The subject of liminal spaces has exploded in popularity recently, having had a loyal following before, but pushed to the spotlight by the short movie The Backrooms released a few years ago. Similarly, the spatial loop became a trend following P.T.'s ever shifting hallway. Finding itself in the intersection of those two thoroughly abused trends, it's unlikely I'd have given The Exit 8 the time of day had I not seen it in action beforehand.
As one would expect from the $4 price tag, it's a simple game, based entirely on observation: the player is in a subway station and must get from exit 0 to exit 8. To do that, they must pass through a hallway with set characteristics: a set of posters, a row of doors, signage and so on. If everything about the hallway looks right, they press on to the next exit. If there's something fishy going on, they must turn back. Failure to observe these guidelines loops them back to exit 0.
When displaying an anomaly in the station, the game picks randomly from a few dozen possible anomalies, a set which ranges from subtle shifts to surreal occurrences that are immediately noticeable. Conditioning the player into paying close attention to small details then tossing in something clearly unnatural is a highly effective way to get a jump out of them, making The Exit 8 a great horror game for people who aren't great with the horror genre.
Its biggest success, however, is in the short and dense runtime. The Exit 8 is cheaply produced, as is made evident by the use of Unreal asset packs and the appalling performance for an experience that takes place entirely in a hallway. Had the game stretched itself thin and tried to pad runtime, its weaknesses would have begun to show, however, since it makes a point of not repeating events the player has already seen, it proves an enjoyable pastime.
As one would expect from the $4 price tag, it's a simple game, based entirely on observation: the player is in a subway station and must get from exit 0 to exit 8. To do that, they must pass through a hallway with set characteristics: a set of posters, a row of doors, signage and so on. If everything about the hallway looks right, they press on to the next exit. If there's something fishy going on, they must turn back. Failure to observe these guidelines loops them back to exit 0.
When displaying an anomaly in the station, the game picks randomly from a few dozen possible anomalies, a set which ranges from subtle shifts to surreal occurrences that are immediately noticeable. Conditioning the player into paying close attention to small details then tossing in something clearly unnatural is a highly effective way to get a jump out of them, making The Exit 8 a great horror game for people who aren't great with the horror genre.
Its biggest success, however, is in the short and dense runtime. The Exit 8 is cheaply produced, as is made evident by the use of Unreal asset packs and the appalling performance for an experience that takes place entirely in a hallway. Had the game stretched itself thin and tried to pad runtime, its weaknesses would have begun to show, however, since it makes a point of not repeating events the player has already seen, it proves an enjoyable pastime.