i love me a sylvie and hubol game!
very light spoiler warning, in case you want to go into the game completely blind. if you know you like sylvie's/hubol's games, or if a strange exploration platformer sounds up your alley, then i'd honestly recommend playing that way. it's free in your browser at https://sylvie.website/JIGGLYZONE/, so why not give it a whirl?

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the game is an exploration, metroidvania platformer. though the majority of the game's world is comprised of only blocks and spikes, with stationary npcs and treasure sprinkled in, sylvie and hubol do a wonderful job making each place feel varied and unique. the level design has a messy, cluttered feel to it, though is never careless; the levels are very deliberate in their overall design. the messiness meshes well with the impressionistic approach the level design uses to depict its environments; the city is represented with simple pillars of blocks, the underwater area conveyed through enclosed levels. each of these varied level design styles creates a unique navigational feel, with players naturally moving differently depending on where they are.
you always have to be thinking about your movement, because the game gets difficult. there's just so many spikes everywhere! you have see and then weave your way through these deathily cluttered places. once you're able to see through the spikes, the levels are rather open. this makes the few places that seem blocked off stand out more. see, the game does have key items required for progression, that grant you new abilities. these abilities are rather simplistic, mechanically, but once you unlock one, you understand the game's level design in a new way; things open up in a way that feel pretty distinct from your standard metroidvania.
there are also plenty of items that do absolutely nothing for you, besides being silly; this game has some fun item descriptions.

the game's presentation is on point.
the messy feel is exemplified through the game's visual style. there are a number of tile graphics for both spikes and blocks, all being rather simple designs, but they're applied seemingly at random. so, parsing the game's levels becomes a challenge requiring the player stay engaged. the backgrounds further add to this, often having a nice scrap-book-y look to them.
hubol and sylvie's color choices are solid throughout, giving each locale a lot of character.
a good soundtrack does a lot for me, and hubol's soundtrack sure as heck is good. while the songs are short, they go a long way towards giving the game its character, with a fun, offbeat, peculiarly catchy sound.

i've mostly neglected, so far in this review, to talk about the characters spread throughout the game world. they're always stationary, the guards never moving from their post, the hooligans never sneaking around, as their dialogue is the point. they're usually amusing, with strange rhymes and random capitalization, but also helps you understand the complexities of this admittedly simple world. you pick up hints of these different cultures, of tragedies that have transpired; you see characters from one place in another, implying they've travelled. i dunno, it's arguably simple, but i feel like they're done really well here.

the game certainly had its flaws, but i didn't care about them. they never subtracted from my experience (though i see how they could for someone else). i quite liked this game. again, it's free and can be played in your browser (https://sylvie.website/JIGGLYZONE/), so if you haven't played it, and it sounds fun, why not try it?
or why not check out the soundtrack on bandcamp? https://hubol.bandcamp.com/album/jiggly-zone-ost