Within the Backrooms

No jumpscares, no monsters chasing you, just the nostalgia trip of me using Windows 98 when I was a child. Some people would find this game dull, but this is how I like the pure essence of the backrooms.

Amazing Backrooms themed walking-sim! The ambience is really well executed; the visuals and music capture its surreal, serene, nostalgic but eerie essence wonderfully. Perfectly nailed the "everything is familiar but I don't feel safe" feeling! I like the map designs a lot, there is a lot to explore and various references to find. I struggled with navigating through the mazes lol, but even though it's possible to figure out with some patience, it's very useful that there are guides and videos covering the progression including all easily missable secrets (I highly recommend to explore it completely, even the tiny bonus maps can be mesmerizing). The endings are really brief but hold certain charm and a massive sense of discomfort, I enjoyed them a lot but wish they had more content. Luckily it's possible to discover everything in one playthrough, HOWEVER it requires closing the game after an ending to continue from the last save after restarting, otherwise the save file gets resetted (those 5-30 second long endings are NOT worth 10 full replays). I'll also mention that despite me really loving the graphics, they can absolutely trigger motion-sickness - I felt unwell to the point of it impacting my enjoyment, it's impressive I lasted 5h. ;( Otherwise the game literally evoked memories and my brain had no idea how to emotionally process it lmao. Overall I think it's a lovely game which could certainly hit hard if it resonates with you. Just be aware that it's a calm, slow-paced experience that might seem empty occasionally - at core it's a surreal journey without much gameplay or story!

This is the only Backrooms game that actually captures the spirit of the Backrooms, and I'm not talking about the Kane Pixels stuff, I mean the raw liminality of The Backrooms. Don't get me wrong I appreciate Kane and his work, and it is objectively good work, but he really did set off a trend that led to a massive departure of the original spirit of The Backrooms. This is a great game if you're a fan of The Backrooms, or liminal spaces in general, you'll enjoy this game. My only criticism is the music does get repetitive in certain areas, and loops poorly. But that is such a nitpick when the rest is fantastic. I have played basically every Backrooms game under the sun, and this is far and away the best experience I've had.

近来许多人认为如今的后室早已背离后室最初那种心理恐怖与怀旧梦核感。随着外网对后室层级与实体设定愈发冗余开始口诛笔伐，那些不靠实体追逐，纯粹以场景和氛围取胜的后室题材独立游戏，开始逐渐崭露头角。 但遗憾的是，尽管许多制作者用心良苦，这类游戏在已然泛滥的后室游戏中所占的比例，依旧寥寥无几。就我目前玩到的佳作而言，仅有《Dreamcore》和《Within the Backrooms》两部。 将两部作品完整通关后，我的感受是：尽管《Dreamcore》在宏大场景的构建上能带来更强的视觉震撼，但在实际游戏体验上，《Within the Backrooms》要更胜一筹。 首先，《Within the Backrooms》的每个层级占地面积都相对较小，大部分路线也较为线性，分支不多，省去了四处绕路的繁文缛节，对路痴玩家尤其友好。但这样会不会导致内容量匮乏？并不会，因为作者几乎将地图的每一寸都利用到了极致。 几乎没有一处场景是多余的，即使是对通关没有实际意义的房间，也往往拥有区别于其他房间的独特设计，且充满各种奇思妙想。例如空间扭曲、视觉错觉、违和感强烈的家具、空旷的巨大空置域、无限延伸的走廊，以及回荡着诡异音效的无底洞——这些都只是第一大关带来的惊喜。此外，角落里还埋藏着许多或眼前一亮或搞怪无厘头的小彩蛋，每一个都个性鲜明，饶有趣味。 游戏除了四个主层级外，还设置了诸多子层级。子层级的入口通常藏在不算显眼、却也并非刻意隐蔽的位置，而得益于本作的多周目设计，玩家发现子层级的整个过程相当自然。至于子层级本身，意外的是它们并非对后室经典层级的简单照搬，而是作者对阈限空间乃至抽象艺术的个人构想。谁说后室游戏里的所有场景都必须与后室相关？这一点我十分欣赏。 夸了这么多，这游戏的缺点也同样突出，用四个字概括就是：后期乏味。 说无聊并非针对层级本身，而是基于游戏流程设计做出的判断。本作有且仅有一条固定的通关主线：依次通过四个主层级，到达终点，解锁结局。可惜的是，作者设计了如此丰富的子层级，却没有为它们设计任何通往终点的备选路径。大多数子层级就像是独立的艺术展馆式箱庭，即便里面确实存在出口，出来后也只会把你送回主层级的起点。 更糟的是，这恰好又是一个多周目游戏。固定的通关路径带来的后果就是，为了看到不同结局，你不得不在那条已经比家还熟悉的主干道上一遍遍地走。诚然如上述所言，地图中有许多记忆点，但在不断重复中，再深刻的记忆点也会逐渐失去新鲜感。知道为什么我之前说找到子层级很自然吗？因为玩家为了摆脱这种空虚感，真的会仔细搜寻每一个角落，不放过任何新事物。 另外还有一个需要挑刺的地方，就是通关方式。游戏中你会找到许多软盘，通过将不同软盘插入终点的电脑中，便可以解锁不同的结局。问题在于除了几个藏得特别巧妙的，大部分软盘都太容易找到了，往往初见的流程就能收集到不少的数量。由此带来的问题是，软盘的寻找本身也变成了一项机械劳动。你早就知道软盘在这个地方，搭配上一成不变的主层级，下一局是什么样已经能一眼望到头了。 对于通关方式，我有两点建议：其一，应当充分发挥子层级的作用——大多数子层级都没有软盘，不妨为它们增添一些实用性。其二，不要每一局都将软盘的收集进度完全重置。 另外这游戏还有几处美中不足的地方： 没法调整鼠标灵敏度，视角有时候飘得我一个不晕3D的人都要反胃了。 点名批评森林这个子层级。把你一直以来贯彻的优点抛到九霄云外的同时，还有着举着手电也可怜的能见度、根本无法一目了然有路没路的材质贴图、以及最脑膜炎的设计：在迷宫里到达终点收集到道具过后让你原路返回。滚犊子去吧。 结局虽然思路很出彩，但是让玩家固定在一个禁止的场景里未免有些单调。不说过场CG了，起码可以像《Fatum Betula》一样放点有意思的播片。更何况个别结局玩家是可以走动的，代表你有能力做交互性的，为啥不来个全覆盖呢？ 最后提一下这游戏云里雾里的剧情。那些解锁结局的软盘，也是你了解本作叙事的唯一手段，但看完所有文本后，我依然一头雾水，只明白与人体实验有关，带有些许的阴谋元素。能感觉到作者想传达某些信息，但我个人主页里也说了，我是个傻叉，get不到真没法子。 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------ 美术设计： ☐ 看了想吐 ☐ 同一个妈 ☑ 中规中矩 ☐ 视觉享受 ☐ 美轮美奂 氛围塑造： ☐ 操作平台 ☐ 在玩游戏 ☐ 有代入感 ☑ 沉浸其中 ☐ 物我两忘 地图/场景设计： ☐ 杂乱无章 ☐ 好歹认路 ☐ 有小巧思 ☑ 虚拟花园 ☐ 钟灵毓秀 游戏性： ☐ 上班牛马 ☑ 普通游戏 ☐ 有精彩处 ☐ 非常优秀 ☐ 年度游戏 游戏难度： ☑ 有手就行 ☐ 简单亲民 ☐ 难度适中 ☐ 饱受挫败 ☐ 力竭而亡 音乐/音效： ☐ 耳朵流血 ☐ 尚可接受 ☑ 好坏参半 ☐ 天籁之音 ☐ 神游天外 剧情/设定： ☐ 可有可无 ☐ 俗套乏味 ☑ 见仁见智 ☐ 独一无二 ☐ 震撼至极 买入价格建议： ☐ 白送再说 ☑ 史低促销 ☐ 打折就入 ☐ 原价划算 ☐ 倒贴也值 [h1]总评：A-（瑕不掩瑜）[/h1]

