The Exit 8 is perhaps the most interesting “Backrooms”-type game I’ve played in a while. Though barely longer than 30 minutes and a little barebones overall, its approach to liminality in both an aesthetic and literal context make it quite memorable, and surprisingly uncanny.

7/10

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This game is a great example of how to do a lot with very little. Other walking simulators often get called out for not really really living up to the potential of gaming. Rarely do they ever really play to the strengths of the medium. Instead, in an effort to minimise the process of play-optimisation, which is at the centre of discussion when it comes to the topic of “games as art”, developers in the genre often forgo the entire concept altogether, and opt for an experience that consists entirely of walking down a designated path for you to follow, with no other input necessary from your end - hence the name.

The Exit 8, unlike many of its peers, understands how to use these limitations to craft one of the most uniquely weird and uncanny gaming experiences I’ve had in a while - even all you do is walk down a Japanese metro passageway, looking for the eponymous Exit 8. The twist: The hallway repeats infinitely. Or does it?

Early on, after the first few repetitions of walking down this repeating hallway, you’re met with the following message: “Don't overlook any anomalies. If you find anomalies, turn back immediately. If you don't find anomalies, do not turn back. To go out from Exit 8.”

And this is where the game becomes very interesting.

Minor spoiler warning from here on out!

Other horror games in the genre often let you get away with barely engaging with whatever it is you’re supposed to be scared of. Others make it the point, outright. Mostly this is done by having some invincible enemy chase you around the place, and while this can be scary sometimes, to me this is almost always just annoying. Here, the horror comes in making you look. What does that mean?

The actual “game” of The Exit 8 is basically just a “find the difference” puzzle. Alluded to in the aforementioned message, the goal is to find the exit by continuing to go through the passageway and correctly recognising whenever something’s… off. Sometimes the changes will be quite obvious, but other times these changes can be very subtle. Sometimes these changes aren’t even really weird or scary, but those times when they are, noticing them can be quite unsettling. And the worst is, that you HAVE to look carefully. It’s tempting to not check out the little opening in the door that wasn’t there before, but you HAVE TO. Now, I’m not gonna pretend that this is the scariest thing in the world, but again, for only taking 30 minutes to complete, this game does have some potential in here to be quite unsettling and creepy. The fact that the game draws no attention to these anomalies what so ever, and that it’s almost on you to even notice them makes them even creepier in my opinion.The whole thing with the repeating hallway and having to check that hallway for minute details kinda reminded me of PT, which is probably why I was unusually tense while playing this game. While there’s nothing anywhere near as terrifying as Lisa in The Exit 8, that weird sense of being trapped and possibly not entirely alone was always there. That comparison is, of course, some of the highest praise I can give it.

The Japanese subway station aesthetic is done marvellously. It really does give off that hyper-sterilised but equally forlorn vibe that you get from those “Liminal spaces” meme pages and Twitter accounts. Some of the anomalies are pretty creepy, in my opinion at least. The creepiest one comes in the form of a door that’s just ever so slightly open, and there’s something that stares back at you, should you decide to check it out more closely. Another time was when the lights just suddenly shut off without warning. There are some that are a bit silly though, like when the man who keeps walking down the station suddenly walks towards you, but his movement speed is increased. It just looks really goofy.

I think the game could’ve definitely done with some more involved sound design, and the fact that kill screens (yes, there are kill screens) don’t really do anything other than to set you back to the start is a bit underwhelming. I also think that some of the anomalies are a little too obtuse for my liking. I also completed the game by accident for the first time, because I just kept walking forward to see what would happen, and eventually just stumbled upon the stairs. Not sure if that’s intentional or not, because the game treated it like a death screen. In general the game feels a bit unpolished, as I did notice some visual glitches here and there, and certain things not having any sounds associated with them.

There also isn’t a whole lot in terms of replayability. While there are about 20-30 anomalies to find, there’s a good chance you’ll see almost all of them on your first playthrough. I did two just to make sure, and did indeed find all of them. This game is just kind of barebones in general. Not a whole lot to it outside of the central gimmick, which is fine. Not every game needs to have multiple hours worth of content, but this game would’ve definitely benefitted from being about twice as long.

In conclusion:

Neat little horror walking simulator you can get really cheap and play through over the course of a lunch break. Also, finally a review that didn’t take me hours to write lmao

7 / 10

Fears not of its own secrets. No alternative playstyle or hidden level or walkthrough to reveal a sleight of hand. Quite thee opposite. Here, it's transparent of its own shocks & spooks & scares & unnerves. In fact, it goes so far as to proudly chisel a plastic plaque keeping numerical track of its own twists, encouraging players to see them all.

It's thee inverse of what I hold so dearly: mystery, unexplained. To have such confidence in these sometimes subtle, sometimes outlandish anomalies that thee developer is willing to forgo your curiosity in order to enjoy thee scares present is something I cannot condemn in thee slightest.

É um bom jogo. No entanto, ele exige MUITO do seu computador. O meu não é ruim, mas eu tive que baixar um programa que me deu um perrengue danado, e ainda atualizar o drive de gráficos do meu processador. E ainda assim eu tive problemas de visualização. Há uma anomalia no teto que, nas configurações que meu computador suporta, é quase impossível de enxergar. A iluminação normal é muito problemática. Apesar de pequeno e barato, é muito pesado e quase exige do jogador que ele tenha um PC gamer. Ainda assim, deu para me divertir! A criação de mundo e o trabalho sonoro são simplesmente sensacionais! O que move um jogo de terror são a ambientação e o som, e esses dois aspectos são inquestionáveis.

A very short indie game, and by that I really mean very short. My first run took probably around 15 to 20 minutes, and getting all achievements took me yet another 30 minutes or so. It's really cheap too, so it's not anything bad here.

The game is essentially a game of can you spot the difference as you travel through this underground train station corridor on your way to exit 8. The rules are simple: If you spot any anomaly in the corridor return from where you came from, if everything is ok, proceed. Your goal is it to reach corridor 8 and find the exit. Each time you reach the main corridor, it will randomly pick any anomaly... Or not! And yes, this can even happen when you reached corridor 8 and are trying to get to the god-damn exit. Some anomalies are quite easy to spot, like the whole hallway being clustered with no smoking signs, and sometimes the changes might be quite small and make you question if there was always a camera in the corner. The punishment for not spotting any anomaly that is there or returning when there wasn't any anomaly is that you return to corridor 0. Other than that, there aren't really any dangers. You can 'die' from some anomalies (the actual fate in interacting with some of those anomalies is actually pretty open to one own's imagination), but it's not really worse than getting the state of the corridor wrong.

The simple idea paired with it's rather short playtime is the ideal combination for some quick in between game to fill some time, while making you question your own perception.