Defective Holiday

Defective Holiday seeks meaning from the isolated moments of its mundanity. The ideal traveler believes either witnessing or imagining extraordinary phenomenon can produce identical reverberations in their mind. This drifting opacity goes against the traditional idea of a relaxing getaway, but emerges as a scattershot method to capture surreal spaces between ordinary places. True to its name, Defective Holiday is a capricious but endearing vacation.

63%Game Brain Score

graphics, humor

music, story

76% User Score Based on 33 reviews

Critic Score 65%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

Defective Holiday is a single player casual simulation game. It was developed by Kim Laughton and was released on May 1, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Defective Holiday is single player, first person, lightly interactive will take under an hour to complete. As you play, you’re pulled between different scenes – a beach, departure lounge, restaurant, taxi and more - present in each location for only a fleeting moment before being moved on to the next. Featuring original music by Mechatok

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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76%

Audience ScoreBased on 33 reviews

graphics6 positive mentions

Unique and immersive visual style with beautifully rendered, detailed graphics.
Atmospheric and well-composed soundtrack that complements the game’s mood and enhances the experience.
Offers a short, intriguing interactive art experience that blends walking simulator elements with surreal, dreamlike storytelling.

Lacks traditional gameplay depth and interactivity; mostly walking and observing with minimal player input.
Story is vague, confusing, and hard to follow, which might frustrate players expecting a structured narrative.
Repetitive environments and slow pacing can make the experience feel boring or tedious for some players.

music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The game's music, largely composed by Mechatok, is praised for its immersive, nostalgic, and unsettling hyperpop and PC Music-inspired soundtrack that perfectly complements its unique, atmospheric visuals. Fans of contemporary electronic music and experimental sound design will find it especially captivating, enhancing the experience as a masterfully crafted audiovisual journey.
- “All in all, not only for fans of hyperpop and PC Music, but especially for them, a really great audiovisual trip program, a dreamy holiday in hazy memories of a future not yet lived, masterfully conceived, acted out, composed and compiled.”
- “You'll quickly fall in love with Mechatok's music as it connects you to this world.”
- “Due to the sometimes strangely empty, sometimes lovingly designed but almost claustrophobically limited environments, it's easy to speak of nightmarish worlds here; even more, the whole 'liminal space' movement seems to have inspired this title as well, such as the incursion of the mystical or supernatural into everyday life á la Gregory Crewdson, virtual utopian vaporwave environments and, in sound design, world building and of course also in the soundtrack: a huge portion of hyperpop.”
- “Specifically, fans of PC Music and their aesthetics have to adore this title, because in no other have I ever felt so much like I'm wandering through the kitschy, shrill, harmonically ethereal music videos of these pioneers of contemporary electronic music.”
- “+ acceptable sound and music”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
31%
23%
The graphics are praised for their crisp, vibrant, and hyper-real visuals that create an immersive, dreamlike atmosphere closely tied to Kim Laughton's distinctive music and artwork. While highly detailed and artistically impressive, some users note the lack of graphics settings and view the visuals more as a tech showcase than traditional game graphics. Overall, the graphics significantly enhance the experience, blending detailed modeling with constantly morphing, captivating scenes.
- “Crisp and vibrant colors create a hyper-real aesthetic; the surroundings seem to be in a constant state of morphing and alienating, and the emptiness of everyday places evolves into a surprisingly multi-layered, super-stylized dream-like atmosphere.”
- “This is essentially a 3D modeller's portfolio piece; the models are detailed and gorgeously rendered, with some genuinely interesting graphical effects and scene transitions.”
- “This was totally wonderful, the graphics, the morphing of graphics as you advance, the mysterious story; this was really wild and engaging, the best walking simulator within a game as well.”
- “The only downside I had was the omission of graphics settings.”
- “Ridiculous graphics.”
- “+ ok graphics”
story
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The story is intentionally ambiguous and challenging to follow, encouraging players to piece together fragments and create their own interpretations. While some view it as a minimal or vague narrative akin to a music video, others appreciate its mysterious and thought-provoking nature, enhanced by complementary visuals and music. Overall, it serves more as an atmospheric experience than a traditional deep story.
- “The story is hard to follow but that's the main point of the game, with a nice addition of allowing the player to join together pieces of story while creating their own answers.”
- “Very nice, short, low interactive story game showing you the progression throughout time.”
- “This was totally wonderful, the graphics, the morphing of graphics as you advance, the mysterious story, this was really wild and engaging... the best walking simulator within a game as well.”
- “☐ no story”
- “This is a walking sim without a real story.”
- “There is a story in the vaguest sense and some scenes veer towards thought provoking, but by and large, I found very little substance here.”
gameplay
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The gameplay is straightforward and unremarkable, offering a basic experience without notable features or complexity.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor is characterized by a surreal, quirky charm that blends everyday situations with whimsical, intangible twists, offering a uniquely inviting and wholesome experience. It draws inspiration from eclectic and episodic storytelling, making it both funny and relaxing.
- “The mysterious, sparse, eclectic, and episodic structure with a hint of narrative reminded me of "Virginia." The transformation of everyday situations into intangible reformulations of the underrated "Islands Non-Places," the character designs of the iconic NPCs, as well as the surreal humor of the works of Cosmod, one of my favorite developers.”
- “An inviting, charming, wholesome, funny, beautifully rendered, and relaxing experience with a unique vision I greatly appreciated.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is notably time-consuming and may require significant dedication or repeated attempts to progress.
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is subtle and episodic, blending mysterious and eclectic narrative elements reminiscent of titles like "Virginia" and "Islands: Non-Places," with iconic NPC designs and surreal humor that enrich the overall experience.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers an inviting and charming emotional experience, blending wholesomeness, humor, and beautiful visuals to create a relaxing and uniquely memorable atmosphere.
- “An inviting, charming, wholesome, funny, beautifully rendered and relaxing experience with a unique vision I greatly appreciated.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is praised for its strong visual design and well-crafted models, enhanced by a notable soundtrack. It offers an immersive and artistic experience, though it is brief, lasting around 40 minutes as a walking simulator.

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65%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Defective Holiday
Defective Holiday seeks meaning from the isolated moments of its mundanity. The ideal traveler believes either witnessing or imagining extraordinary phenomenon can produce identical reverberations in their mind. This drifting opacity goes against the traditional idea of a relaxing getaway, but emerges as a scattershot method to capture surreal spaces between ordinary places. True to its name, Defective Holiday is a capricious but endearing vacation.
Digitalchumps.com
65%

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Frequently Asked Questions

Defective Holiday is a casual simulation game.

Defective Holiday is available on PC, Windows and Xbox.

Defective Holiday was released on May 1, 2020.

Defective Holiday was developed by Kim Laughton.

Defective Holiday has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its graphics but disliked it for its music.

Defective Holiday is a single player game.

Similar games include DREAM LOGIC, Cloud Climber, Lost Luminosity, Caliban Below, Pluviophile and others.

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