Back*Space allowed me to explore liminal spaces with no time pressures, no worries about jump scares and no danger. Just a slightly creepy vibe, which was fun!
The Look and Feel of Back*Space
Back*Space seemed to take place in the 80’s or 90’s. VHS tapes featured prominently as well as old school CRT televisions. In fact, the opening screen looked like the menu from a VHS player. Remember those? The entire game has the look of old, grainy VHS movies.
Like many games featuring liminal spaces, Back*Space had rooms, hallways, doors, alcoves and other such areas that you can choose to enter and explore. I had a vague feeling of uneasiness as I walked around, but the game promises no jumpscares, no monsters, no combat, nothing like that. Just slow, careful exploration and discovery awaited me.
There was no soundtrack, but there were ambient noises if I turned the volume up loud enough. I could hear my footsteps when I walked on hard surfaces, I could hear a rustling when I walked on carpets and in some areas I heard the hum of machinery. I never did find out where those machines were. Playing a game with so much silence was a bit creepy, though, in a good way! It all added to the eerie, slightly off-kilter space I was exploring.
Some of the odd things I spotted in Back*Space were a room with 5 individual alcoves, all in a row, and each one had the same identical chair in it. I saw a window inside a room. I saw a very small room behind a closed door, which contained only 3 clothes hangers, all lying on the ground. I saw a different alcove with just 2 wooden chairs in it. And I saw a room with empty shelves on the wall and nothing else. All very mysterious spaces.
The Gameplay in Back*Space
Back*Space started with a tutorial, but it was done in such a unique and clever way!! I was given instruction through those old CRT television screens. As I walked around exploring, I kept randomly discovering more and more old TVs plugged into walls. Each one had a different message, and together they taught me the various controls for the game. After a while, I learned I could walk, run, jump, touch things (like open a door), crouch and use a flashlight. I thought this was very effective. I learned what I needed to know, as I needed to know it. I don’t like when I get a ton of new information at once so this was great for me!
As the game progressed, I got other messages on different TVs telling me to look for the tapes. What tapes? The game itself does not give much more instruction, but that’s ok. It was enough and after all, exploring is the main goal of the game.
The Steam page for Back*Space informed me that I was playing a few of the 16 total levels in the game, and in each level, there is one lost item to be found. Is that item a videotape? Probably, but not definitely. I was informed that these lost items could be hidden behind furniture, lying on a table or maybe just clearly visible on the floor. These items will not always appear in the same places, so the game has a lot of replay value.
More Information about Back*Space
Back*Space is an open-world 3D environment, and the game was created to be a smooth, quiet exploration experience. It’s the creation of a solo dev aptly named “Mostly Farmless Games”! Made me laugh because this game is definitely farmless!
There’s a lot of mystery to the game, I’m not sure if I’ll ever figure it all out! For example, there’s a room with “Why are you here?” written on the wall. I have no idea why I was there!! There’s another room with mysterious black streaks running down the walls. Am I going to figure that out? I don’t know! But it made me want to explore further.
There was a lot more to the demo than I wrote about, including a swimming pool level and a residence level. I barely explored those areas myself; I’ll get back to them soon. But for the purpose of this article, I thought I’d leave them for you to explore on your own!
The demo for Back*Space is available now on Steam and has a save feature, which I really appreciated. I played for over an hour and still have lots left to explore. I encourage you to give it a try. I know I am very interested in seeing what else the full game has to offer. The game is scheduled for full release on May 1, 2026.
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Hello! My name is Casey and I am the dev for BACK*SPACE! It means a lot to me that you took the time to write up this review. Thanks for checking it out, and thanks for checking out all the other smaller developer games. The full game is out now on Steam for under $8.
Thank you for letting us know, I’ll put the news of the full release on the site tomorrow!