Inside the Backrooms

Inside the Backrooms is a first-person cooperative horror game designed for a company of three, although there is also a single player mode. Players wander through endless empty rooms, look for a way out and solve problems that come their way. The mechanics are simple: walk, shine a flashlight, find objects, turn on mechanisms. The main difficulty is different - entities live in the dark, and you have to run away or hide from them. A mistake costs your life, and it’s not always possible to save your partner: sometimes it’s wiser to retreat and come back later. The riddles vary: somewhere you need to arrange objects, somewhere you need to find a code, somewhere you need to keep the mechanism turned on while the others get there. There is support for VR, and in a helmet everything is perceived differently: empty corridors are more pressing, and the sounds of footsteps behind you are much more frightening. Separately, it is worth noting that the levels are built in different ways: somewhere you need to find several objects, somewhere you need to open a door with a code, and somewhere you need to hold the mechanism while others get to the exit. The entities also behave differently: some chase the noise, others wait in narrow places, and it depends on who will go first. There are also difficulty settings that affect the behavior of the pursuers. It’s worth mentioning separately about the sound: steps, rustles and creaks are more important here than the picture, and it is they who set the tension. Players often agree on signals in advance so as not to shout in the dark. Sessions are short, so it’s convenient to play the game in parts. The Inside the Backrooms is an option for a group that doesn’t mind being nervous together and laughing at other people’s panic.