ERRORMATIC VOL.2 – The Interactive Glitch Maze

We wanted ERRORMATIC VOL.2, Clean Error’s 18-track compilation, to go beyond streaming and visuals. We wanted it to be playable – to let listeners experience glitch as space, not just sound.

That’s where the Interactive Glitch Maze came in.

This wasn’t just a bonus feature. It was a design ritual — taking the glitch identity of Clean Error and giving it a literal path to navigate.

THE CONCEPT

What if a compilation album wasn’t just a playlist…
…but a labyrinth?

Inspired by retro dungeon-crawlers and lo-fi game mechanics, We designed a maze engine that reacts like a visual metaphor for distortion – unpredictable, layered, and slightly broken.

You play as a corrupted glyph – a glitched letter caught in an unstable system.

Your only tools: the arrow keys and a trail of Error Crumbs.

Breadcrumbs? Too clean.
Error Crumbs? Port Rhombus.

As you progress, the maze changes.
Walls flicker. Symbols jitter.
The music mutates with each level.

By the time you reach Level 10, you’re deep in a noisy geometry – a visual symphony of collapse.

THE BUILD

This wasn’t built in Unity or Unreal. I kept it raw – HTML5 canvas, JavaScript logic, a glitch-type renderer that lets the visuals degrade and evolve.

Each level pulls from a specific track on the compilation.
Each “crumb” you drop leaves a trail of minor distortion.
The interface is intentionally unstable, hinting at breakdown but remaining playable.

The aesthetic:
-Black terminal backgrounds
-Neon magentas + purples
-ASCII-style HUD overlays
-Custom pixel font (inspired by VHS and BIOS screens)
-Randomized flickers + shifting wall logic

In post, we added sound-reactive cues and performance enhancements to make the maze responsive, but never predictable. This is about emotional UI: the feeling of trying to navigate a broken system with only your instincts.

The ERRORMATIC Glitch Maze is one of the clearest examples of Port Rhombus’ creative philosophy:
Blending music, web, and visual storytelling into a cohesive art object – not just a promotional asset.

It’s:
-A mini-game built for an album
-A storytelling device hidden in code
-A brand-layering experiment born from Clean Error’s lore
-A proof-of-concept for interactive brand design

More than that, it’s proof that digital experiences don’t need to be sterile or functional. They can be noisy. Confusing. Emotional. Experimental.

And still — playable.

This piece drove new interest in both Clean Error and Port Rhombus.
Filmmakers, designers, and collaborators reached out asking how it was made.
It now lives as a digital archive — free to play, but not easy to forget.

What started as a music drop turned into a cross-medium world.
This is the kind of work we build at Port Rhombus: experimental, narrative-driven, and rooted in culture … not templates.