Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a 2018 role-playing video game by Starseed Games, a solo indie developer based in Austin, Texas, and published for PC on August 7, 2018 by Starseed, and by Electric Airship on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Nintendo Switch on February 5, 2026.
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass was inspired by Super Nintendo games such as EarthBound and Final Fantasy V. It has been described as a mixture of horror, humor, and a "coming-of-age" story in which the main character and his brother leave home on a typical errand and stumble into an adventure to save a dream world and its inhabitants.
Gameplay
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a turn-based role-playing game based on classic Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs). The game features typical JRPG concepts, including finding new party members throughout the story, upgrading equipment, and leveling up characters by gaining experience points through combat, which includes physical attacks and spells. The game uses red and green exclamation marks to express whether a battle can be skipped, with a green mark allowing the player to avoid fighting weaker enemies. The main player character, Jimmy, is able to transform into certain enemies after fighting them, such as a slime, which also allows bypassing certain obstacles.
Plot
Eight-year-old Jimmy lives with his family in a cheerful, whimsical fantasy world inhabited by friendly creatures, talking animals, and eccentric townsfolk. Joined by his enthusiastic older brother Buck, his laid-back Uncle Lars, his loving mother Helga, his hardworking father Andrew, and his animated teddy bear, Jimmy embarks on what begins as a simple errand across the countryside.
During their journey, Jimmy and his brother discover the "Pulsating Mass"—a horrific, malignant organic growth that expands aggressively, consuming the landscape and corrupting the peaceful inhabitants into aggressive monsters. Seeking to protect his family and home, Jimmy utilizes a unique empathetic power that allows him to transform into various creatures he encounters, gaining distinct abilities to overcome obstacles and fight off the infestation.
As the party travels further to eradicate the threat, the vibrant, lighthearted facade of the world periodically shatters into disturbing horror sequences and surreal psychological nightmares. These episodes reveal underlying family tensions, personal regrets, and traumatic memories.
It is eventually revealed that the entire world is a subconscious dreamscape constructed inside Jimmy's mind while he lies in a coma, suffering from a terminal, inoperable brain tumor. The Pulsating Mass is a physical manifestation of his cancer, rapidly destroying his brain and erasing his memories. The family members adventuring alongside Jimmy represent his mind's attempt to process their real-world grief and presence at his bedside.
Reaching the core of his subconscious, Jimmy confronts the ultimate incarnation of the Pulsating Mass in a final battle to preserve his remaining memories and bid farewell to his loved ones. After overcoming the entity, Jimmy accepts his mortality, shares a tearful final moment with his family within his mind, and peacefully passes away.
Development
Developer Kasey Ozymy stated in an interview with Startmenu that he grew up playing Japanese RPGs, noting that while he read and watched TV and film, on "an average day after school I'd play games for four hours or so. I exhausted the PSX and SNES jRPG libraries at that time." Ozymy eventually began using RPG Maker to develop his own games, starting with The God of Crawling Eyes, developed for a 2013 contest, and continued to make smaller games using the software.
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass was also developed using RPG Maker, and leans on the horror genre, with Ozymy stating that he is a fan of the genre, and has included Easter eggs throughout the game.
Reception
The game currently has a score of 86 out of 100 based on critic reviews on review aggregator Metacritic. Sam Wachter of RPGamer writes that while it has some issues in terms of console stability, and a somewhat high level of difficulty at times, it is still "intriguing," and that players will likely enjoy playing for "the absurdity, humour, and sharp writing that will keep them exploring." Athanasios Aravositas from Cubed3 notes that the game is somewhat repetitive and requires some level of grinding, but still recommends it to RPG fans.
