Hypnospace Outlaw

A very short puzzle/investigation game with a lot of charm and some good puzzles, but also several very awful, tedious, unfun puzzles. Not worth the list price, get it on steep discount if you must.

I was struggling a bit with myself on whether to recommend Hypnospace Outlaw, but I think I can if only for the incredible commitment to the aesthetics of the mid-to-late 90s internet. I was a bit too young to fully remember it, but I always liked the general aesthetic of webpages around that time, and this game very accurately shows that, if maybe in a slightly overexaggerated way. As an enforcer of the Hypnospace Patrol department, your job is to comb through the webpages to find violations through cases assigned to you. From copyright infringments to malicious software or illegal payment methods, find and stamp it and get hypnocoins as well as finish cases to drive the overall story forward. Coins can be used to buy stuff on the webpages of this Hypnospace internet world, such as wallpapers, or music and even virtual pets. It really feels like the lawlessness of late 90s internet summed up in one game, warts and all. If I had any problem with the game, it would probably be the second half, where cases get a bit more obscure and violations get harder to find without solving cryptic puzzles or digging through a ton of user profiles for the one link you need to continue. The way the story continues and then abruptly concludes without any sort of epilogue also left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and it takes away a bit from the zaniness and "chill" vibe the game had previously. And if you used computers in the late 90s, well, all the issues are present in this game too, from slow-loading webpages and weird viruses to bad interfaces. Clicking through webpages, and back to programs, it's all a bit unintuitive and clunky, and gets annoying quick after a couple hours and especially in the final stretch of the game, which was also very hard to solve without looking into a walkthrough. Even so, I have to commend Hypnospace Outlaw for just being a really unique and cool idea even if it stumbles a bit. A ton of effort was put into the different webpages, songs and "OS" of this game and even if you just explore for a while aside from the story, which you can do, there's a ton to discover, until you get bored at least. I would wait for a sale though as I think 20 dollars is a bit much for what you get, but for 15 dollars or less, I'd say go for it if the idea of this interests you!

Pretty cool concept, gameplay gets real tedious real fast. Better off as more of a nostalgia piece than an actual game

truly one of the most unique and engaging games I have ever played. I have never experienced anything quite like it

I first discovered this game through Gemaplys’ channel (a Brazilian YouTuber) and decided to give it a chance. I’ll admit I was surprised! [b] The game is amazing. [/b] At the beginning, I was playing it smoothly, but soon I started running into so much information, so many possible paths, and so many theories to solve the mysteries that I found myself grabbing pen and paper to write things down. That’s when I realized just how good this game is. It had been a long time since a game made me feel this way, the last one that led me to build a notebook full of notes was Bully, and that was years ago. I remember writing down every little discovery, and that feeling came back with this game. Even so, I didn’t manage to find all the pages and secrets, nor unlock all the achievements, which makes me think there are still mysteries left to uncover. The game’s universe is [b] “incredable”, [/b] It’s so well built that I completely lost track of time while playing. The world creates a great sense of immersion, and the music is excellent! I’ve had some of the tracks stuck in my head for days. If you’re thinking about giving this game a chance, do it. And if possible, don’t look up any tips, play it your own way, at least on your first save. The experience will be unique. I plan to start a new save and try to discover things I missed, because it’s absolutely worth it.

dis was such a wonderful experience there's no game quite like it!!!!!!!!! it feels like there's a while world to discover and learn and it's so engagin and fun to just find stuff!!!!!!!!!!! it's encouraged to download stuff you find on hypnospace and fully customize your hypnOS but i kept gettin scared i'd find and download a virus or somethin but it's ok!!!!!! it's just a game and it's a safe space play around in i wish i realized dat sooner!!!!!!! embrace da chaos!!!!!!!!!!!

Better than Windows 11

this game has irreparably conditioned me to wiggle my mouse whenever a webpage doesn't load immediately 10/10