Shifting To The Backrooms

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Shifting To The Backrooms is a single player simulation game with horror, drama and mystery themes. It was developed by Oopsome Games and was released on November 28, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Game Description"Shifting To The Backrooms" is a mix of psychological horror and drama game where the protagonist, Will, grappling with family tragedies, discovers the method of "shifting" enabling him to enter dream liminal worlds and escape from his grim reality. However, the dream turns into a nightmare from which Will cannot wake up. The game will feature: More than 15 …

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77%

Audience ScoreBased on 13 reviews

story5 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game offers a deeply engaging and story-rich experience that stands out in the Backrooms genre, providing a refreshing narrative focus combined with atmospheric design.
Levels are visually impressive, diverse, and include enjoyable mechanics such as stealth and chase sequences, contributing to a fun and immersive gameplay experience.
The puzzles are challenging yet fair, and the game incorporates realistic AI and physics, enhancing immersion without causing excessive frustration.

Some players experienced technical issues including bugs with the autosave system, unskippable cutscenes, and occasional glitches like losing mouse control or getting stuck in corners.
The game contains heavy and potentially triggering themes related to sensitive topics, which might not be suitable for all players and was not clearly warned initially.
Certain scripted deaths and puzzle designs require prior knowledge or external help to avoid tedious repetition, which can hinder the overall enjoyment and pacing.

story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story is highly praised for its depth, emotional impact, and strong character focus, particularly resonating with players on a personal level. It stands out in the backrooms genre by emphasizing narrative over exploration, delivering an engaging and memorable experience. Overall, the story is regarded as a major highlight and a key reason to play the game.
- “Holy cow... this game was not only fun, with plenty of variety, but the story absolutely hit, especially as a father.”
- “All in all, highly recommend, $9.99 US for a massively atmospheric backrooms-inspired game that revamps the liminal space genre with an intensely deep storyline. The 2.5-6 hour completion time varies based on exploration and puzzle solving.”
- “The story is very rich and deep, intertwining heavily with the personal story of the protagonist.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The gameplay features a variety of mechanics, including stealth elements and realistic character movements, adding depth to interactions with entities. However, some spawning and respawn mechanics can disrupt flow, and the lack of level revisits in a single playthrough may limit exploration opportunities.
- “There is one entity in the hedge maze I would change its spawn point and respawn mechanic as the 'right way' often gets completely blocked as you run from it and try to get it out of the way—it despawns and respawns back in the same path.”
- “There is 1 entity in the hedge maze I would change its spawn point and respawn mechanic as the 'right way' often gets completely blocked when you run from and try to get it out of the way - it despawns and respawns back in the same path.”
- “There were stealth aspects, skirt and avoid, weeping angel... many mechanics in the few entities involved.”
- “Mechanics are realistic, even adding in character sway and shifting weight when changing direction.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a richly atmospheric experience inspired by backrooms and liminal spaces, enhanced by a deep storyline and immersive voice acting. Its ambiance effectively balances atmospheric tension with puzzle and maze elements, making for an engaging 2.5 to 6-hour playtime. Overall, the atmosphere is a standout feature that significantly elevates the game.
- “All in all, highly recommend, $9.99 US for a massively atmospheric backrooms inspired game that revamps the liminal space genre, with an intensely deep storyline. The 2.5-6 hour timeframe to complete is great depending on your exploration and puzzle-solving level, developed by a 6 person team with real, not AI, voice actors in multiple languages.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is widely criticized for being tedious and frustrating, exacerbated by unclear puzzles, unfair scripted deaths, and a poor autosave system that forces repeated playthroughs of dull sections. This experience is further hampered by unskippable cutscenes and inconsistent voice acting.
- “Instead, it’s dragged down by tedious, unclear puzzles, a terrible autosave system that seemingly forces you to replay the most tedious and uninteresting sections of the game, and unfair scripted deaths (that can only be avoided if you've played the game before or watched someone else play it) that send you back to the beginning of the level to repeat the grindiest bs you've ever had to do in a backrooms game - all of this is made worse by unskippable cutscenes and voice acting of varying quality.”
graphics
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The graphics are solid and well-received, with users appreciating the extensive customization options available compared to most games.

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Shifting To The Backrooms is a simulation game with horror, drama and mystery themes.

Shifting To The Backrooms is available on PC and Windows.

Shifting To The Backrooms was released on November 28, 2025.

Shifting To The Backrooms was developed by Oopsome Games.

Shifting To The Backrooms has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Shifting To The Backrooms is a single player game.

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