Deja Vu: The Backrooms

Deja Vu: The Backrooms is a first-person horror game about AJ, whose hallucinations trap him in a place called The Loop. You must collect eight memory fragments to escape, either alone or with up to four players working together. The game presents The Backrooms as a manifestation of mental illness.

AJ and The Loop

AJ is an ordinary man caught in the monotony of a corporate job. After he is diagnosed with a mental illness that could cause severe hallucinations if left untreated, those hallucinations become real to him. He perceives The Loop as a computer glitch, though the horrors he faces exist only in his mind. The single-player portion follows how he reaches The Loop; the multiplayer portion has up to four players collect the missing memory fragments.

Levels and puzzles

The game has two types of levels:

• Procedurally generated levels: random layouts that differ each time.
• Static levels: puzzle-based stages focused more on exploration and adventure, with a different approach to The Backrooms.

You encounter a distinct entity in each level. They roam the area and hunt you; if caught, they may kill you or narrowly spare you. AJ cannot fight and must rely on running to survive. You can use items stored in an inventory, interact with objects and solve puzzle minigames.

Survival and communication

The game uses a stamina system and a minimalist user interface, with detailed animations, a fully rendered character viewed from a first-person perspective, and sound design intended to portray AJ’s experience. Proximity voice chat lets you communicate with a friend, but the entities can hear you.