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Liminal space horror games

These games put you in places built for passing through and leave you there: yellow office rooms from the Backrooms legend, tiled pool halls, empty malls and underground passages. You walk, look for a way out and notice what is off. The fear is in the hum of the lights, the sameness of every corner and the sense that something else is in there with you.

The top 30 of 34 liminal space horror games, ranked by player and critic scores

The 30 best, 2026

  1. Homicipher key art: a pale figure with long black hair and a thin smile, blood spattered across the face and chest, in the dark EscapeHomicipherSiliconera's review says the protagonist is trapped in a liminal space of empty concrete halls. 97% on Steam (8,395 reviews)about 3 hPaidPC, Mac, Switch
  2. Elevator Hitch cover: a grinning blond co-worker behind a nervous one in glasses, both in brown suits, with red tendrils at the edges and the red title above EscapeElevator HitchIts makers describe each floor as liminal-looking and tag the game Liminal space 96% on itch.io (2,243 ratings)about 1 hPay what you wantPC, Mac
  3. CAPTURED 2 key art: a cracked white toy telephone with a grin of sharp, bloody teeth and tentacles, in a dark blue hallway of doors PsychologicalCAPTURED 2Deformed rooms send you through the Backrooms and Poolrooms, with pools, climbing parks and yellow rooms. 98% on Steam (640 reviews)PaidPC
  4. The Exit 8 key art: a yellow 'Exit 8' sign hanging from the ceiling of a white-tiled subway passage PsychologicalThe Exit 8The store calls it a walking simulator inspired by liminal spaces, back rooms and Japanese underground passageways. 93% on Steam (11,760 reviews)about 30 minPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
  5. The Cabin Factory key art: a log cabin with a glowing porch and open door alone in a vast, dim factory hall PsychologicalThe Cabin FactoryThe makers say it is inspired by liminal spaces: an empty warehouse and the same cabin seen again and again 91% on Steam (3,857 reviews)about 1 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  6. Studio System : Guardian Angel key art: four cartoon girls with red eyes before a red and black spiral, with the title in white PsychologicalStudio System : Guardian AngelReviewers describe claustrophobic hallways, liminal spaces and impossibly large megastructures. 93% on Steam (587 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC
  7. POOLS key art: a long rectangular pool of dark water with a metal rail and stairs at the back, in a hall of pale tiles stretching into the distance Walking simulatorsPOOLSBuilt on liminal spaces and the Poolrooms of the Backrooms legend, empty tiled pool halls with nobody else in them. 95% on Steam (6,780 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, iPhone, PlayStation, Switch, VR
  8. Dreamcore key art: a bright open doorway glowing in a dark, grainy empty room, with a dim round object beside it PsychologicalDreamcoreThe makers describe it as a game based on liminal spaces, with the largest maps made in backrooms games 93% on the PlayStation Store (2,212 ratings)about 5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  9. Escape the Backrooms key art: four players in yellow hazmat suits and gas masks stand in an empty library-like room under a sign reading THE END Co-opEscape the BackroomsBuilt on the Backrooms creepypasta: endless empty yellow-wallpapered rooms under humming fluorescent lights. 90% on Steam (168,596 reviews)about 9 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  10. Kitty Kart 64 key art: a mock N64 box cover with the pink title, a pink cat with yellow eyes driving a kart on a purple checkered floor, and a 50% off sticker PsychologicalKitty Kart 64Off the track you find empty spaces that should not be there: a black void full of balloons or a hazy pastel checkered room. 92% on itch.io (365 ratings)FreePC, Linux
  11. Two players in yellow hazmat suits face a tall, thin black entity in the yellow halls of Level 0, with a grinning face glowing in a dark doorway SurvivalBackrooms: Escape TogetherStarts in the empty yellow halls of Level 0 and moves through other liminal levels drawn from Backrooms lore 89% on Steam (50,476 reviews)about 3 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  12. Project Looking Glass key art: a seated woman sends white wisps into a cracked mirror holding a glitching, rainbow-pixelated figure, beside the pixel title PsychologicalProject Looking GlassGamebiz notes its lo-fi texture and liminal spaces, such as an empty plaza and a dark EXIT doorway. 100% on Steam (99 reviews)about 2.5 hPaidPC, Mac
  13. Backrooms 97 entity card: the Smiler's glowing eyes and jagged white grin floating in a dark tiled stairwell hall, captioned SMILER EscapeBackrooms 97 - Retro DescentSet in the Backrooms, the store's 'nightmarish liminal spaces beyond reality', starting in the empty corridors of Level 00. 89% on the App Store (3,458 ratings)Free with adsiPhone
  14. The Classrooms key art: a white wolf-like creature with glowing eyes and a toothy grin peers around a cinder block wall into the dark SurvivalThe ClassroomsThe store calls it a liminal-space game: a senseless, seemingly infinite maze of halls and classrooms. 89% on Steam (3,277 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC
  15. re:curse key art: the title in wobbly pale yellow letters with a rainbow glow on the dark red screen of an old CRT monitor Psychologicalre:curseIts itch.io page tags it Liminal space, and the lab ends up as a small room floating in a dark void. 96% on itch.io (152 ratings)about 3 hPay what you wantPC
  16. Backrooms Descent key art: an eye peering through a tear in yellow-green chevron wallpaper, a face pressing against it from behind ShortBackrooms Descent: Horror GameSet in the Backrooms, endless empty yellow office rooms under humming lights that you slip into out of reality 88% on Google Play (34,411 ratings)about 40 minFree with adsiPhone, Android
