What the game is
Escape the Backrooms is a first-person horror exploration game where you wander through more than 30 levels based on the backrooms creepypasta. The levels look eerily familiar but stretch out in confusing, seemingly endless ways, and each one has its own way out along with dangers on the path. Realistic graphics, a minimal interface and a dreary ambience keep the focus on the space itself rather than on menus and markers. Hostile entities live in the levels, and each of them works differently, so you learn their behaviour as you go. The game is in Early Access.
Playing it as a group
You can go in alone or with a team of up to 4 players, and the co-op runs online. Sticking together matters: the map is easy to get lost in, and teammates can no-clip into different areas of a level, splitting the group without anyone meaning to. Every member has to reach the exit alive before the whole team escapes, so nobody gets left behind. Proximity voice chat lets you talk to the people near you, which is useful for coordinating a route or warning someone about an entity. The catch is that the entities can hear you too, so talking near danger is a risk you take on purpose.
Before you start
Expect a slow, tense pace built around exploration and stealth rather than constant combat. Check corners carefully, since entities hide in the layout and each one punishes a different mistake. Plan how your group will stay in contact when someone gets separated, and agree on who waits and who moves. Going in with a full team of four changes the shape of every level, since the escape condition applies to everyone. Survival is not guaranteed, so treat a run as a learning experience about the levels and their inhabitants.