This review contains spoilers
The fucking way my heart sank whenever I'd turn a corner to see a big fat Zero.
Don't want to handwring, because this is far too specific, but I think there's something to be said about the magic of a truly blind playthrough, and how a game's delivery process can be the be-all and end-all. When I first learned of The Exit 8, it was because I did my daily poorboy due diligence by browsing Skidrow for new games to pilfer from the back of an unmarked van. (I'd honestly recommend people to do the same, I've discovered so many games this way, but I'm a psychopath, so sink to my level if u dare.)
The Exit 8, unassumingly, only sells itself on the Skidrow listing with the description - "The Exit 8 is a short walking simulator inspired by Japanese underground…". Kinda boring pitch, doesn't jump out much - I didn't have any expectations or pretence because I had no way to create any. why I gravitated towards it instead of Trucks and Logistics Simulator is anyone's guess.
Frankly, I was only expecting one of those lusciously-rendered mundane locale tech demos, and the initial hump of The Exit 8 practically delivers that. I did a few runs on its recursive subway underpass thinking little more than how I was experiencing essentially a student's little Unreal Engine flex or something. The texture work, lighting, reflections, modelling - it's all on point, a still captured from any angle could be utterly convincing as a genuine photograph of a real-world location. Then I stopped sprinting around the map and finally took in the finer detail on offer - instructions! In English! Unwinding into (- and I hope you've played the game before reading this -) a game of non-Euclidian spot-the-difference. It doesn't feel like the floor falls out from under me very often these days, man. I kind of sunk into this and was enraptured, pouring over every loop's details in a desperate fervour to reach Exit 8 - gaslighting myself countless times and getting genuinely spooked at the prospect of unknowingly missing anomalies. Loved it all the way to the end, very cool lean little thing.
THEN I looked at the Steam page and how it fucking spelled the whole thing out. At some of my pals already having it in their wishlist, knowing for god-knows-how-long what the gimmick of The Exit 8 would actually be. The first screenshot on the Steam store page is the END of the game!! You should spend the whole playthrough wondering if it even has one!! I'm sure the coming few days will be plastered w/ thumbnails of gormless Youtuber faces, setting people up for The Exit 8 being something far more TERRIFYING than it really is. It's kind of crushing and I know that's a bit unfair but like. I think this is the kind of game you should just put in front of people to see what they make of it. Place it in an unlabelled USB stick and slide it across their desk or something. And stop calling everything 'liminal' ur gay.
Don't want to handwring, because this is far too specific, but I think there's something to be said about the magic of a truly blind playthrough, and how a game's delivery process can be the be-all and end-all. When I first learned of The Exit 8, it was because I did my daily poorboy due diligence by browsing Skidrow for new games to pilfer from the back of an unmarked van. (I'd honestly recommend people to do the same, I've discovered so many games this way, but I'm a psychopath, so sink to my level if u dare.)
The Exit 8, unassumingly, only sells itself on the Skidrow listing with the description - "The Exit 8 is a short walking simulator inspired by Japanese underground…". Kinda boring pitch, doesn't jump out much - I didn't have any expectations or pretence because I had no way to create any. why I gravitated towards it instead of Trucks and Logistics Simulator is anyone's guess.
Frankly, I was only expecting one of those lusciously-rendered mundane locale tech demos, and the initial hump of The Exit 8 practically delivers that. I did a few runs on its recursive subway underpass thinking little more than how I was experiencing essentially a student's little Unreal Engine flex or something. The texture work, lighting, reflections, modelling - it's all on point, a still captured from any angle could be utterly convincing as a genuine photograph of a real-world location. Then I stopped sprinting around the map and finally took in the finer detail on offer - instructions! In English! Unwinding into (- and I hope you've played the game before reading this -) a game of non-Euclidian spot-the-difference. It doesn't feel like the floor falls out from under me very often these days, man. I kind of sunk into this and was enraptured, pouring over every loop's details in a desperate fervour to reach Exit 8 - gaslighting myself countless times and getting genuinely spooked at the prospect of unknowingly missing anomalies. Loved it all the way to the end, very cool lean little thing.
