Inside the Backrooms Review Summary

Last updated: 2026-05-31
  • Fun multiplayer experience
  • Creative and enjoyable gameplay
  • Atmospheric Backrooms experience
  • Game is buggy and broken
  • Cave level plagued by bugs
  • Lack of save points
Inside the Backrooms header

Emotions

Archetypes

What players like:

Common complaints:

Gameplay feedback:

Performance notes:

Recommendations:

Other player notes:

Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Fun multiplayer experience: The game is highly enjoyable when played with friends, offering a fun and engaging co-op experience.

Creative and enjoyable gameplay: The game is praised for its creativity and overall enjoyment, making it a worthwhile experience.

Challenging and engaging puzzles: The game features a variety of puzzles that are both challenging and enjoyable, requiring players to think critically.

Well-designed levels: The levels in the game are well-designed, detailed, and offer a good amount of content.

Atmospheric Backrooms experience: The game captures the essence of the Backrooms, providing an atmospheric and immersive experience.

Common complaints

Game is buggy and broken: Many players report that the game is full of bugs, crashes frequently, and feels unfinished or abandoned.

Cave level plagued by bugs: The cave level is reported to have numerous bugs, including players falling through surfaces, lag issues, and overall poor design compared to other levels.

Lack of save points: There are no save points in the levels, requiring players to restart the entire level if they exit, leading to a poor experience.

Level design issues: Levels are criticized for being too large, uneven in quality, and feeling rushed, particularly the early levels.

Poor rope climbing mechanics: The rope climbing mechanics are described as poorly designed, difficult, and not interesting, leading to frustration.

Gameplay and performance

Multiplayer and Co-op Modes: The game offers both multiplayer and single-player modes, including a co-op campaign mode that supports up to 4 players. This allows for cooperative gameplay with friends, enhancing the overall experience.

Complex Puzzle Mechanics: The gameplay is filled with complex puzzles that involve finding items to use on locks. These puzzles are challenging and integrated into the level design, requiring players to solve them to escape.

Monster and Enemy AI: The game features various monster encounters and interactions. Enemies chase players and follow their recent locations, adding a layer of tension and strategy to the gameplay.

Level Design and Randomization: The game features well-designed levels with elements of randomization and balancing. Levels have been modified and reworked to provide a fresh experience.

New Cave Location Update: The latest update includes a new cave location, expanding the game's explorable areas. This update adds more content for players to discover.

Game is very buggy: The game is perceived as buggy, with players experiencing severe and frequent bugs, including issues in new maps and overall clunky gameplay.

Optimization and performance issues: There are notable optimization issues, leading to bad performance, high system requirements, and laggy gameplay, especially in specific levels like the cave level.

Audio issues: Players report various audio issues, including buggy audio and specific bugs with sound.

Graphical issues and artifacts: Players encounter various graphical issues, including lighting artifacts, z-fighting textures, and outdated graphics.

Frequent game crashes: Players report that the game crashes frequently, which significantly disrupts the gaming experience.

Recommendations

Ideal for multiplayer: The game is highly recommended for playing with friends, suggesting it is more enjoyable in a multiplayer setting.

Try other similar games: Some players suggest trying other similar games instead, indicating that there might be better alternatives available.

Not for the easily scared: The game is recommended for those who do not get scared easily, implying it has a high scare factor.

Avoid purchasing the game: Some reviews advise against buying the game, indicating dissatisfaction or issues with the game.

Bug fixes needed: Some players do not recommend the game until certain bugs are fixed, indicating current issues with gameplay.

Buying context

Community fair range: $8.00 - $12.00.

Game completion: 17.0h.

Story completion: 12.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

Inside the Backrooms is a multiplayer horror game that becomes fun and engaging when played with friends, as teamwork and shared experiences enhance the gameplay.

Friction: Repetitive tasks; Tedious puzzles; Game-breaking bugs; Difficulty and challenge.

Unlock drivers: Playing with friends; Teamwork; Shared moments of fear and laughter.

Player profiles

Puzzle Enthusiast: Enjoys solving puzzles and exploring the game with friends, appreciates logical challenges. Motivation: Enjoyment of logical puzzles and cooperative gameplay. Stance: buy.

Critical Detractor: Critically evaluates games, often pointing out flaws and issues. Motivation: Avoiding poorly designed games and warning others. Stance: no buy.

Social Co-op Player: Prefers playing in groups, enjoys the social dynamics and teamwork. Motivation: Enjoyment of cooperative gameplay and social interaction. Stance: sale.

Platform notes

Steam Deck: The game suffers from significant bugs and stability issues, particularly related to gameplay mechanics and crashes. These issues severely impact the user experience and require immediate attention. Additionally, the lack of language and controller support, as well as the high difficulty level, further hinder accessibility and enjoyment for some players. Despite these problems, some users still find the game enjoyable.

Extra review signals

External guides: The user feedback highlights significant issues with map navigation, lack of in-game tutorials, and the need for external guides to progress through the game. These issues suggest that the game heavily relies on external data for a smooth user experience, particularly in terms of spatial data and instructional guidance.

Other review notes

Received as a gift: Some players mentioned that they received the game as a gift.