Backrooms Mainframe

About

"Backrooms Mainframe" is a horror-themed dungeon crawler game inspired by the creepypasta legend. It offers immersive graphics with realistic visuals and sound design to fully place you in the backrooms. The game also features co-op multiplayer for up to 4 players and a dungeon crawler mode with procedural generation for unique playthroughs. Explore and assess the dangers of the backrooms in this thrilling game.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

12%

Audience ScoreBased on 17 reviews

stability4 negative mentions

The game has a good aesthetic that captures the backrooms theme, with solid sound effects and decent graphics.
The developer is responsive to the community and actively working on updates, showing potential for improvement.
Some gameplay elements, like the death animations and the use of the smiling entity, are well-executed and add to the experience.

The game is plagued by severe performance issues, including low frame rates and numerous bugs that hinder gameplay.
Many gameplay mechanics, such as key functionality and enemy AI, are poorly designed, leading to frustrating experiences.
The lack of a proper save system and randomization in maps reduces replay value and immersion, making it feel more like a walking simulator.

graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some players noting that while the "high quality" settings outperform the "cinematic" options, the overall visual quality is underwhelming and lacks immersion due to performance issues. However, the game successfully captures the intended backrooms aesthetic, and certain elements, like the presentation of the smiling entity, are praised. Despite some glitches typical of early access titles, the graphics are generally considered decent but not groundbreaking.
- “Look, listen, before I even start this review, I want you to understand that somehow the developer has managed to get it so that the 'high quality' graphics look better than the 'cinematic' graphics, which is two levels above it.”
- “The graphics are quite nice, and this game has one of the best presentations and uses of the smiling entity in any of the backrooms games that I've played (and I own around 15 or so at this point).”
- “As an early access game, there are a few graphics and small glitches that need to be addressed, but nothing major.”
- “The level 0 graphics aren't that great; the bacteria isn't scary whatsoever. The key in level 0 doesn't work on the only locked wooden door, and you end up with dozens of vases, only a few of which you need. The list goes on.”
- “Look, before I even start this review, I want you to understand that somehow the developer has managed to get it so that the 'high quality' graphics look better than the 'cinematic' graphics, which is two levels above it.”
- “Okay, now the 'backrooms aesthetic' in this game is in no way bad. The sound effects are quite nice, and while the graphics are nothing impressive, they still manage to capture the backrooms aesthetic. However, the immersion gets broken quite a bit by the unfair AI and performance issues, so the aesthetic is having a hard time keeping you immersed.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, users report that the game experiences significant bugs and lag, particularly with in-game menus. However, many acknowledge that these issues are relatively minor for an early access title, suggesting that the stability is acceptable given its developmental stage.
- “Way too buggy, super laggy.”
- “Really buggy and the menu is messed up when in-game!”
- “As an early access game, there are a few graphics and small glitches that need to be addressed, but nothing major.”
gameplay
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Gameplay features exploration of various locations and a collection mechanic involving pink items, but is marred by randomly spawning enemies and poor frame rates, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the gameplay is considered subpar.
- “There are different locations to explore, and one gameplay element I found was collecting some pink shining items before the monster kills you.”
- “Enemies are randomly spawned in, the frame rate is abysmal, and the gameplay is terrible.”
- “There are different locations to explore, but one gameplay element I could find was collecting some pink shining stuff before the monster kills you.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is severely lacking, with players reporting poor performance, such as running at only 40 fps on gaming PCs. This subpar optimization detracts from the overall experience, undermining the potential immersion and enjoyment of the game's well-designed levels and scares.
- “Runs terribly and is so horribly optimized that it runs at 40 fps on my gaming PC.”
- “The immersion gets broken quite a bit by the unfair AI and the performance issues, so as you might expect, the aesthetic is having a hard time keeping you immersed, even though it isn’t bad in any way; it’s just being held back by all the other problems.”
- “It has some good scares, such as when Mr. Smiley appears or when Fast McGee chases you out of nowhere, and the levels are quite nicely designed and show some potential, but aside from that, it really is quite unrewarding, and a lot of the potential immersion sadly gets ruined by the terrible performance and unfairly programmed backroom creatures.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users note that the game's emphasis on map-memorization diminishes its replayability, as it reduces immersion and the sense of dread typically experienced during gameplay.
- “This allows for map memorization, which lessens replay value and takes away from some of the immersion and sense of dread.”