Any way to move the play area out from under and behind me? Or anyone have a controller guide? The tutorial barely gives you any idea of how to navigate this game.  

Also is there a way to prevent the joysticks from flinging the game map around at random?

Or maybe a way to play the game with the play area in front of you instead of under?

I don't get what you exactly mean but did you ty to enable movement control in the options? It will allow you to move the world by using the grip button on one controller and moving it.
There is also a guide here who may help you : https://arvrtips.com/deisim-vr/