It’s no secret everyone is excited about the recent Backrooms trailer that is now coming out. It’s a tell-tale sign of just how MASSIVE the backrooms community has grown. I was thrilled, and this brings me back to one of the most iconic backrooms games that will forevermore remain one of my favorites.

Play

Escape the Backrooms: a multiplayer horror game developed by Fancy Games and Blackbird Interactive, and published by Secret Mode.

With over 50 hours of gameplay, this is one of the few horror games I will always willingly come back to simply because it is terrifyingly fun. It encompasses the terror and oddities of liminal spaces, while incorporating terrifying monsters.

Including the iconic ‘Steve’ (me and my friends like to call the shapeshifter creature that).

There are over 30 different levels in this game, which probably beats the majority if not all other backroom games out there, who mostly have around 10 - 15 levels at most if a person is lucky. Now I could be wrong, but I have yet to encounter or hear of a horror game that has as many levels.

And although the levels are short (only if you know what you are doing), a full gameplay can still take a good couple of hours to complete.

Now what are some of the things I really enjoyed about this game?

Play with Your Friends

Play with your friends. I love co-op games that require you to work together with your friends, and I especially love it when friends get scared. This is probably one of my favorite aspects where you don’t have to navigate the backrooms alone, and you can introduce new friends to this world. It’s fun to see them experiencing it all for the first time, thus making it so replayable. Also, having mimics which can fool your friends, as well as me, just adds so much more.

Monsters

The monsters – iconic and terrifying. Whether it’s those cursed dogs, or the party goers, there isn’t a single monster in there that I haven’t found scary. Now some are certainly easier to deal with than others, but they all fit into the backrooms quite snugly.

Challenges

The challenges are tough but not impossible. Horror games are usually tasked with the precarious balance of being a challenge, but not so difficult as to be Elden Ring style. Horror games need to be a challenge, but if it’s too difficult, then players can get frustrated easily – I am notoriously one of them – and suddenly the game is no longer scary. But this game knows how to make something challenging without making you want to pull out your hair by the end of the match.

The Vibe and The View

It looks like the backrooms. It smells like the backrooms. It sounds like the backrooms. It tastes like the backrooms…. It is the backrooms.

Or an embodiment of what a backroom could be. Obviously, each backroom game is a person’s own interpretation of what they believe the backrooms to be. And personally – I feel this version makes a good fit.

Although you don’t really feel alone, which is a big part of liminal space and backrooms, everything else fits things just fine. The yellow backrooms, the poolrooms, the houses with the fields.

Everything feels eerie, slightly off, and even a sense of foreboding.

So, if you are looking for a horror game to play with your friends or even on your own (although it will be more difficult to beat for sure solo) – honestly, give Escape the Backrooms a try. You’ll find it tough to be disappointed.

And … if you are looking for a narrative based single player horror game to add onto your wishlist XD – consider Paranoia Vol. I. Yes, this is a shameless plug of my own game – good story telling, exploration and more!