Many players lucky enough to win the housing lottery in Final Fantasy XIV decorate their dream home for their Warrior of Light. Others create public spaces such as taverns, cafes, and even nightclubs, but one venue known as "Galactic Circus" has more unconventional ideas in the name of fun.
There are plenty of places to visit and relax throughout the many housing wards of FFXIV, where player-created experiences offer a reprieve from the dungeons and raids the Warrior of Light had been working on. One in particular, Galactic Circus, immediately reminds you of arcades of the past the moment you step through its door. Even its website screams "nostalgia," resembling pages scattered across the web during the 1990s and early 2000s. Arcade machines, air hockey, and whack-a-mole line the interior walls – no, it's not the Gold Saucer, though you will be taking some leaps of faith. Located at Empyreum, Plot two, Ward 17 on Sargantanas on the Aether data center, Galactic Circus has emphasized in their first impression that this is a place of fun and games.
Past its nostalgic entrance, in the estate's several private chambers, lies many obstacle courses with various jump puzzles. When entering one of the private rooms that contain their course of choice, players may be surprised to be greeted with a mostly empty space. The magic of these rooms lies beyond Square Enix's intended boundaries for housing – in the void.
Through clever furniture placement, players can clip out of bounds into a great expanse of nothingness that is a pure playground for those who feel limited in the space that conventional housing provides. The use of "void builds" has become more prominent in recent history, allowing for creatives only to be limited by furnishing slots, allowing interesting room shapes, designs, and in the case of Galactic Circus – room to jump.
Each room has a theme, some broader in scale, like vaporwave, to specific IPs such as Super Mario and Tetris. Each course also has an associated difficulty ranging from one to five stars. One-star courses can be a cakewalk for players familiar with the delicate nature of FFXIV's jump puzzles, like Kugane Tower. However, each increase in difficulty rating requires more precision and patience than the previous.
Two of Fanbyte's authors had no issues clearing the one-star "Rainbow Road" course, while the two-star "Super Mario XIV: 1-1" took almost an hour with many failed attempts, laughs, and mild swearing. The end of each course is marked with a message book intended for those who complete it to celebrate their achievements, each page filled with players from all over who have conquered the level.
Amidst the sea of various nightclubs that fill the pages of Party Finder, Galactic Circus is one of the many player-run establishments in Final Fantasy XIV that offers entertainment and a good time in a unique way. While jump puzzles can be frustrating to some, the dedication to aesthetics and design that Galactic Circus has given is something to be admired by all.
