*This will feature minor spoilers regarding the progression of Antichamber from a mechanic PoV. Avoid the subject on Block Manipulation if you’re looking to read with spoilers in mind.*
Antichamber by Alexander Bruce is a first person puzzle game which conveys a totally new way to consider mechanics via viewpoints and perspectives in my opinion. Its ability to confuse and mind-bend is fantastic; taking concepts you would be accustomed to in traditional puzzlers and juxtaposing it within its ‘modernist’ aesthetics (Modernist as in architectural imo). I originally picked up this title in early 2013 putting around 4 hours into the title making slow progress; to a certain point where my thoughts couldn't comprehend any direction of specific mechanic to act on.
To briefly define the types of mechanics, I would say there are two main forms it takes on; room viewpoints and block manipulation. The rooms as a puzzle work in terms of how you enter / look/ move/ leave a space, creating a multitude of possibilities to the user. For example, an early room features a ‘gallery’ space with cube exhibition pieces in a 3x3 manner with gaps between them. As you look around the exhibitions, the objects change from faces; to abstract sculptures and paintings; to moving pieces and a hidden passage. The great thing about this passage is that logically, it pushes you into the middle of the gallery space, but in truth it’s an entirely new space with a multi-coloured maze.
The second mechanic (blocks) comes into play when the player receives a block manipulator a short while into the game. This originally has simple applications akin to something like portal (taking object from point A to B) with blue blocks; evolving into a mix of geometric creation and multiplication in the green phase; and extruding blocks into shapes / passageways with yellow. There is one later stage (red) which I haven’t got it yet, however at the time of writing I am very close to attaining the power and may add an addendum to this piece.
By bringing together these two forms of mechanics, it allows the player to experience a new way of thinking and put focus on the finer details rather than the larger pictures (possibly macro vs. micro in some roundabout way). One can naturally do this in architecture and many have when it comes to judging our spaces and the play of interaction between them. This can be represented in a couple ways in architecture, in particularly perspectives and voids.
Perspective can be thought in both a theoretical and practical way, but naturally they come together to form a similar understanding. On one hand we have the tools of architecture (Sections, Plans, Elevations, Isometric, and Axonometric) which give us clear understanding of what they intend to be e.g. a front elevation shows of the façade of a building. The other hand presents the idea of feeling / emotion / general thoughts when we look at an object from a number of different viewpoints. A couple examples of this would be the English country garden and its folly’s or the Holocaust memorial site in Berlin, Germany. The latter example I feel has a particular corroboration with Antichamber; as the Spartan, blocky pathways present a number of different viewpoints and perspectives creating a number of different thoughts for the user. With this being said, if I was to add to Antichamber, I would like to play with the idea of light as the memorial does to possibly add a new layer of mechanics. Although perspective is at the forefront of this experience, the minor details granted through the play of voids makes it brilliant to study.
One may naturally see voids as ‘non-space’ that does not dictate design or consideration and to some extent they would be correct. In our everyday lives, we interact with voids as a means to get from point A to B. Such examples like underpasses, alleyways, corridors, etc typically fall into this category where the edges of ‘places’ intersect with each other. However, we interact with these voids and as such create spaces from them, whether it is interactions with other people or the area around you. Graffiti (although generally given a negative social impact) is a great example of the interactions of voids and places like London’s South Bank have benefitted greatly from the user of this art form. Theorists like Michel Foucault discuss this matter as a means of ‘other spaces’ in which he states:
“We are in the age of the simultaneous, of juxtaposition, the near and the far, the side by side and the scattered. A period in which, in my view, the world is putting itself to the test, not so much as a great way of life destined to grow in time but as a net that links points together and creates its own muddle.”
If we are to take a theory like this, one can see a connection to Antichamber with its rooms and connections between them. On the surface the connections are a mix of stairwells, elevators and corridors; but on reflection expand into multi-layered sections where walking creates one outcome and jumping creates another. Antichamber is of course a very abstract example, but it can be something to study in the architectural and gaming world to produce interesting ideas with areas which may not get a lot of attention. To use an even more up-to-date example, P.T (Silent Hills Playable Teaser) I feel plays with the idea of voids and perspective to create its eerie horror that brings the player into a world of uncertainty and fear.
Like with many things in our subconscious we don’t give them a second thought, but the practice of non-space can be something to open a world of new design possibilities in both the real and digital world. In your own journeys, take a moment to consider these places between buildings and think about what it means and how it interacts with its surroundings. I hope you enjoyed this piece and please feel free to discuss theories / suggestions.
References
Antichamber – Alexander Bruce (2013)
Foucault, M. (1967) Of Other Space: Utopias and Heterotopias
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