BACKROOMS VHS

BACKROOMS VHS - A Creepypasta Come To Life 

A Game of Liminal Horror

A Creepypasta-Inspired Video Game

BACKROOMS VHS is a first-person indie horror game developed and published by Can Do Games Studio. The creepypasta-inspired free-to-play game was made with Unity and is currently available for Windows PC download via Itch.io and will release on Steam soon.

No-Clip Into the Backrooms

Based on a popular creepypasta that centers around a liminal space referred to as the backrooms, BACKROOMS VHS is a vast environment filled with expansive hallways, fluorescent lights, and sickly yellow coloring. The goal of this game is to explore and escape the backrooms while avoiding various monsters called entities. 

Concept Rating: 5/5

VHS Filter 

The look of BACKROOMS VHS is simple but realistic. With the filter of a VHS tape imposed over the world, the player becomes the one holding the camcorder, guiding it through the relentless hallways of the backrooms. The details used to create this feeling form are crucial to the gameplay and suspense, making static and visual stutters a vital part of the experience.  

In the backrooms, fluorescent lights hum overhead - a familiar sound placed into an eerie landscape. Your own footsteps underneath sound accurate and grounding, and the whirs and clicks of the camera lens should almost be comforting. Alas, you’re not at home filming a fond home memory. You’re in the backrooms, and something is stalking you. 

Graphics & Audio Rating: 5/5

Familiar Liminal Horror

BACKROOMS VHS has 16 levels, with 14 set in the backrooms. The levels are suitably strange to their origins, with long hallways without a single door in sight, strange narrow alcoves with seemingly no purpose, and no way of knowing whether or not you’re going the right way. 

The devs have done a fantastic job of making the medium part of the experience, with the filter of the camcorder becoming part of the gameplay. For instance, when the camera can’t focus for even a quick moment, the surroundings become blurry or unfocused and cause perfectly immersed moments of tension and a growing sense of dread. Distortion in the tape will jump and cut forward, leaving you in the chaos of uncertainty.

The backrooms aren’t interested in playing nicely, either. Lights overhead will shut off in a moment, leaving you alone with a dim light that can’t cut two feet ahead of you. However, there are invisible walls which bring the player out of these moments.

A unique addition to the gameplay experience is the ability to play online co-op, with up to four players able to explore the backrooms at once. The goal is to work together to escape different levels in the backrooms by solving puzzles, which adds some much-needed replay value to this game.

Gameplay Rating: 4/5

Purchase Guide

As a free-to-play game, BACKROOMS VHS is worth a download! The indie horror game is currently in beta as build version 6.2 on Itch.io. You can support Can Do Games Studio by wishlisting BACKROOMS VHS on Steam, joining the Discord server, and checking out their other games on the Can Talat Yakan Itch.io page. 

An Atmospheric Homage

Can Do Games Studio has done an excellent service for dedicated fans of the backrooms creepypasta. Great effort and care were put into BACKROOMS VHS and will offer fans familiar with its story references a fantastic gameplay experience without alienating newcomers. Overall, BACKROOMS VHS is a fun, free-to-play indie horror game worth playing.

Replay Value Rating: 3/5

The Pros

• The graphics and audio are great
• VHS implementation suits gameplay perfectly 
• A beautiful homage to the creepypasta 

The Cons

• As a walking simulator, it might be boring, depending on your preferences

TL;DR 

BACKROOMS VHS is a fantastic addition to the backroom creepypasta, offering fans a realistic feel of what it would be like to no-clip into this frightening liminal space.