THEN I looked at the Steam page and how it fucking spelled the whole thing out. At some of my pals already having it in their wishlist, knowing for god-knows-how-long what the gimmick of The Exit 8 would actually be. The first screenshot on the Steam store page is the END of the game!! You should spend the whole playthrough wondering if it even has one!! I'm sure the coming few days will be plastered w/ thumbnails of gormless Youtuber faces, setting people up for The Exit 8 being something far more TERRIFYING than it really is. It's kind of crushing and I know that's a bit unfair but like. I think this is the kind of game you should just put in front of people to see what they make of it. Place it in an unlabelled USB stick and slide it across their desk or something. And stop calling everything 'liminal' ur gay.
i've never been so disappointed after finishing something that there wasn't more game to play
引き返せ引き返せ引き返せ引き返せ引き返せ引き返せ
The subway tunnel asset is so insanely spot on in terms of look, sound design, and vibe and I have been through many Tokyo subway tunnels in my days, but for the life of me I had an incredibly hard time enjoying this.
Spoilers I guess below if you want to go into it blind.
v
v
v
v
I beat it and found all the anomalies but I guess my personality just doesn't get a lot of enjoyment out of spot the difference puzzles. I respect how well some things were hidden but only a handful of the anomalies were unsettling. Maybe it's my fault for wanting to be scared coming into it. Frustration overtook dread for me in this one.
The subway tunnel asset is so insanely spot on in terms of look, sound design, and vibe and I have been through many Tokyo subway tunnels in my days, but for the life of me I had an incredibly hard time enjoying this.
Spoilers I guess below if you want to go into it blind.
v
v
v
v
I beat it and found all the anomalies but I guess my personality just doesn't get a lot of enjoyment out of spot the difference puzzles. I respect how well some things were hidden but only a handful of the anomalies were unsettling. Maybe it's my fault for wanting to be scared coming into it. Frustration overtook dread for me in this one.
I don't really play a lot of short horror games, but this caught my eye and I'd say this is a decent experience, it doesn't throw jumpscares (except for one), and the concept of the game is cool. I'd like it more if it was longer
i hated every second of this. Kotake is a dangerously talented developer and i'm glad this has been received so well on their behalf.
P.T. started the trend of subtle horror games. No scary music, looping hallways and rooms, or needing to notice any changes to move on. Exit 8 is exactly this. A single white hallway in a subway tunnel has a couple of turns, and it loops endlessly unless you notice changes. There is no story, no background, and no character development. Just this single white hallway, and you need to get to exit 8.
Your only sign of progress is the yellow exit sign, which increases in number as you make your fourth turn. If that sign goes back to zero, you missed an anomaly. When you see it, you are supposed to turn around and go back the other way. Anomalies can be really obvious, like lights being turned off, open doors, or a single man walking towards you doing something different. Other subtle ones can be the floor tiles, a security camera light, or a poster changing. You might get really frustrated at first, but keep going. Memorization is the key to getting the job done. Once you know exactly where everything is supposed to be—how many doors, posters, etc.—you will finish in under an hour.
The horror elements are subtle and not forced. A moving object, no music, and just the hum of the lights and footstops. Maybe a creaking door might make you jump. You can stop, take your time, and check the main hallway for changes. Running full force all the way through will make you miss things. You have to turn around to see a few anomalies anyway. If there aren't any changes, you keep moving on, and sometimes this can really make you feel like quitting. You will think time after time that the hallway is fine, but then you will notice something new and just keep moving on. Don't let that sign resetting to zero keep discouraging you.
The graphics use Unreal Engine 5 and are nothing special, but the atmosphere of the sterile white hallway makes it creepy. A lack of music and most sound effects makes you feel on edge all the time. The single-footed man makes you very uneasy every time you pass him. All you want to do is get to exit 8, and the intensity might make you miss things as you become more and more anxious to get out. This single-looping hallway might drive some people nuts.
Overall, The Exit 8 is a fun game that lasts a couple of hours at the most. There are only two achievements, and once you see all the anomalies, there is nothing left to do except maybe do self-timed speed runs. Some may find this a simple tech demo, but I think more horror games need to go this route. It's only a few dollars, and possibly getting some friends around to help spot things can make this a fun party game as well.