  17. Line 88 key art: the scrawled title over a grainy dark interior with a faint shadowy figure, beside a pencil-drawn young man looking frightened AnimeLine 88Walking toward the driver, the two find the bus runs on and on, with winding corridors and grass and trees growing inside 94% on itch.io (192 ratings)about 20 minPay what you wantBrowser, PC
  18. Photomaly key art: two close-up faces with staring eyes and unnaturally wide grins on either side of the yellow title, framed by camera viewfinder corners PsychologicalPhotomalyPlayers single out a late, mandatory section set in a Backrooms-like maze that is slow to walk through. 89% on Steam (1,431 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC
  19. Venge key art: a row of grotesque monsters on a purple ledge in blue light, above red neon writing that says Hello again Multiple endingsVengePlayers describe eerie liminal areas, such as a hallway that stretches on forever into darkness. 91% on Steam (373 reviews)about 3.5 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  20. Platform 8 key art: a man in a pale blue shirt sits alone on a red bench seat in a Japanese train carriage, looking at his phone with a bag on his lap PsychologicalPlatform 8The PlayStation Store says it is inspired by Japanese subways, liminal spaces and the Backrooms 87% on Steam (2,912 reviews)about 45 minPaidPC, PlayStation, Switch
  21. The Complex: Expedition key art: a blue-lit steel corridor of panels and pipes leading to a glowing yellow doorway with torn edges PsychologicalThe Complex: ExpeditionEmpty yellow halls, pool rooms, hospital corridors and a hotel lobby with nobody in them. 88% on Steam (1,714 reviews)about 1.5 hPaidPC
  22. Spectator key art: a faceless figure in a suit and a grinning animatronic bear in a top hat stand in a dark forest, drawn in orange and teal PsychologicalSpectatorOne level is the Backrooms, its yellow-walled offices watched through the cameras. 90% on Steam (166 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, Switch
  23. Labyrinthine key art: a narrow hedge maze path at night under a single lamp Co-opLabyrinthineOne maze type is a set of empty rooms with yellow wallpaper, carpet and ceiling lights. 84% on Steam (17,520 reviews)about 7 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, VR
  24. Mycelium: The Silent Contract key art: a hooded contractor with a large backpack, seen from behind, stands in a dark, foggy pine forest under teal-green light Co-opMycelium: The Silent ContractThe store calls it a hauntingly liminal forest and pitches it to fans of the Backrooms and SCP. 98% on Steam (154 reviews)about 30 minPaidPC
  25. Anemoiapolis key art: a lone green tree on a grassy field under a blue sky that looks like crumpled paper ShortAnemoiapolis: Chapter 1The store page sets it in the uncanny valley of American architecture, with endless carpeted floors and lonely malls. 81% on Steam (1,214 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC
  26. The Knife Sharpener key art: the handwritten white title above three stacked outline drawings of kitchen knives on a dark purple background PS1The Knife SharpenerPlayers single out its liminal houses and empty streets that loop back on themselves. 86% on itch.io (136 ratings)Pay what you wantBrowser, PC, Linux
  27. The Backrooms 1998 key art: a yellow, stitched-together creature with a gaping toothed mouth in a yellow-walled corridor, beside the title EscapeThe Backrooms 1998Set in the Backrooms, ever-changing rooms and hallways that all seem too familiar, with yellow walls and humming lights 83% on Steam (840 reviews)about 1.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  28. Inside the Backrooms key art: a dim yellow room under ceiling lights, with pillars scrawled with arrows and the words Here, Escape, Left and It sees you Co-opInside the BackroomsBuilt on the Backrooms creepypasta: countless identical rooms with old carpet and pale yellowish walls. 80% on Steam (46,846 reviews)PaidPC
  29. Storebound key art: a pale, bloodied arm in a red store uniform with an ID badge grips a lamp with a price tag and a bloody handprint on its shade Co-opStoreboundIts store page sells it as a 'Liminal Store', a shopping complex caught between dream and nightmare 78% on Steam (1,512 reviews)about 6 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  30. Anomaly Company key art: two crew members in orange hazmat suits, one in a gas mask, in a blue-lit arched field tent with supply cases PsychologicalAnomaly CompanyThe maker sets it in realistic, liminal environments that feel uncomfortably real. 76% on Steam (226 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC

To play with friends

9 games

Short enough for one evening

Done in an hour or so

Free to play

7 games

Every game of the kind

More picks

Scores are those players and critics give on the stores and sites named; each game's page says where.

More kinds of horror

  1. Short horror games621
  2. Psychological horror games530
  3. Horror games with multiple endings417
  4. Horror puzzle games341
  5. Survival horror games259
  6. 2D horror games254
  7. PS1 horror games233
  8. Stealth horror games180
  9. Horror escape games164
  10. Surreal horror games145
  11. Horror visual novels137
  12. Anime horror games132
  13. Haunted house games131
  14. Mystery and detective horror games127
Every genre

Where you play

  1. Steam horror games1009
  2. Epic horror games97
  3. GOG horror games270
  4. itch.io horror games592
  5. PC horror games1337
  6. Mac horror games391
  7. Linux horror games261
  8. PlayStation horror games404
  9. Xbox horror games367
  10. Switch horror games317
  11. Mobile horror games188
  12. VR horror games69
  13. Browser horror games236
  1. Scary games1456
  2. Free horror games561
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