The Backrooms: Survival

83%
Game Brain Score Based on 509 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • atmosphere
The Backrooms: Survival Game Cover
Starting at €5.85Buy now
Get on Steam Get on itch.io Store

"The Backrooms: Survival" is a first-person horror exploration game where players must navigate the endless maze-like environment of the Backrooms, filled with danger and isolation. Scavenge for resources, maintain your health and sanity, and avoid or defeat the monstrous entities that lurk in the shadows. With permadeath and randomly generated levels, each playthrough presents a new challenge in your quest for survival.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

83%
Audience ScoreBased on 509 reviews
gameplay5 positive mentions
stability11 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique take on the Backrooms concept, combining survival mechanics with horror elements.
  • Frequent updates keep the game fresh, adding new content and addressing player feedback.
  • Playing with friends enhances the experience, making it a fun and chaotic adventure.
  • The audio design is overwhelming, with loud screams and jump scares that can be more annoying than scary.
  • Level generation can lead to frustrating experiences, with some levels being repetitive and difficult to navigate.
  • Multiplayer functionality is often buggy, leading to desynchronization and issues with visibility of items and enemies.
  • gameplay40 mentions

    The gameplay of this survival horror game combines dungeon crawling with survival mechanics, offering a mix of crafting, exploration, and roguelike elements. While the atmosphere and variety of items enhance the experience, players note that the gameplay can become repetitive, especially with similar enemy behaviors and a mundane loop of traversing levels. Despite some early access limitations and a need for optimization, the game provides an engaging challenge, particularly in permadeath mode, and is best enjoyed with friends.

    • “The survival horror mechanics are pretty solid, with a seemingly huge variety of items, weapons, and tools to discover and put to use (assuming you are lucky enough to find them).”
    • “I actually love this game's pitch when it comes to gameplay; a replayable roguelike horror game filled with all types of fun horror tropes and threats trying to kill you as you explore each new floor.”
    • “The backrooms: survival is an interesting take on the backrooms with roguelite gameplay elements mixed with survival horror, as well as showing inspiration from Puppet Combo.”
    • “The gameplay can get a bit repetitive at times, but with friends, this game is amazing.”
    • “It's a mundane gameplay loop that grows stale quickly.”
    • “Gameplay consists 99% of getting lost in a maze.”
  • graphics23 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the nostalgic PS1 and VHS aesthetic that enhances the horror atmosphere, while others criticize the rough textures and repetitive environments. Many agree that a graphics overhaul is needed to improve the overall quality, particularly for enemy models and level design, but some find the current style fitting for the gameplay experience. Overall, the visuals evoke a unique ambiance, though they could benefit from refinement to meet modern standards.

    • “I personally don't mind the roughness, and actually kind of like it, especially the graphics style for the game.”
    • “Game really captures the feel and the aesthetic of the backrooms and their lore.”
    • “I love that PlayStation 1 nostalgia feeling with these graphics, a total piece of art!”
    • “Hard to believe how we went from eerie aesthetics back to Windows 3D maze.”
    • “The game is boring and repetitive; the maps look the same, and the graphics suck.”
    • “Something the game needs is a graphics overhaul; the game looks very rough, even the textures are experiencing a bit of 'z-fighting' at the end of some walls.”
  • atmosphere16 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and genuinely creepy design, effectively enhancing the horror experience through ambient sounds and level design. Players appreciate the tension created by the silence and subtle noises, although some critiques highlight that certain sound elements, like screamers, detract from the overall immersion. Overall, the game is recognized for its strong atmospheric potential, making it a standout in the backrooms genre.

    • “With my honest opinion, this game is one of the best backrooms experiences I've seen in a while; everything down to the level designs, the entities, the atmosphere, everything!”
    • “I nearly jumped out of my seat when I was being chased by an entity, and the atmosphere is just a chef's kiss.”
    • “The atmosphere is top-notch; the game is incredibly silent during your time traversing the levels, but it plays a lot of ambient noises that toy with your sense of paranoia when you hear doors opening, glass breaking, or simple knocking. It's magnificent.”
    • “Not only do these sap all of the atmosphere or immersion the game has, but they make the game pretty unpleasant to play.”
    • “Remove the screamers, they ruin the atmosphere.”
    • “This game makes you feel tense from the sounds, atmosphere, and random happenings.”
  • stability12 mentions

    The game's stability is a mixed bag, with users reporting significant bugs and glitches, particularly in multiplayer mode, such as issues with character models, item interactions, and movement. While single-player experiences are generally more stable, the multiplayer aspect can be chaotic and prone to errors, though frequent updates are expected to address these issues. Overall, players find the game enjoyable despite its instability, highlighting its addictive nature.

    • “The game isn't buggy unless you intentionally try to break it.”
    • “I've played for hours without encountering any crashes or glitches.”
    • “The stability of the game allows me to fully immerse myself in the experience without interruptions.”
    • “In conclusion, survival is a RNG maze; it's buggy, loud, chaotic, and it has some of the least liminal spaces ever.”
    • “When I finally found weapons, I encountered glitches where I couldn't even equip or use them.”
    • “I know the multiplayer is fairly new; however, the character models, multiplayer sync, and a couple of other small glitches (whenever you get downed, you can no longer use the flashlight or oil lamp, more than one person can pick up the same object if done at the same time, and if you attack another player with a weapon, they die immediately instead of being downed).”
  • story10 mentions

    The game's story has received mixed feedback; while some players praise it as engaging and a key aspect of their enjoyment, others note a lack of narrative depth, particularly in comparison to other titles in the genre. Many users express a desire for more story content and levels, indicating that a compelling narrative could enhance the overall experience.