Your only sign of progress is the yellow exit sign, which increases in number as you make your fourth turn. If that sign goes back to zero, you missed an anomaly. When you see it, you are supposed to turn around and go back the other way. Anomalies can be really obvious, like lights being turned off, open doors, or a single man walking towards you doing something different. Other subtle ones can be the floor tiles, a security camera light, or a poster changing. You might get really frustrated at first, but keep going. Memorization is the key to getting the job done. Once you know exactly where everything is supposed to be—how many doors, posters, etc.—you will finish in under an hour.
The horror elements are subtle and not forced. A moving object, no music, and just the hum of the lights and footstops. Maybe a creaking door might make you jump. You can stop, take your time, and check the main hallway for changes. Running full force all the way through will make you miss things. You have to turn around to see a few anomalies anyway. If there aren't any changes, you keep moving on, and sometimes this can really make you feel like quitting. You will think time after time that the hallway is fine, but then you will notice something new and just keep moving on. Don't let that sign resetting to zero keep discouraging you.
The graphics use Unreal Engine 5 and are nothing special, but the atmosphere of the sterile white hallway makes it creepy. A lack of music and most sound effects makes you feel on edge all the time. The single-footed man makes you very uneasy every time you pass him. All you want to do is get to exit 8, and the intensity might make you miss things as you become more and more anxious to get out. This single-looping hallway might drive some people nuts.
Overall, The Exit 8 is a fun game that lasts a couple of hours at the most. There are only two achievements, and once you see all the anomalies, there is nothing left to do except maybe do self-timed speed runs. Some may find this a simple tech demo, but I think more horror games need to go this route. It's only a few dollars, and possibly getting some friends around to help spot things can make this a fun party game as well.
meme de encuentra las diferencias hecho videojuego
As bad as I am at detecting anomalies, the sense of dread that the player feels before turning the corner is EXCELLENTLY realized.
simple concept funny game, but who the f thinks extra fisheye lens in a game like this is a good idea?
i almost lost my mind
This review contains spoilers
For what is essentially a spot the difference puzzle, it has no right being this unnerving.
I will admit to initially just doing laps thinking I was gonnae get jumpscared and then have credits roll, but I never thought it would come in the form of me noticing that the number on a sign had suddenly changed. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt a cold tingle down my back. A fucking number on a sign.
As the amount of remaining anomalies went down to the single digits, I found myself sweating at the idea of my friend not coming round that corner.
I will admit to initially just doing laps thinking I was gonnae get jumpscared and then have credits roll, but I never thought it would come in the form of me noticing that the number on a sign had suddenly changed. I stopped dead in my tracks and felt a cold tingle down my back. A fucking number on a sign.
As the amount of remaining anomalies went down to the single digits, I found myself sweating at the idea of my friend not coming round that corner.
Wow... I REALLY suck at Spot The Difference.
Smooth lil Spot The Difference type game thats well made but never quite spooky enough and never quite lives up to the japanese train station premise (because its not a station, its just a single hallway that could have been anywhere really)
reminds me of my daily commute
Love the concept. Very short game however, but was a fun quick playthrough.
A meticulous on-going negotiation between space, architecture, self-doubt, and the rigidity of systems real and imagined.
Go buy and play it. Equip your horse blinders because the store page sours things a bit.
ここでは
左側通行
⬅
Perfect tectonic representation of Japanese underground passageways afforded by advances in games graphics. The hyperreal supplants the original to the extent that, as in reality, it becomes visual noise, consumed without deliberate thought. Without knowing what The Exit 8 delivers, its call to pay attention to surroundings becomes an act of questioning minutiae and the necessary bounds of the game space. In quietly becoming familiar with the space itself, differences should become apparent, but the mind effectively second-guesses itself amid a sea of static. Occasionally it is blatant, more often fleeting as a wandering eye spot, impossible to catch within one's focus and definitively claim it to be actual.
Of course, if it really was that subtle it wouldn't be a very rewarding experience, but the learning experience is reinforced by the dread of seeing 0, an affirmation that you missed something or, more terrifyingly, misremembered something. Were the posters always in that configuration? Did the passerby look like that? How grungy was it last time?
By not repeating itself until the bag of tricks runs empty, The Exit 8 refuses to even give the player the opportunity to enter routine, to become acquainted with the unfamiliar. Even the security of 8 not a perfect shield until the assurance of leaving it behind.
Go buy and play it. Equip your horse blinders because the store page sours things a bit.
