Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is a game that not many out there will “get”. If you don’t like titles that involve self-reflection and cerebral questioning, this game will probably just annoy you. If however, you are a fan of chilled vibes, “walking sim” style games that captivate and enthral you with reflective conversations, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is a title you’ll enjoy.
Players in Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between will take on the role of a traveller that’s in the “Space between”. This is a surreal world where everything is all about the journey. A journey to where you might ask? Well the game doesn’t exactly state that to you. You’re just presented with a set of options and it’s off with you out into the great unknown.
This is where the game’s real nitty gritty takes place. If you opted to use the highway, you’ll be driving your car at full speed across an empty road into the unknown. Your character will tune into the radio and listen to the presenter ask some hard-hitting questions. A music track will then play and you’ll encounter a random hitchhiker which shows up suddenly in your car. How they got there, is anyone’s guess and honestly it’s sorta creepy and unsettling at first.
These hitchhikers will then converse with you and the moral and philosophical nature of their questions can be answered in a myriad of ways. Each answer leads to different outcomes in their replies and this is clearly meant to encourage replayability.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between therefore works with a simple formula of venturing out on a journey and encountering random hitchhikers while a laid-back soundtrack plays. The game captures the essence of a meditative, self-reflective trip in this regard. Like you’re out on a journey to a far away location and just so happen to find some random strangers to chat with. The airport lounge, the train and the park scenes are great too with players encountering random strangers that have a wide range of personalities and questions to ask you.
Graphically, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between doesn’t exactly feature the most striking visuals. Everything is low-poly and definitely leans towards the artsy side of things but that’s where a lot of the game’s charm is to be found. You’re thrown into the strange unknown and what you find, in the form of the strangers, is the game’s essence. The questions, the intrigue, the mystery and the moral philosophy the game weaves into you as the player is what makes this an oddly captivating title. You’ll want to come back and continue on another journey just so that you can encounter someone new and see what they have to say.
Each journey in Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between takes around 20 minutes or slightly more to complete and there’s quite a lot of replayability in the game as you encounter the strangers randomly. There might be some repetition if you quit out of the game before completing an entire journey though so it’s best to finish an entire trip before doing so.
The soundtrack featured in the game is extremely chilled out and fits with the game’s themes perfectly. Unfortunately, though, the conversations aren’t voiced in the game and this is a bit of a let-down. Having everything voiced would probably have added a bit more nuance or intrigue to the conversations given a tone of voice used or a particular accent. Even though this isn’t present though, players can still easily digest the game’s content and contemplate on the questions and what thoughts they provoke in them. Some of the content might be a tad on the extreme side of things and some might just come across as shallow or cliché but the overall mix is surprisingly satisfying. Different people will have different experiences with this game and therein lies its beauty.
The game also features an option to disable the glitch effects if they annoy or affect you and there’s a handy link to access mental health services should the content in the game affect you deeply because of the sensitive topics it sometimes brings up. The actual gameplay of the game is incredibly simple with players moving around and conversing using the bare minimum of keyboard keys and mouse clicks.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is certainly not for everyone and clearly features a very indie, rough around the edges aesthetic too with abstract art, weird character designs and more. Some might scoff at the game’s graphics but it doesn’t matter when its content is targeted at a very specific market niche. If you’ve enjoy games that try something new and different, this game is worth picking up.
Developer: Silverstring Media Inc.
Publisher: Fellow Traveller
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Macintosh operating systems
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