Free indie horror game
Backrooms of Reality is a free indie horror game created by Simon Malachowski and based on Backrooms' liminal space horror franchise. Explore a glitchy, flickering maze of interconnected rooms and hallways as you complete various menial tasks and wait for something terrifying to happen.
Liminal space horror is an exciting genre that appeals to many gamers. For other indie horror titles that deal with the well-documented weariness of in-between spaces, try Eyes or Swamp Sim Horror.
The environment in Backrooms of Reality is likely to trigger memories in anyone who grew up with a parent who worked late in a corporate setting. This game is the personification of that feeling, of being a little kid in a large, empty, dimly lit office building. The game plays off of natural fears such as potentially not being alone in an empty place, dimly lit situations, flickering lights and getting lost in a maze.
The backrooms
Gameplay
If you have any of the above fears, Backrooms of Reality will be a thrilling experience. The game's goal is to find the exit code for a door that you aren't sure exists. As you move through the dimly lit liminal spaces, you'll need to look for numbers scrawled on various items and furniture. Avoid dark spaces and keep an ear out for footsteps and voices as you try to escape the maze of the backrooms.
Graphics
The graphics in Backrooms of Reality are nothing short of incredible. The lighting is hyper-realistic, especially where flickering bulbs and shadows are concerned. This lends itself well to the game's dark mood. The reflections of the lights as they hit hard surfaces of different materials increase the overall realism. Other features like textured wallpaper and carpets that also influence how the light moves remove the boundary between what’s virtual and what’s real.
Understated realisation of human fears
Backrooms of Reality is a brilliant combination of overt fears, like hearing footsteps in the dark and realising you're being pursued, to fears that sort of play on the outer edges of your perception. Short of being caught by whatever is causing the creepy footsteps and voices in the backrooms, there's not much that will actually scare you. Like most liminal space horrors, the suspense has the most impact on how you play.
