There is a fascinating genre of games where space does not function as in does in our real world. Such games are celebrated, among others, for their mind-bending puzzles, psychedelic 3D visuals, and surreal exploration. However, Steam has currently no official tag for such games.
Up to our knowledge, Steam creates new tags if enough people use it. So let us go! Click the links below, press the "+" sign below the "Popular user-defined tags for this product", and enter "space bending" (without quotes).
Examples of space bending techniques
This is meant to be a catch-all tag for many kinds of games altering geometry, topology, or physics (in a geometric way). In particular, the tag is meant to include the following techniques:
- Immersive portals — portals are used to seamlessly connect different parts of the map; we can see through them, and game objects seamlessly pass through them.
- Impossible geometry — here hidden portals or teleport tricks are used to intentionally create confusing maps. For example, you walk down stairs and end up where you started, or you walk around a pillar and do not end up where you started.
- Repeating — the game map repeats (as in Asteroids or Pacman).
- Impossible figures — as in the Penrose triangle or Penrose staircase. A figure that looks like a 2D projection of a 3D shape, but it does not make sense in 3D.
- Perspective tricks — we play with perspective in these games.
- Non-Euclidean geometry — the space itself is curved, there are no rectangles (with four straight edges and all 90 degree angles), the area of a circle is no longer 𝜋𝑟², and the perspective works differently.
- Gravity bending — gravity is experienced differently in this game. See Relativity by M. C. Escher for an example.
- 4D — these games visualize higher-dimensional spaces.
- Scaling — objects in the game may change size.
- Object Impermanence — Object permanence refers to objects still being there even if we are not observing them at the moment. This need not be the case in video games, where, for example, you could look another direction and then look back, and see the world changed. Not popular yet but some recent AI experiments might inspire gamedevs to create such games, some of that can be also found in Antichamber/AAAAXY.
- More might come, for example, grid-based games where the grid is weird, relativistic games, etc.
Choice of the tag
There are other strong candidates for how the tag should be named.
- Escheresque — many of these games are inspired by the work of M. C. Escher, and many of them feature words such as "Escheresque", "Escher-like" or "Escherian" in their description. Escher used portals (Another World II), gravity bending (Relativity), impossible figures (Waterfall, Ascending and Descending), perspective tricks, non-Euclidean geometry (Circle Limit series). We have decided against it, because terms named after people, products, or companies tend to be confusing (how much do we need to simulate Escher? which aspects?), and better to avoid them if possible.
- Non-Euclidean — this term is commonly used to denote such games, but it is not technically correct — in mathematics it means specifically "non-Euclidean geometry" (topology changes when you cut/glue the space, geometry changes when you stretch it — so, for example, games based on portals change the topology, while the geometry remains Euclidean). Some people interpret "non-Euclidean" as "anything that is not the Euclidean space" but that technically includes grid-based games (which intuitively should not be included, we want something more specific) and does not include 4D, gravity-bending, and some perspective trick games (which intuitively should be included). (Also another term named after a person.)
- Mind-bending — another word commonly used, although space-bending makes it clear that it refers to space (as a portmanteau of mindbending + space).
- Alt(ernate) geometry — is sometimes used, but mind-bending seems to be more commonly used for marketing.
- Surreal/Psychedelic — these are existing tags that many of these games currently use, but we want something more specific. (Are both needed anyway? Their meanings seem quite similar.)
List of games
Due to the purpose of this list, we list only games on Steam, sorted by the number of reviews.
Changing the spatial connections of the world is the main theme of this game.
Changing the spatial connections of the world is the main theme of this game.
A game about playing with perspective tricks.
Arrange panels.
Impossible geometry.
Switch between 2D and 3D.
5D chess with multiverse time travel.
Copy parts of the 3D map and put them in the world.
Infinitely repeating 3D world.
Puzzle adventure with portals.
Impossible figures (such as the Penrose triangle).
Play with gravity.
Recursive game (boxes within boxes)
Non-Euclidean geometry, in 3D.
Perspective tricks.
Perspective illusion puzzle based on M.C. Escher drawings and impossible shapes.
Perspective trick: the same screen interpreted as a top-down puzzler and a platformer.
Recursive space.
A game in 4D.
A recursive game. Get to the goal by moving, rearranging and duplicating rooms and altering the structure of the world.
A VR game using impossible geometry to map a huge game world to a small region.
Impossible spaces.
Impossible figures.
Non-Euclidean geometry, in 2D. Roguelike (single-character turn-based tactics).
Walking on a weirdly connected surface, gravity bending.
You can warp from the left side of the screen to the right side, and so on.
Sokoban-like on the surface of a cube
4D toys.
Space-bending gun, glitchy-themed. (link)
Raytraced alien geometry.
A first-person shooter game with a significant element of gravity changing and some portals.
A VR game using impossible geometry to map a huge game world to a small region.
Automation puzzle with portals.
A first-person shooter in recursive space.
Gravity bending.
Old (1997) FPS focusing on impossible geometry.
Chess on boards with space bending.
Time visualized as third dimension. (alt link)
A 4D game.
A collection of non-Euclidean games.
If you know more relevant games, please share on Twitter or zeno@attnam.com. Generally alt-geometry should be a significant theme in the game -- for example, a metroidvania with a single warped level or late-game 'gravity reversal' ability should not probably count, but, as usual with genres, this is a spectrum.
This is inspired by the initiative of publishers of Dwarf Fortress and Deep Rock Galactic to add the 'dwarf' tag to Steam, and the earlier addition of 'boomer shooter'. The list above is probably incomplete, but we already have more games than e.g. 'snooker' (16), 'elf' (21), 'fox' (25), or 'shop keeper' (26)!
Have fun!