The idea of Backrooms Game is fairly new. It started to make its way into people’s minds around the end of 2019. It all started with a simple answer to a 4chan post that asked for pictures of scary places. No one is sure where the photo was taken, but it shows a bunch of yellow hallways lit by those annoying florescent lights you see in grocery stores. It was called the place you go when you no longer care about the real world. I’m sure everyone here knows what “no clip” means in video games. It was a little bit interesting, but I didn’t find it scary at all. The good news is that most of the internet did.
Over the past year, a lot of Backrooms games have come out on Itch, Steam, Gamejolt, and just about anywhere else you can get games. Like most scary things on the internet, it has a place in the hearts of game developers all over the world. I’d say that the most appealing thing about Backrooms Horror is how simple it is. To create the look of a backroom, you only need to do a few things: Yellow fluorescent lights in the hallways. Even that last one isn’t strictly necessary. I’ve played a lot of Backrooms games where the developer thinks it makes the area scarier if it’s very dark and scary, but they’re missing the point.
I was recently given a copy of a Backrooms game that I liked a lot. The Backrooms 1998 has a different feel to it. SteelKrill Studios shows a level of skill, which I would expect since they made a very good horror game about World War I called Trenches. The game starts with a live-action video of a skateboarder missing a trick and slipping through reality into the backrooms. This is a very impressive set-up, and the change from real-life footage to in-game action is done very well. From there, it’s up to you to try to figure out where you are. Backrooms history changes right away from what is “known.” In the founding texts, the Backrooms are a place where there isn’t much life. A lot of the existential fear in the Backrooms comes from the fact that you know you’re in a place that’s hard to get to and there’s no way out. The addition of monsters in the Backrooms is a creative way to tell a story for people who don’t understand existential dread and need a villain to root against.
You are definitely not alone in The Backrooms 1998. I’m not against the idea of putting monsters in the Backrooms of video games. It’s just that a game where you wander around the Backrooms feeling scared doesn’t have a lot of staying power. I’ve played Backrooms Game that work this way, and after the first few minutes, they’re a real drag. Some games don’t have monsters but are based on the idea of an infinite space where the walls move and you might run into other travellers by accident. This is done very well in the book 2000 Navidson Lane by Duckenheimer. The plot of The Backrooms 1998 is kind of like the plot of Outlast. The camera you used to record your skate tricks is now the only thing you have with you. Even though it’s not said, it’s clear that you need to keep recording as your last will and testament. Some media was left behind for future explorers, if they ever come here.
As I said above, The Backrooms is a very new horror story set in a very new kind of place. Because of this, there isn’t a lot of established lore. I mean, in a way, there is. Some people think that the original story is the only Backrooms media that matters. People like the three-level version of the Backrooms, but if you go deeper, the yellow walls and florescent lights give way to a monster-filled industrial hellscape. The strength and weakness of The Backrooms is that it can be anything you want it to be. A lot of the huge number of Backrooms games only have the same name as the rooms they are based on. They don’t have much else going for them besides how popular this new internet urban legend is. So, as a horror fan, it makes me happy to see something like The Backrooms 1998, which was made with a lot of care and skill. It shows that not everyone is just out to make money quickly. Some developers found this strange new place and want to find out more about it.
There is a strong desire to keep the story going. With something so new and easy to change, whatever you make could become part of the legend of this popular and scary thing. It is a quick way to live forever. It sounds very impressive, but it’s true. When we make stories and art and add to projects that are already going or are in progress, we want them to last. You can live your whole life knowing that you made a monster for the lore, and The Backrooms 1998 deserves its place in the lore. Here is where you can see for yourself.
