustrophobia. These emotions create the climatic moments in the narrative of these games.

Atmosphere and Tension in Confined Spaces in Half-Life 2.

On the other hand games such as hero shooters, Overwatch for example, make use of distinct treatment of space in each arena to subtly alter the gameplay experience, forcing players to learn new skills and adopt new tactics. Some arenas are better suited for some heroes allowing players to develop different play styles.

Midtown map from Overwatch 2.

Treatment of space in games can be so fundamental that it is genre-defining. In Battle Royale games such as PubG and Fortnite, the ever shrinking safe area serves to focus the action of gameplay as the number of contestants dwindles altering the pacing of the game.

Battle Royale with Shrinking Safe Zone in PUBG.

MOBA games are another iconic example of a genre defined by its treatment of space. This genre has evolved around the particular map design which forces the gameplay into three distinct lanes creating the hot spots. This treatment of space makes the action more predictable and easier to follow. It serves as a counterbalance to the mayhem of gameplay which could easily become too chaotic in a less restricted environment.

An example of a typical MOBA map with three lanes.

Finally, the famous Portal takes another very creative take on the treatment of space in games. It again subverts our expectations of how objects in 3D space behave. It preserves the momentum of the movement while allowing the player to teleport in 3D space. Portal is a masterpiece of game design challenging our notions of movement in 3D space.

The basic gameplay element of the connected portal is developed further. The player can connect portals to create a highly nonlinear motion. This serves as a contrast to the bleak and very confined setting of the game. This rigid environment is thus transformed into something more dynamic. The player’s mastery of space through the use of these portals is the key gameplay element and the key tool that the player employs in order to solve the puzzles.

Furthermore, the portals serve to change the perspective allowing players to see the world in a way that is radically different from the normal perception of reality challenging the player's spatial awareness.

Teleportation and Perspective-Bending Gameplay in Portal.

Finally, the treatment of space serves as a narrative element in this game creating the illusion of spatial confinement that is reflected in the psychology of the player. We have the urge to escape this confinement through the application of the tools at our disposal, i.e. the portal.

The space, the gameplay, and the narrative thus work in unison to create a unique gameplay experience.

VR and AR Spaces

VR gear fundamentally transforms our experience of virtual environments by adding a dynamic, head-mounted frame of reference directly tied to physical movements. Unlike traditional gaming, where viewpoint adjustments are screen-bound, VR allows the player’s gaze direction to respond naturally to head movements, updating in real time. This responsive perspective enhances spatial awareness and depth perception by mirroring natural head movements, allowing players to interact with the virtual space as if physically present.

With VR, players experience richer depth cues, like parallax and motion perspective, which add tangibility to virtual objects and environments. This fosters a sense of “presence,” or the feeling of truly “being there,” reducing the cognitive distance between the real and virtual worlds. The intuitive control over gaze direction minimizes immersion-breaking elements, creating a seamless experience where virtual objects seem to exist independently of player actions.

In short, VR’s additional frame of reference enriches spatial interaction, providing a realistic sense of embodiment. This heightened spatial awareness and freedom deepen engagement, making VR environments feel like real places, and vastly enhancing immersion beyond traditional gaming setups.

This addition of a new frame of reference is a fundamental idea behind head-mounted displays that define Virtual Reality.

Marvel’s Iron Man VR.

AR overlays digital elements onto the physical world, creating a blend of virtual and real where boundaries between the two blur. Unlike VR, which fully immerses users in a digital environment, AR enhances the user’s real-world view by adding virtual objects that interact with their surroundings as seen through devices like smartphones or AR headsets. This fusion creates the challenge of “registration” — accurately aligning virtual elements with the physical space the user sees in real-time.

To maintain this alignment, AR systems rely on precise tracking that adapts as users move or shift their perspective. Advanced tracking methods, such as visual-inertial odometry (VIO), combine data from cameras and sensors like accelerometers to constantly update virtual elements’ positions relative to the physical world. This real-time responsiveness allows virtual objects to appear fixed in place, creating the illusion that they are genuinely part of the user’s environment.

For an effective AR experience, alignment is critical. Misalignment can quickly break immersion, making the virtual objects feel out of place or less convincing. When done well, AR can integrate virtual elements seamlessly into real spaces, like placing navigational markers on the ground or adding educational content to museum exhibits. This precise synchronization enables AR to offer interactive, context-rich experiences, extending digital engagement beyond screens and into the physical world itself.

Knightfall AR, an augmented reality tower defense game.

Bridging Both Worlds

I have already mentioned Paper Mario games as an example of games that subvert the limitation of 2D space by playfully stepping into 3D worlds. Many other games take a similar creative approach to bridge the gap between 2D and 3D worlds.

Famous indie platformer Fez revolves around 2D gameplay superimposed over a 3D world. Playful transitions from various projections of 3D space to 2D are the main gameplay and narrative elements in this game.

2D-3D Perspective Shift Mechanics in Fez.

