Complex sentence: Maya depictions of ballgame play are shown either against a backdrop of stairs or shown as if the players were actually playing the ball "against" the stairs in what would seem to be a Maya version of stoop ball.
Split into simpler sentences: Maya depictions of ballgame play are shown either against a backdrop of stairs. In these scenes, it appears as if the players were actually playing the ball "against" the stairs in what would seem to be a Maya version of stoop ball.