Video games can get players into a meditative state, thanks to their ability to allow the player to focus on the moment. This is done deliberately in games like Sunlight or Abzu, but even more traditional games like Skyrim can ground the player thanks to their atmosphere. Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between from developer Silverstring Media is the latest title to try and create this feeling in its players, although it does so in quite a unique way.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is a vastly expanded release of a concept initially launched by Silverstring in 2014. Glitchhikers: First Drive tasks the player with travelling down a highway late at night and taps into the zen-like feeling of red eye road travel, but The Spaces Between grows this with four journey types: the road trip, a walk in a park, a train ride, and a night in an airport terminal. In all four journeys the player will meet other travellers, and all of them would like to talk about some deep subjects.
First and foremost, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between encapsulates the feeling of these different journeys well. The curving, moonlight night drive is perfect, while the feel of the late night airport gives the player that same sense of informercial-tinged tranquility. There is even an infinite drive for the player to take on for a long-term mindfulness experience, which gives an additional element of replayability beyond the desire to play each section again.
Beyond the specific journeys themselves, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between also finds success with the subject matter of its dialogue. On each journey the player will meet other hikers in various forms of anthropomorphism, and they will want to talk to the player about topics from topography to technology, all the way to the origins of the Viking horned helmet. Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between doesn't shy away from difficult subjects either, discussing things like the social model of disability while making clear the impracticalities of making a train journey as a wheelchair user.
Aesthetically, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between matches the mood of its gameplay extremely well, with an interesting retrowave style that shifts and moves, mirroring perfectly the visual glitches of its settings and characters with a facade of simplicity. The soundtrack, too, is fantastic, from the meandering late night radio host of the highway to the buskers of the train, with the score shifting slightly with each carriage that the player moves through.
Between the journeys, the dialogue, and the visual and audio themes, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between certainly excels at creating a meditative experience. For each of its four core sections, as well as the endless drive and the hub location of a friendly convenience store, the player can let the atmosphere wash over them as a digital mindfulness session. Meanwhile, those more serious dialogue choices allow the player to have moments of self-reflection, without things ever getting too weighty.
If players do find some of the material of Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between difficult, then thankfully they can make use of some comprehensive content options that allow the player to remove particular talking points without the experience being reduced. Given that the game discusses subjects like trauma it's good to see, and the seamless way that the player can switch off certain elements is handled well. The mental health of players is considered thoroughly, with the clerk at the convenience store almost acting as a mental health first aider if the player so chooses.
Given its distinctive place in the market, it's fair to say that Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between isn't going to gel with everyone. It’s an abstract and challenging game, and those after a traditional video game experience will not find what they are looking for. As well as this, alongside the deliberate glitches there are a couple of bugs; notably in the review build of the game the player might find they can't turn off their music when walking in the park and therefore can't interact with any of the other strollers, but this is solved by exiting and restarting the stage.
Overall, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is fantastic, and manages to blend an introspective, meditative journey with discussions of interesting real world issues with ease. It may feel a little esoteric to some, but players who go into The Spaces Between with the right mindset will get not just an interesting indie game, but a mindful place to revisit in times when they need it.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between releases March 31, 2022 for PC and Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided with a PC download code for the purposes of this review.