Backrooms Level X

Developer: José Manuel Conesa Hernández 

Publisher: Firenut Games

Released on: PC, Xbox Series X/S (reviewed), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch

With the imminent release of Kane Parsons’s Backrooms movie, there’s a distinct feeling at Indie Horror Gamer that we’re fast approaching peak Backrooms phenomenon. There’s no doubting the genre can have a disturbing vibe, presenting vast utilitarian spaces populated with otherworldly characters and events. But surely there’s a limit to how many times we can be chilled by yet another set of (almost) empty rooms and the same eldritch events.

Looks easy enough.

Backroom Level X (not to be confused with the incoming BackRooms X), like its peers, offers little explanation as to how your character finds themselves trapped in this strange dimension. There’s been a freak accident, logic and reality have gone on holiday together, leaving you to explore endless corridors of yellow carpet, dodge mysterious entities and solve oblique puzzles. This boils down to negotiating massive bosses and upside-down areas, collecting items to trigger an exit, and wandering seemingly endless mazes.

She’s a tall lass.

It has its occasional bright periods, the misty confines of some rooms engendering a palpable feeling of dread. Unfortunately, too many frustrating sections punctuate these moments. At one point, a terrifying TV screen chases the player, forcing them to work around a series of trial-and-error obstacles and dead ends. It’s not fun, and many of the other liminal spaces and labyrinths challenge patience, rather than bravery, resulting in more annoyance than fear.

Combined with the limited palette, it feels like a half-baked Backrooms game, oddly paced and offering little new to a crowded genre. To newcomers, it will undoubtedly provide more thrills, although we’d recommend exploring rivals such as Escape The Backrooms, Transliminal and The Complex: Found Footage before trying Backrooms Level X.

Dodging this huge boss is an early challenge.

To return to the original question—are Backrooms games approaching their peak? We just did a quick search of the name on Steam. A terrifying 553 hits suggests that maybe it’s time we emerged, blinking in the sunlight, from these bizarre yet familiar liminal spaces.

Or, can a new game prove there’s still life in the genre? Unfortunately, that game is not Backrooms Level X.