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The article has a screenshot of the Stanley Parable, but misses an opportunity to reference Control (2019) which is much more directly influenced by the "limina
by amiga386 7mo ago
The article has a screenshot of the Stanley Parable, but misses an opportunity to reference Control (2019) which is much more directly influenced by the "liminal space" concept, and imagines a non-euclidian space called The Oldest House at 34 Thomas Street (a reference to the brutalist, windowless AT&T Long Lines skyscraper at 33 Thomas Street, New York City).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F74LLDhAhhI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F74LLDhAhhI
It also very much ties in with the shared SCP universe, which itself has a number of Backrooms-like anomalies, such as SCP-3008 (https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3008 https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3008), which is like a typical IKEA, except its maze of twisty passages run to infinity.
- thunderfork 7mo agoThe Stanley Parable definitely plays with non-euclidean and liminal spaces - the room in the screenshot being one such example.
- amiga386 7mo agoIt does, but its main focus is ludonarrative dissonance, which is why Control would be a better example (along with games that specifically invoke Backrooms lore, like POOLS)
- cestith 7mo agoI was actually a little surprised there was no mention of Escape the Backrooms, although I suppose The Stanley Parable is a better-known game.
- taeric 7mo agoReminds me how much fun Superliminal was. Might have to get that another play through. :D
- busfahrer 7mo ago> which is like a typical IKEA, except its maze of twisty passages run to infinity. For the 4 people on HN who don't know, "maze of twisty passages" is a reference to the this (the?) text adventure game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure
- entropicdrifter 7mo agoAdventure is the OG, the genre-namer. If there's only one adventure game, it's either this or Zork.
- tsumnia 7mo agoI mean if we're trying to source where "liminal space" started, I'd like to add Portal and Portal 2 into the mix. It didn't have the surreal, creepy components because jump scare horror games like Five Nights hadn't been popularized yet but the entire second area of Portal 2 where you're introduced to Cave Johnson and the older Aperture Science HQ is very much "liminal". If we want to go deeper, then I really think its Earthbound's absurdist take on childhood adventures with cultists, ghosts, dreamscapes, etc. but I think at that point I might as well say dice games influenced things.
- frmersdog 7mo agoI don't think it's too far to include Earthbound. After all, You cannot grasp the true form of Giygas' attack!
- captn3m0 7mo agoAntichamber (2013) is also worth mentioning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichamber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antichamber
- entropicdrifter 7mo agoThat game is so mind-bending
- parpfish 7mo agoi think there's also a strong Lynchian influence to the liminal space aesthetic. Industrial spaces, flickering fluoresecnt lights, and a sense of unease that comes from dream-logic and shots that linger to emphasize emptyness.
- thenthenthen 7mo agoSuper studio’s Flooded McDonalds also comes to mind
- hoherd 7mo agoSpeaking of relevant games, there's also a Roblox game that my son has been into called Backrooms With Guns, and now I understand it a lot more. https://en.namu.wiki/w/The%20Backrooms%20With%20Guns https://en.namu.wiki/w/The%20Backrooms%20With%20Guns I see others have mentioned Superliminal too, which was great.
- Wojtkie 7mo agoI am also going to call out House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's a really interesting book that explores a house that is slightly larger on the inside than the outside. It explores a lot of liminal spaces and has a really interesting format in print.
- nlawalker 7mo ago>House of Leaves And then from there back to another game: MyHouse.wad, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyHouse.wad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyHouse.wad
- MisterTea 7mo agoHaven't played that yet though I heard it really helps if you are fan of the series and read the books as the game will make more sense that way.
- amiga386 7mo agoInterestingly, this video analysis of Control (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII76R36GWw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VII76R36GWw) claims Remedy was inspired by House of Leaves, and notes the similarity between "Ash Tree Lane" where the House of Leaves is set, and the "Ash Tray Maze" in Control. Just seeing a few images of the book's pages in this video, yeah it seems like a really interesting book that plays with the novel format directly.
- hoherd 7mo agoPair that with Poe's album Haunted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_%28Poe_album%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_%28Poe_album%29 > Haunted is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Poe, released in 2000 after a five-year hiatus from her debut album Hello in 1995. The self-produced album was created as a tribute to her father, and counterpart to her brother Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves. That book is definitely something you have to see in print.
- heavyset_go 7mo agoThe book itself is highly influenced by Borges
- aaron695 7mo ago[dead]
- willis936 7mo agoI'm not an SCP expert, but for a long time I have really liked SCP-087. It really nails the sleep paralysis and liminal space vibes.
- Animats 7mo agoThat's been done as "The Store is Closed."[1] IKEA threatened to sue. [1] https://www.youtube.com/embed/sK5wPE-aQwc?autoplay=1&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.bing.com&rel=0 https://www.youtube.com/embed/sK5wPE-aQwc?autoplay=1&enablej...
- plagiarist 7mo agoI really want to play that game but I am bad at the genre and I got whacked by the first boss. I really like that creepy aesthetic.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]