A short experience, but there is so much rich atmosphere in this title that it can't help but be charming, creepy, and incredibly intriguing. One of the best liminal backrooms games I've ever played, honestly. Mainly because it discards the usual 'get chased by big monster' trope and instead focuses purely on the feelings of each room and level. The graphics are also perfect for it too. Simple and straight to the point without having to sacrifice on the artistic vision. Loved it to bits.

Jogo surpreende. Achei que fosse ser um jogo "barato" de Backrooms, até pelo estilo gráfico e vibe, mas a trilha sonora é boa e fica na cabeça depois. Não tem entidades, o que pra mim é bom, pois eu prefiro o fator exploração desses jogos. Os cenários não ficam só em backrooms e são bastante variados. Alguns me lembraram o jogo Broken Reality, devido ao efeito psicodélico lo-res. Recomendo demais pra quem quiser uma experiência realmente diferente de gameplay. Não se parece em nada com os outros jogos mais conhecidos de Backrooms

Had this game in my wishlist for a few years now and finally got around to playing it after seeing the new movie. Game is really fun, no hostile entities makes it easy just to enjoy the vibe of the backrooms. The game reminds me a lot of L.S.D Dream Emulator which is great!

This is a short retro backrooms experience. The square resolution with black bars on the side of the screen takes a little to get used to, but it's not that bad. It took me around 3 hours to 100% (I'm slow at games). No jumpscares or evil monsters, it's all about the environment and atmosphere. You explore different liminal spaces and find doorways to other places, as well as floppy disks. These spaces are really cool, and the music is really good and haunting. The areas are simple mazes with some stuff to see and secrets to find. You'll find some items that allow you to unlock new paths too. Theese mazes are all connected through doorways that will bring you to another one. But they don't have a linear order, you just jump around from maze to maze, which is some sort of maze itself. Each floppy disk you find will grant you a different ending once you insert them in the computer at "The End". It's fun to hunt fot achievements, but be aware, the game will reset if you load it after each ending. So if you collected several floppy disks and are at "The End", just [i]Alt F4[/i] after each ending achievement and open the game again, so that you can insert the other disks and get the other endings. Also, be careful to not get to "The End" before you collect all floppy disks, because it seems like you have to restart if you want to collect the rest. (Tip: [spoiler]You get to "The End" by jumping down a hole on the floor in the "Poolrooms".[/spoiler]) Furthermore, I think you can lock yourself out of some areas if you explore another place first, so be careful with which path you take. (Example: [spoiler]I couldn't find any way to get to the "Mall" if you go to the "Playrooms" first.[/spoiler]) These things that I listed in the previous paragraph are quite annoying and can force you to restart the game if you mess them up and want all achievements. But even then, I think the game is quite enjoyable, the locations are cool, and the retro-style adds a nice vibe to these liminal spaces. Just try one playthrough on your own, and use a guide if you want all achievements, or else you might need to restart a lot.