Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1

About Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1

Anemoiapolis is made by Andrew Quist, a solo developer who drew on his Michigan hometown and on the late-2020 forum posts about liminal spaces and the Backrooms. Chapter 1 came out on Steam and itch.io in March 2023. A second chapter was planned, but the developer said in 2024 that he cannot make it with his current tools.

The store page calls it the most relaxing horror game you will ever play, and it means it. You wander a huge network of ordinary American places, emptied out: a mall with its shutters down, endless carpeted floors, locker rooms and pool halls with slides and floating rings. Nobody is there to let you out, so you push obstacles, smash windows, break into electrical panels and climb and swim to find the next way through.

The horror is in how wrong the familiar feels. Corridors repeat, doors are not where they were when you turn back, and the procedural mazes are built to make you lost. Reviewers noted that there are no jumpscares and no monsters that hurt you; the tension comes from the feeling that something might be.

Critics were mixed on its thin story and few puzzles, but players rate it highly for its atmosphere. It suits anyone drawn to the Backrooms and liminal-space images who wants to walk inside them for an hour or two.

How to play Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1

1. Explore the empty spaces in first person, running, swimming, jumping, sliding and climbing.
2. Push obstacles and smash windows to make your own path forward.
3. Break into electrical panels and solve the small puzzles that open new areas.
4. Expect to get lost: watch for landmarks, since doors and corridors change.

Tips

• Take your time; the atmosphere is the point.
• If you seem to be going in circles, you are probably on the right track.
• Look up and around for vents, windows and ledges you can climb.
• Play with headphones for the sound of the empty rooms.

Questions