The Backrooms

“If you're not careful and noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in. God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you.”

The origin of the backrooms is rather mysterious, it began when a person posted a picture of a yellow wallpaper (the one above) onto a forum called 4chan. Another user, commented with the quoted description “if you're not careful and …”. This marked the beginning of the backrooms.

Soon, entire fandoms were created by the internet, which detailed descriptions about the different levels in this intricate and expansive maze of endless corridors and rooms. The backrooms were born.

Liminal Space

Liminal spaces have existed much longer than The Backrooms. The Stanley Parable, now considered a Liminal Space game, has existed much longer than The Backrooms. However, these two concepts are intricatedly connected since The Backrooms can be considered as liminal spaces.

Examples of Liminal Space

The Pitch

I was inspired by the mysteriousness of the backrooms and liminal space, so I decided to make my own game about it. There are already a collection of well-made Backrooms games, so how would I do it differently?

The Backrooms are infinite expanses of organized yet illogical hallways, rooms and structures. In the lore (according to fandom), there are many people trapped within the worlds of the Backrooms, attempting to survive within this alternate reality. What if one could make a multiplayer game, where everyone is in the same world, to explore, survive and uncover the truths about it?

The Work

Read more about the technical development process from this devlog

Backrooms Online: Developing a networking solution for a MMO game.

Devlog

Showcase

Game Environments

The visuals have an VHS effect to better emulate a "found footage" experience.