BACK*SPACE

A single player game with no online features should not try to add a firewall exception to your system.

I haven't completed the game yet but I felt like I needed to make a review. As someone who's played more than a handful of backrooms/liminal space games on Steam, this game is by far the most well made. I've played Pools, which is nice but is limited to water areas (shocker). I've also played Dreamcore, which originally was my top pick for liminal space games on steam. The issue that I had with that game was INCENTIVE. Almost every backrooms inspired games without entities or monsters chasing you is essentially a walking sim, which isn't a huge deal if you're playing for immersion in atmosphere. The problem with Dreamcore is that once you've been in one or two rooms, you've been in them all. In Eternal Suburbia, all the houses are pretty much empty. The layout might be slightly different, but nothing disorienting or out of the oridinary, which was disappointing for me. This game solves that while keeping the same strengths that Dreamcore had. There are plenty of maps, and they are all huge. And the best part is that there are things to see that make you WANT to go through different doors and explore different areas. It doesn't have the procedurally generated map feel to it, it feels like someone actually handcrafted almost every room/area you go into. There's still nothing chasing you, no jumpscares, no monsters, but because the map is so diverse it gives it that lived in, or previously lived in, feeling without there being anyone or anything at all. There's other one off backrooms games you can play that are nice overall experiences as well but if I had to rank the one's I've played and enjoyed, I would without a doubt put Back Space as the number one, with Dreamcore and Pools following behind EDIT: I said that there are no jumpscares in this game and I just found out thats not entirely true.

I refunded this only because I personally dislike the level design choices. Apparently, all of the 16 levels are extremely similar with this tight corridor/maze-like layout even if they differ a bit visually (as you can see in the store page images and videos), and there are frequent invisible walls to keep you within these corridors and to prevent you from going into the pool water. Everything else about this game (UI, graphics, tutorial, sound design, optimization, lack of entities, the tape-hunting endgoal, etc) gets an A+ from me, which is why I'd still recommend it if you are a fan of the level designs that I mentioned above.

This was the overall best liminal game ive played so far. Dreamcore was my favorite up until now, and i still really like it, but i realized that these 2 games have quite different "styles". While Dreamcore is almost COMPLETELY EMPTY, safe for a few PCs and chairs in some specific places (and the hotel area having some basic furnishing), this game has STUFF around, everywhere. Just, things in general. Not too many, but just enough for me to get the feeling of "there were people here, or at least someone put this all here." In most other games, there is no indication of anyone having ever been there. And while thats perfectly fine too, its a different kind of setting to games like this one, and i just ended up liking this here more. The game looks pretty great, just most of the filters get a bit much if id keep them all on at once. I tried around a bit, and for the first 10 levels i always kept some on i liked, but for the last 6 i decided to turn them all off, which i also liked. I would have preferred if the screen would have been 16:9 to fully fill it, or at least have an option for it, but in the end this one (whatever this width was), wasnt as distracting as i first expected. The biggest strength of this game are for sure the levels. Every single one i liked, and they were all MUCH larger then i anticipated. Most games have 1-2 "levels", this one has 16 so far. And one of them is bigger then most other entire liminal games already. However, despite the levels feeling so huge, i dont think i ever had the feeling of being actually lost. I still took 19 hours to beat this game, most games like this take at max 2-3 hours! Almost every single room and/or area was so distinct, in every level, that after being initially overwhelmed every time, i could find my way through the entire level pretty naturally, without burning out or getting frustrated. Every time i thought "Ok, i wouldnt complain if i found the exit now.", i found it pretty soon thereafter. I also found the tape in every level on the first go, mainly because i WANTED to explore every level to completion, and it was actually a great incentive to actually look on tables, shelves, and even the ground, i really liked this inclusion. (Be aware there are non-real decoy tapes, that you cannot pick up! I was very confused on my first one. You can pick up the real ones, and there is one in every level, in a random location as i understood.) Every room really felt distinctly crafted, with purpose and attention to detail, which ive not often seen in games like this where its often "the entire level is just the basic backrooms". There are some rooms in this game that look like the actual backrooms too, but theyre much more rare, and just sprinkled in for the theme it felt like. While some levels really were mostly "backrooms", they had actually a lot of different variations, different colors, lighting, furniture, layouts, etc. If there are ever 2 rooms that look the same, it was deliberately done to confuse, and didnt happen a lot at all. Some rooms or entire areas felt like the little funished rooms in an Ikra store, and man i loved that feeling here. But what i liked the most about the rooms, was a specific type of "realism" i rarely ever found in other games. Some things actually looked used, the floor and walls were dirty in some places, there was mold and sludge coming out of some vents, some few lights flickered, some clothes or towels hanging somewhere or lying on the ground, and all such small details. All in all, while the layouts ofc didnt make any sense for people to ever have lived or worked there, it still felt like it made sense for people to have been there, for some reason. And i really liked that feeling. I also very much liked the inclusion of a flashlight, by default, at all times. And areas where you could decide if you wanted to use it, or not. And only a few areas actually needing it, and there it very much fit imo. I also loved the inclusion of some few areas where you could see the sky, or well, some kind of sky i guess. Very rare to see, while not being technically outside yourself in a game. Lastly one major peeve i have is, that while there luckily is a sprint-toggle... it doesnt stay on. Every time you stop, it resets, and you have to sprint again to get started. You have to do this A LOT per level, almost to the point where it doesnt matter its a toggle sometimes, you might as well hold it down still. Id love to see a real toggle included, where you hold sprint once at the start of a level... and then just sprint, forever. Some other games of this type would NOT have survived without that feature, i would have just actually quit them before finishing. This one was barely managable for me with this half-toggle thing, but mainly because the game itself was so interesting. The stairs and some deep water parts are still VERY slow, but at least the overall movement speed isnt an absolute crawl.

Is a pretty enjoyable liminal game and in my opinion VERY underated. It does a good job balancing a calm, almost relaxing atmosphere with just enough uneasiness to keep you on edge without relying on constant scares My only real complaint is the settings which dont give much options There are multiple areas to explore, each with a hidden VHS tapes to find while you're searching for the exit. If you're into liminal space games that focus more on atmosphere and exploration than survival or highstakes gameplay, this is definitely worth checking out!

holy this game is PERFECT. i have 0 complaints. the levels are huge, the quality is peak, and i honestly cant wait for more levels. after each level, you go to level 99, home, which is kind of a lobby with all the levels, and theres a light above each level that turns green when u complete it, and i REALLY like that idea. overall 10/10

I been playing in multiple sessions now for 8h in total just exploring and looking for tapes for the moment we have 7 tapes . Such a amazing game always wanted a exploration game of the backrooms with multiple levels you choose without jumpscares our monsters. One word amazing game and now I am off exploring and looking for more tapes. Edit finished the game after 17h of playing not continues ofcourse it was amazing and strange but when you have a bad day starting this up and just go explore calms me down

i am in love with this game. i don't know what else to say beyond that. 16 levels is just incredible to me and i loved them all. just a visually stunning experience that had me wanting to move into the backrooms. level tranquility especially had me wanting to stay forever. i could replay this a thousand times probably. excellent job !!!! i kiss u mwah

and personally, it has helped me relax a lot. I feel like it's a game I wouldn't stop playing because it helps me calm down while also sparking my curiosity. I think it's an underrated game, and the environments are truly beautiful.