Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between

A narrative experience where everything might as well be a surreal metaphor, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is a lovely gaming oddity that strongly adheres to the principle that it is the journey and not the destination that matters in a video game. Through a bizarre cast of characters and a chill setting, this captivating game will have you pondering upon the most existential matters of the human condition.

As long as you don’t mind the occasional grandiose dialogue and some awkward controls here and there, the experience of playing through Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is one that you won’t be able to forget that easily.

The Place Between Places

In this game, you play as a traveler that suddenly finds themselves in an otherworldly convenience store. You soon learn that you’re in a place that’s “between places” — a midway point in many travels. What does this mean for you? Well, that’s precisely the gist of Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between.

More than a mere narrative experience like What Remains of Edith Finch, Glitchhikers deals with the more metaphysical questions about our lives. According to the game’s developers, these questions are better pondered in the middle of traveling. That’s the reason why the game takes place in multiple late-night settings that all have to do with voyages and leisure strolls.

Much of the game is left to the player’s interpretation. Characters often deliver some cryptic dialogue that could mean myriad things — all depending on the player’s vision of life and its musings. If that sounds a bit too bizarre for your tastes, buckle on then, ‘cause it only gets weirder from here on.

Surreal Atmosphere

Every character you meet in your travels not only has something bizarre to tell you: they also look positively odd enough to match their thoughts. Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between uses a somewhat minimalistic art style that employs sharp polygons and simple textures to bring its strange world to life.

Its basic look notwithstanding, the game cleverly uses its barebones presentation to draw the player further into its narrative elements. Dialogue is the most prominent part of the game, after all; if we’re being honest, the game could have worked as a text-only experience as well, but the oddly nostalgic setting in its low-poly glory is undeniably alluring nonetheless.

However, it’s worth pointing out that it feels like the surrealism angle can get a bit out of hand in this game. Titles like Journey have managed to add some very existential narratives into their stories without sacrificing too much in the way of actual gameplay — and Glitchhikers would have done well following a similar formula.

As it is, Glitchhikers can feel overbearing at times, meaning that this is a game that can only be recommended to players that have a die-hard interest in the themes presented in the game’s bizarre world of oddities and travelers. That said, the chilling atmosphere and amazing soundtrack might be more than enough incentive to give this one a try.

Pros

• Excellent soundtrack to keep you company during your adventure
• A bizarre cast of intriguing characters
• Surreal visuals to keep you immersed in this dream-like world

Cons

• Awkward controls during some sequences
• Dialogue can be a bit too heavy at times