A Violent and Dreamlike JRPG Set in the Final-est Frontier: Glitchspace

A lot of games boast dreamlike imagery or "dream logic" or claim that they can recapture the power and weirdness of dreams. That's a dragon I personally chase when I seek surreal, escapist entertainment in games, and it is the inspiration for HoloJam, a colorful, glitchscape RPG based on creator SlimeMaid's dreams.

You explore jagged, neon pixel environments as an intrepid slime-person, encountering mutated humans ("humies," which, importantly, were mutated by their own weapons), and fighting them in turn-based battles. If you want to use your most powerful weapons (goo, naturally), it comes with a hefty HP price, so the game is actually quite difficult.

But it's more than worth it to explore this world. It reminded me of Space Funeral on a few occasions, with a little touch of Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor in others—both very good things, for my money. There's something so evocative and fun about these colors and pixel-crayola shapes, and the soundtrack by nelward, @hey_zack_, and @JimmyMaslaki goes a long way to sell the world.

HoloJam is available for Windows, Mac and lInux on it's itch.io page, for free or pay-what-you-want.

Editor's note: a previous version of this piece did not list all of the soundtrack contributors, that had been amended.