Finally, if you really want to treat yourself to a proper mindfuck try playing some of the games that attempt to go beyond 3D space.

Take for example games such as Miegakure and SUPERHYPERCUBE which treat 3D space merely as slices of a 4D space. Imagining 4D space is by definition very hard. Our brains are attuned to life in three dimensions. To do so we can’t just count on images in our mind. We need to resort to a bit of a mental experiment. Imagine a 2D space of a piece of paper. Imagine that piece of paper being pierced perpendicularly by a pencil. How would that pencil look to a hypothetical observer from a 2D world? The pencil which we see as a 3D object would start off as a dot in 2D space that would gradually expand into a circle that would eventually turn into a hexagon and finally vanish. The same logic holds if we add one more dimension. Shapes and forms seemingly not connected in the 3D world could represent coherent 4D objects and vice versa. Seemingly solid objects in 3D can be hollow in 4D space.

Exploring 4D Spatial Mechanics in Miegakure.

The power of games is that they allow us not just to do mental experiments but to experience these phenomena firsthand. Try playing Miegakure and after a while our ever-adoptive brains start gradually intuitively making sense of the 4D world that the game inhabits.

Key Takeaways

• Space as Gameplay Foundation: The design of game space is central to gameplay, shaping how players interact with the world and defining key mechanics that often distinguish genres.
• 2D vs. 3D Impact on Experience: Whether a game is 2D or 3D significantly affects player movement, freedom, and immersion, with 2D spaces offering focused, linear challenges and 3D spaces inviting exploration and discovery.
• Dynamic Movement and Freedom: Choices in movement — like restricted vertical jumps or free-form exploration — control gameplay flow, making freedom or constraint a key tool for challenge and pacing.
• Psychology of Spatial Design: Space in games influences player psychology; freedom and constraints impact immersion, autonomy, and engagement, which are key to player satisfaction.
• Genre-Defining Spatial Choices: Spatial mechanics help establish genre conventions, such as confined movement in platformers versus expansive worlds in RPGs, guiding player expectations.
• Alignment with Genre Expectations: Effective spatial design aligns with genre and audience expectations, creating a cohesive and immersive experience that feels intuitive to players.
• Space as Game Identity: Unique spatial mechanics, whether radial, side-scrolling, or fully open-world, help reinforce a game’s distinct identity, making its world more memorable and engaging.

Links

• Tennis for Two — Wikipedia: An early analog computer game simulating a simple tennis match, often considered one of the first video games.
• The Legend of Zelda — Nintendo: Discover Nintendo’s iconic adventure game focused on exploration in a top-down 2D world.
• Super Mario — Super Mario Wiki: An overview of Mario’s evolution, from side-scrolling platformer mechanics to expansive 3D worlds.
• Paper Mario — Nintendo: A unique Mario title that explores the interplay of 2D and 3D spaces in gameplay.
• Super Mario Galaxy — Fandom: An exploration of how gravity and spherical worlds changed traditional Mario gameplay.
• Angry Birds Space — Rovio: The popular game reimagined in space, introducing a radial coordinate system for gameplay.
• Moorhuhn — Moorhuhn Wiki: Details the classic arcade shooter and its use of limited scrolling and aiming in 2D space.
• Operation Wolf — Arcade Museum: Describes this light-gun shooter and its unique screen-scrolling mechanic in the arcade era.
• Wolfenstein 3D — Internet Archive: The classic 3D shooter game that introduced many to the first-person perspective, now preserved online.
• Doom (1993) — Doom Wiki: Covers this influential first-person shooter, known for its early 3D graphics and immersive environments.
• Quake — Steam: Dive into the first shooter to use fully 3D environments and verticality, adding depth to player movement.
• Minecraft — Official Site: This open-world sandbox allows for unrestricted movement, building, and exploration.
• Star Fox — Wikipedia: Details the original rail shooter where players followed a predetermined path in 3D space.
• The Last of Us Part II — PlayStation: This narrative-heavy game uses confined spaces and movement restrictions to amplify emotional storytelling.
• Half-Life 2 — Valve: Known for its use of narrow, tension-filled spaces to drive atmosphere and engagement.
• Overwatch — Blizzard Entertainment: A hero-based shooter where unique 3D map designs challenge players to adopt new strategies.
• PUBG: Battlegrounds — Steam: The battle royale game that uses shrinking safe zones to concentrate action and elevate tension.
• Fortnite — Epic Games: Known for its dynamic battle royale design and shrinking play area to maintain fast-paced gameplay.
• Portal — Steam: A puzzle game redefining space through portals, challenging players’ understanding of movement and perspective.
• Fez — Polytron Corporation: This indie platformer lets players manipulate 3D space while maintaining 2D gameplay mechanics.
• Miegakure — Official Game Site: A unique puzzle game offering glimpses into 4D space, challenging spatial perception.
• SUPERHYPERCUBE — Official Site: A VR puzzle game that allows players to explore beyond typical 3D constraints.