ここでは
左側通行
⬅
Perfect tectonic representation of Japanese underground passageways afforded by advances in games graphics. The hyperreal supplants the original to the extent that, as in reality, it becomes visual noise, consumed without deliberate thought. Without knowing what The Exit 8 delivers, its call to pay attention to surroundings becomes an act of questioning minutiae and the necessary bounds of the game space. In quietly becoming familiar with the space itself, differences should become apparent, but the mind effectively second-guesses itself amid a sea of static. Occasionally it is blatant, more often fleeting as a wandering eye spot, impossible to catch within one's focus and definitively claim it to be actual.
Of course, if it really was that subtle it wouldn't be a very rewarding experience, but the learning experience is reinforced by the dread of seeing 0, an affirmation that you missed something or, more terrifyingly, misremembered something. Were the posters always in that configuration? Did the passerby look like that? How grungy was it last time?
By not repeating itself until the bag of tricks runs empty, The Exit 8 refuses to even give the player the opportunity to enter routine, to become acquainted with the unfamiliar. Even the security of 8 not a perfect shield until the assurance of leaving it behind.
This is actually just what taking public transport in Japan is like as a foreigner
Similar to the Observation Duty games, gotta spot the differences in each loop to successfully make it out.
It's super cheap, a decent time and especially great for streaming with friends and gaslighting yourself.
I'd recommend it, fun take on the spot the difference games and a little nostalgic for me after the Japan trip.
It's super cheap, a decent time and especially great for streaming with friends and gaslighting yourself.
I'd recommend it, fun take on the spot the difference games and a little nostalgic for me after the Japan trip.
A short creepy experience. A 3d Seek and Find that is sometimes very obvious, sometimes extremely subtle.
I don't usually play this type of game so my heart was racing all the time (yes I'm a p***y)
The Exit 8 is my first foray into a genre that I pray will become more aptly named than 'Spot the Difference’. Very short and fairly sweet, The Exit 8 gives you a binary choice. Forwards or backwards. Either everything is fine, or there is an anomaly. Horror feels like the natural next step for the genre, satisfying a-ha moments are swapped with eye-widening oh-nos as you realise something is off. The game is cheap and the spartan game design served it well. And now I’m finally interested in playing Papers Please.
It's a simple game and simple concept, but it nevertheless takes you through the suite of human emotions: bafflement, total psychosis, and sweet gratification. It's of course fun just solving each anomaly, but the process of sharpening the speed and accuracy of your recognition and memory on each run ads an extra fun gamey element to the end of one's playthrough.
I'm not foreign to labyrinthine metro tunnels. Instead this is what I always imagined navigating American suburbia is all about
Very cool
Jogo divertido e curto, bem interessante em sua proposta
This is what it feels like when you go into Ikea to buy a 10-quid shoe rack and discover you've become embroiled in an endless odyssey of looping white corridors that you're praying will eventually somehow lead you to a checkout.
The Exit 8 will take you only a couple minutes to beat, though you're encouraged to go back and see the other anomalies you missed on your first go at it. It's "Spot the difference" where if things look good, you go ahead. They don't? Turn around.
There's like 30 anomalies to see, some are creative and spooky, others are just lame. I got four of the best ones on my first playthrough, so going for more loops had me pretty disappointed.
Is it worth buying? I don't think so. There's a nine minute YouTube video that'll show you every anomaly including "dying" to them, so literally the entire game. Admittedly, it's less scary watching someone else go through it, but it's also free. Even at $4, I'd say this is just kind of neat but totally skippable.
I do not recommend The Exit 8.
There's like 30 anomalies to see, some are creative and spooky, others are just lame. I got four of the best ones on my first playthrough, so going for more loops had me pretty disappointed.
Is it worth buying? I don't think so. There's a nine minute YouTube video that'll show you every anomaly including "dying" to them, so literally the entire game. Admittedly, it's less scary watching someone else go through it, but it's also free. Even at $4, I'd say this is just kind of neat but totally skippable.
I do not recommend The Exit 8.
Videogaming equivalent of a back-of-the-cereal-box "spot the difference" puzzle. It's not particularly deep, and it's very short, but I appreciate it as a creative snack of a game.
pretty good
Fun for what it is.
I'd even say pretty creepy.
Kinda reminds me of the endless ladder game from 2013.
I'd even say pretty creepy.
Kinda reminds me of the endless ladder game from 2013.