Jay Tholen
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jaytholen.net
Jay Tholen
@jaytholen.net
https://jaytholen.net lead designer, writer, artist, & composer for Dropsy, 1999 web sim Hypnospace Outlaw, & Slayers X. Clickteam software oldhead. follower of Jesus. husband of Katie. dad. 70s prog/fusion/zeuhl guy. Braunschweig, DE / Florida
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Hi, I'm the lead dev of Dropsy and Hypnospace Outlaw. and I've been working on my website lately!

If you enjoy ruminations on indie game dev or digital prog rock/jazz fusion please sign up for the newsletter (scroll 👇 on the home page!) & follow my RSS feed!

/!\_,.-~> jaytholen.net <~-.,_/!\
Reposted by Jay Tholen
new discord update looks different
February 9, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Today is the tenth anniversary of Firewatch's release. It remains the thing I'm most proud to have worked on. There's more of me inside of Firewatch than in any other game—and I have no doubt there are others on the team who would say the same about themselves. Thanks to everyone who ever played it.
February 9, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
its so funny how this song basically follows the exact template of "I Am The Chowderman" from Hypnospace Outlaw, except its right wing
guys. the kid rock performance is uh. well it’s exactly what you’d expect
February 8, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
I'M SENDING AN EMAIL SOON WITH BETA TEST ACCESS FOR MY NEW VIDEO GAME
FILL OUT THIS FORM IF YOU WANT TO PLAY
AND SHARE THIS POST IF YOU WANNA HELP SPREAD THE WORD
K BYE
forms.gle/ZkUFdQjS3a7q...
🚀🧑‍🚀🪨🌠
February 6, 2026 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Update! 📢

I'm super excited to announce that I've found a super cool publisher for my little game (Future Friends Games) and we've updated the demo!!

we also changed the name from Balls, Dice & Stickers to STICKER/BALL because the old one was too long :D

new trailer:
February 3, 2026 at 4:11 PM
someone uploaded the Hypnospace Tune Sequencer test songs from the game files and i'm wondering who else has similar naming conventions for temp stuff
Jay's Butt – echotest
YouTube video by Robo Junior
www.youtube.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Great song for Grounding's Day. A @jaytholen.net classic!

jtholen.bandcamp.com/track/why-sh...
Why, Shadow? Why?!?!, by Jay Tholen
track by Jay Tholen
jtholen.bandcamp.com
February 2, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Would you still love me if I was a WIP giant worm in a sci-fi metroidvania???
#esagame
January 29, 2026 at 10:40 PM
one nice thing about Peter Gabriel is that he sounded old when he was like 19 so now that he actually is old it's not all that different
February 1, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Check out the trailer for our totalitarian society simulator Ministry of Truth: 1984.

A closed playtest will start on 16 February, and you can sign up for it on the game's Steam page
Ministry of Truth: 1984 - Official Playtest Trailer
YouTube video by GameTrailers
youtu.be
January 31, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Okay wow. We're SO CLOSE to 100 reviews. When we get 100, the algorithm sits up and PROPERLY takes notice of us, which will make a *world* of difference.

The strongest way right now to support Size Five is to grab a copy and drop a review asap. Your help means everything to me, thank you ❤️
As we head into the weekend, a quick reminder that Earth Must Die requires your PURCHASE and REVIEW please, so that we stay totally relevant.

Every copy sold at this critical juncture helps us out more than, like three copies sold next week. So please do.

store.steampowered.com/app/3639780/...
January 31, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
hey i like never post about this but i do have a patreon and if u could afford to support that would really help me out, i haven't had any solid work for over a year and things are getting really tight www.patreon.com/jazzmickle
January 28, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Earth Must Die just launched and we've collaborated on a nice little bundle to mark the occasion!

You're getting two highly polished, fully voiced comedy adventures - at a great price! 👀

store.steampowered.com/bundle/66897...
Save 12% on Earth Must Die x Loco Motive on Steam
store.steampowered.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
🎉🎉Earth Must Die is out NOW!!🎉🎉

- Fully animated, fully voice-acted adventure game
- Mega rude, mega cheap
- 8-10 hours long
- Contains a train heist and an alien orgy

store.steampowered.com/app/3639780/...
January 27, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
i cant believe beefbrain is real and it destroyed the united states of america lmao
January 24, 2026 at 7:21 AM
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And just in time, here's my review of Hypnospace Outlaw!
A review of Hypnospace Outlaw - Tommy's Video Game Reviews
Memory is a weird thing. I have memories of playing Hypnospace Outlaw on my PC. But when I went to look at WHEN I played the game on Steam, it...
judgebread.pika.page
January 23, 2026 at 4:15 PM
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realizing these are identical scenes
March 27, 2025 at 3:33 AM
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got bored and made a mess of a hypnospace page
January 18, 2026 at 8:20 AM
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Drive-thrus are convenience, not laziness.

Wishlist my game: store.steampowered.com/app/3031880/...
January 12, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
I really don't think you can carry any more purchases. You can come again after you sell something,or you can simply discard an item to lighten your load. Or, you might want to sell the things you don't need here!
January 12, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
then: Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer
now: Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer
Quote this with your favourite game from 2023 NOW, and what your favourite was THEN (if you had one)

Localisations/early access/expansions count, remasters/ports don't. Remakes depend.

Two-way ties count.

Refresher list: backloggd.com/games/lib/po...
January 8, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
HELLO.

I made a more snappy, vertical version of Boot The Dispute's trailer, for those who enjoy such things.

If you could (at minimum) feign enjoyment of such a thing, this would be helpful to me and my goals.

Kindly like, share, comment, follow, etc, here:
vm.tiktok.com/ZTHEq7mpCPMa...
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Jay Tholen
Some epic prog for ya

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZs8...
Renaissance - Can You Understand - Live in RTL Studio 1974 (QHD 2K) 2024 Remaster
YouTube video by BrunoSamppa
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 7:45 PM
same. and theme parks. also: walkin thru forests
A cool thing about games is that sometimes even when I'm playing a bad one I still find myself thinking "but someone built this whole virtual world and now I'm moving through it??? That's so cool!"
January 7, 2026 at 11:37 AM