Non-Euclidean Video Games: Exploring Player Perceptions and Experiences inside Impossible Spaces

Non-Euclidean geometry has the potential to be used for novel interactions in video games and create virtual spaces that are not physically possible in the real world. To explore how players perceive and experience them in video games, we have adapted two well-known 2D games, Snake and Asteroids to create two versions in addition to the conventional virtual space – with hyperbolic and spherical environments – and conducted a within-subject design user study on all three versions of these games. The results show that experienced Mastery and Control are lower when playing the two non-Euclidean versions while perceived Immersion and Challenge do not differ significantly between these three conditions. We also report on the qualitative findings from our participants, which provide further insights into the perception and experiences of these environments.