What The Backrooms: Survival is
The Backrooms: Survival is a first-person horror game with roguelike elements, built around the idea of never-ending narrow corridors. Each playthrough generates new levels, items, events and entities, so layouts cannot be memorized and every run plays out differently. Levels have different themes and types, each with its own items, objects and hostilities, and you ascend to higher levels as you go. Alongside the original entities and levels, some pieces are familiar to anyone who knows The Backrooms internet lore.
Survival is a constant background task. You scavenge for food and water, drink from leaks in the ceiling, and manage a limited number of inventory slots so you can decide what is worth carrying. Sanity is a resource you have to keep an eye on as well. Gathering materials, dismantling items and mining ore deposits on certain levels feed into a crafting system for items, weapons and tools. Combat is an option: weapons range from makeshift axes to abandoned firearms, some with random stats, and they can be customized further.
Playing it with a group
You can go in alone or with up to ten friends online, with cross-platform multiplayer for Nintendo Switch, and there is a public lobby where you can join other people's existing games. Proximity voice chat can be switched on or off in the settings, which matters when the group wants to stay in contact or stay quiet. Trading is one of the ways to get gear, so splitting up, looting different corridors and pooling what you find is a workable plan. PvP is supported, so a group is not automatically on the same side.
Before you start
Four game modes are available: Permadeath, Adventure, Sandbox with console commands, and Explore, which is peaceful. Permadeath deserves a warning. Death is permanent, and there is a single quick save slot that auto-deletes when you die, so caution is the correct approach. Before entering you pick or create a player, choosing name, avatar and a real-world profession, each profession offering unique bonuses. Graphics styles can be switched, including a retro PSX style and a VHS style. Failed attempts are recorded in the obituary system with details like name, age, profession and cause of death, and a global leaderboard tracks who reaches the deepest levels.