Authors present an experimental game design case study focused on eliciting emotional responses through a generative interactive audiovisual landscape. A prototype was developed and tested and recall interviews collected with 10 participants. A qualitative phenomenological study was done with content analysis on action and speech. The synthesis of results reveals a complex entanglement of sensory perception, emotional response, and self-directed exploration composing the phenomenological landscape of player experience. Lessons for design result from a set of insights: A strong interplay was observed between spatial categories such as path and orientation; Intentionality and action patterns were shaped through situated perception and audiovisual cues and feedback; Ambiguity surfaced as a core characteristic of the experience; Concepts such as goals, challenge, progression and feedback did not stem explicitly from mechanics, but emerged from perception and sensemaking of the environment; Autonomy stood out clearly from the freedom to explore, to interpret, and to act independently. Such control, autonomy, and flexibility are key characteristics for designing play environmental supportiveness.