Original Post
What if a video game took place in Flatland? It is not the Victorian era social commentary of Flatland that resonates as a game play mechanic but the introduction of higher dimensions to a previously "flat" 2D world. A Square, with the help of his friend the sphere, would have exactly the kind of powers that make up a gimmicky platformer or puzzle game, not to mention some potential educational value. So embrace the gimmick and brainstorm what game play this could open up! The primary challenge I see is that the powers of having extra-dimensional aid are too great. The sphere could lift our friend the Square up out of Flatland and place him back down at his destination, avoiding all platformer-style obstacles in the way. Most standard puzzles would be easily avoided this way, too; any locked door can be gotten around, any blocks rearranged, any button pressed, etc. In short, there must be some way to restrict sphere's powers. But restrictions on Sphere's powers would be hard to come by if they are only in Flatland. We could make Sphereland restrictions that, too, block Sphere. A 3D box with the goal inside, could intersect Flatland and act as a barrier to both Square and Sphere. But this weakens the Flatland setting of the game; the only true obstacles are the ones that exist in Spaceland! The obstacles have to interact interestingly with both Spaceland and Flatland, otherwise we are squandering the gimmick. For this, we might be saved by some abilities that Square has that Sphere cannot. For example, our 3D box in Spaceland intersecting Flatland might have an infinitely thin slit (conveniently in the same place as Flatland!) through which Square could fit comfortably but which would shame poor Sphere. But I have yet to think of any interesting puzzles or game play that could be worked out with this scheme. Does anyone else have thoughts? Some other ideas:
- Sphere can flip 2D things over, making them their mirror image. This is otherwise impossible in Flatland.
- Some restrictions originating in Flatland may still pose a challenge in Spaceland: a rope between two blocks can still connect the two in three dimensions.
- There is the possible mechanic of being able to move Flatland through Spaceland. As the plane of Flatland intersects different parts of Spaceland objects, they might grow, shrink, suddenly change, or even disappear abruptly. Objects in Flatland could still block the movement of Flatland; a Flatland object inside an enclosed 3D box still would stop all of flatland from moving (so long as the 3D box is fixed).
- This idea can, of course, be extended to higher (or lower, I suppose) dimensions as the Edwin Abbott would encourage us to do. However, I think that the possibilities of Spaceland being aided by Hyperspaceland shouldn't be considered too deeply until the Flatland-Spaceland relationship is fleshed out, game play wise.
- Flatland need not be entirely "flat"! It could be Sphereland, for instance, where our (non-Euclidean) Square is restricted to the surface of a sphere. Or Rubberland (as one might call it), which can be stretched and distorted easily in three dimensions. Or Torusland where such well-known characters as Pacman reside.
