Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between Is the Weird, Beautiful Night Drive My Brain Wants to Take

ign.com:

Years ago, before I got into games media, I had a job that required me to drive around Kansas a lot, sometimes at night. If you've ever driven about a Midwestern state at night, you know the surreal experience of it - the darkness, the lack of cars, the strange, peaceful programs airing on late-night public radio stations, the quiet hum of a roadside convenience store with its eclectic beverage selection. In the midwest, there was also the haunting blinking sea of red lights in the distance. During the daytime, the truth of them would be obvious: turbines on one of Kansas' many wind farms. But at night, they looked like little alien ships landing in the distance.

I never thought I'd find this experience replicated in a video game, but here we are with Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between. Glitchhikers evokes that exact kind of road trip I took in my early 20s while simultaneously reflecting what turns out to be a universal experience of traveling at night. In it, you are behind the wheel of a car, or riding on public transit, or walking alone at night, listening to the weird tunes that only come on during those odd hours. As you travel, you encounter other wanderers who join you for a spell, engaging you in discussions about life, love, and everything else that comes up at 2am when neither of you can sleep, the stars are out, and the mood is just right for the big questions.

Creative director Claris Cyarron seems pleased to hear I recognized the exact vibe she and the team at Silverstring Media tried to capture with Glitchhikers. She tells me they wanted to encapsulate every type of late night drive, while still hitting on specific feelings individual audience members might recognize. Unsurprisingly, she and everyone else on