short with a few good scares, but it mostly taught me that im bad at paying attention to the environment around me lol
this sort of game (and online horror in general) is extremely hit or miss to me, leaning toward miss most of the time. i am happy to say, however, that this was basically all hit. everything it has to show you is extremely effective at building an uncomfortable atmosphere and it is very, very freaky sometimes! it only has one moment that i think is really lame and typical of a modern horror game and you are unlikely to see it.
to me, this is a great utilization of the strong liminal/anomaly concept that so many writers and devs lean on to make lazy and uninspired art.
to me, this is a great utilization of the strong liminal/anomaly concept that so many writers and devs lean on to make lazy and uninspired art.
Muito dahora p*** merda, que jogo bacana, é curto, simples e extremamente criativo
Simple, short, to the point, and fun.
Playing this whilst streaming it to friends made me paranoid I missed something everytime I walked towards the exit.
Really cool concept - actually scared me a couple times!
I liked it. saw everything it had to show and completed it several times. only good for an hour or 2 of picking it up.
Short indie game where you're stuck in an underground passageway and to exit you have to get through 8 identical corridors. Sometimes the corridors have small anomalies which you have to spot. If you miss them the game will make you start at 0 again and if you spot them you have you go back the way you came. Some of the anomalies are super subtle while some other ones are very obvious but can be quite scare you and keep you on your toes. The game is pretty good at atmosphere because the anomalies are entirely random on every playthrough and you always expect something to happen but you just don't know what exactly so you're always a little paranoid. I'm not sure if 4 bucks is a good price for how short and basic this game is since you can find all the anomalies in about 1 hour which effectively means you beat the game. I recommend it despite the price although 2 bucks would've been a little more suitable if you ask me.
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 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 times of walking down this infinite 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
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 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 times of walking down this infinite 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
Horror twist in spot the difference. lacks replayability, which would've done really well in these sorts of games