Horror / Backrooms
Horror games revolve around a tense, creepy, and/or horrifying atmosphere. Prepare for jump scares!
Backrooms games are a type of horror game that come from the creepypasta story which consists of an infinite maze of a windowless office painted in yellow in which unseen creatures can be found.
Characteristics
Escape!
Find a way to get out... if you can survive.
HIGH ALERT TENSION
🎨 Immersive art & light
✨ Camera, VFX & sound
PROBLEM SOLVE
🔍 Find clues to unfold a mysterious narrative
🧩 Solve puzzles to escape
Keys of Success
Everyone Can Play - Explore the space, solve puzzles
Immersive - Revolves around generating fear and tension
Play for Long - Endless replay value through random mazes, monster AI, cooperative play, etc.
NEED TO HAVE
Mood: sound, light, VFX, scenery, and enemies to put players on edge
Narrative mystery/puzzle to unfold
Survival equipment & consumables
NICE TO HAVE
Jump scares timed when players feel relatively safe or distracted
Finding physical evidence that unravels the narrative (audio, documents, etc)
Game Loops
Below is a general game loop diagram for this genre. Your game's loops may vary.
Variations of Horror
Survival Horror: Emphasis on survival, limited resources, and atmospheric tension.
Psychological Horror: Focuses on psychological fear and mind-bending scenarios (e.g, Backrooms)
Action Horror: Blends horror elements with fast-paced action and combat.
Learn to Create It
GAME MAKER TEMPLATE
LOGIC TO EXPLORE
Consumables/effects
Life meter on HUD
Object interactions
Make it More Interesting
Consider ways to add to or change the core structure of this game type to challenge and motivate players differently.
MAIN OBJECTIVE
⚰️ Kill count
🐣 Find easter eggs
RAMP OF DIFFICULTY
🧠 Sanity metric
⏳ Time limited actions 🍏 Resource scarcity
CORE DECISIONS
🚫 Using a resource may block branching options
🧩 Simple ciphers, codes
PRACTICE: Modify The Backrooms template to increase the fun:
Useful Logic
Template & Tutorial Videos
Open the Game Maker Backrooms Template for logic included in the tutorials below.
View Backrooms Game Jam entries in the Game Maker Gallery for examples of this genre.
How to Make Walls Appear & Disappear
Light Up Areas with a Torch
Roaming Entity Mechanic
Slowly Die in Toxic Cloud
Pick Up and Read Documents
Combination Lock
Custom Death Scene
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