    • “Great story, best soundtrack.”
    • “Other than that, I really like the story and the gameplay.”
    • “It's not the leaderboard stuff that sells this game, but rather having a story behind it that I can invest in.”
    • “☑ no story”
    • “No storyline like many other backrooms games, completely free play, updated frequently and my friends really appreciate that compared to other backrooms games.”
    • “Its not a seller point this 'leaderboard' stuff, but rather having some story behind that I can invest in.”
  • humor9 mentions

    The humor in the game is largely derived from its chaotic multiplayer experience, where players find themselves in absurd situations, such as being chased by comically designed entities or encountering poorly designed game mechanics. While solo play can be eerie, the laughter and camaraderie among friends during multiplayer sessions create a hilariously entertaining atmosphere, despite the presence of bugs and randomness. Overall, the game's humor shines brightest in cooperative play, making it a fun experience, especially when shared with others.

    • “Multiplayer with friends is a hilarious experience and is surprisingly smoother than expected.”
    • “Although sometimes the randomness is a bit too extreme, generating inescapable rooms or hallways, spawning ladders too close to trapdoors or too many entities that don't wander off after knocking you down, it's still incredibly eerie to play solo and hilarious in co-op.”
    • “I should probably mention the locked doors that may appear in levels as well, which are so poorly designed it is actually hilarious.”
  • music6 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players praise the soundtrack as a highlight that enhances the experience, others find the looping circus music in specific levels to be off-putting and distracting. Suggestions for improvement include incorporating darker ambient or vaporwave tracks to better fit the game's survival horror theme. Overall, the music's effectiveness varies significantly among players, with some opting to turn it off entirely.

    • “Great story, best soundtrack.”
    • “Highly recommend playing this with dark ambient music playing in the background.”
    • “In the circus level, the walls have an alternating pink and white stripe pattern which is quite appalling to look at, and as you're stumbling around the maze, circus music will play on loop in the background (it's not a perfect loop either, it ends and then restarts) and make you feel like a clown for continuing to play this game.”
    • “I'm a huge fan of the backrooms and the liminal space aesthetic; this game is the perfect survival horror. The only things I would change/improve are the shading of the rooms and maybe add a little bit of eerie mallsoft/vaporwave music.”
    • “So far, I had only encountered one issue, and that was when the circus level music kept playing after the run ended.”
  • replayability5 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability due to its randomized elements, ensuring that each run feels unique and engaging. Players appreciate the variety of levels and the inclusion of character classes, which enhance immersion and encourage multiple playthroughs. Overall, it is regarded as a fun and replayable experience, particularly within the rogue-like horror genre.

    • “The RNG of everything makes every run feel unique and gives the game a surprising amount of replayability.”
    • “Endless replay value because levels are always different!”
    • “I actually love this game's pitch when it comes to gameplay; a replayable rogue-like horror game filled with all types of fun horror tropes and threats trying to kill you as you explore each new floor.”
  • grinding5 mentions

    Players find the grinding in the game to be tedious, particularly in certain levels, with some suggesting it requires excessive time investment. However, there are mixed feelings, as some feel that the grinding can be rewarding despite its repetitive nature. Overall, the experience of grinding is seen as a significant but potentially frustrating aspect of gameplay.

    • “Forest level and snow level are kind of tedious though.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “So far, all I see is different enemies, but the same tedious layout.”
  • optimization2 mentions

    Players have expressed concerns about the game's optimization, citing significant lag on PCs and suggesting that the developers prioritize fixing existing issues and enhancing overall stability. While the game has a strong vision, many feel that improvements in enemy design and multiplayer performance are necessary for a better experience.

    • “All in all, this game has a great vision and a focused agenda; however, I feel as though its priority focus should be to fix existing issues, revamp enemies, and further improve multiplayer optimization and overall stability.”
    • “I also want to see more optimization for the game since it lags a lot on my PC. A suggestion I have for the devs is to align the game a bit closer to one of the existing cannons and level types, even if not in the same order. The negative levels are very good but ultimately flawed; they are good on paper but not as well executed. Instead of rapid spawning entities after a few minutes, maybe we could have altered versions of existing entities or change actual gameplay mechanics for going negative.”
    • “All in all, this game has a great vision and a focused agenda. However, I feel as though its priority focus should be to fix existing issues, revamp enemies, and further improve multiplayer optimization and overall stability.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting moments of vulnerability and sadness, such as crying over unexpected events. The experience can be intense, leading some to prefer playing with others rather than alone.

    • “And I think I won't be touching this one for a while; at least, not alone... oh no.”
    • “Be aware of the exploding pipes... I hugged one and I cried, and it busted all on me. :(”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Buy The Backrooms: Survival

Play time

95hMedian play time
95hAverage play time
95-95hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

Videos

Similar Games