This review contains spoilers

Huge fan of this type of game. Atmospheric walking sim with very minor puzzle elements. A lot of the gameplay and some other unconventional puzzles are conveyed via navigation. Progress often feels like discovering someplace you're not supposed to be, which for this game is thematically appropriate.

FFO "The Backrooms" viral internet mythos/creepypasta which has inundated internet indie horror for years now, Anemoiapolis captures the original text's powerful ambiguity: "God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you".

Anemoiapolis DOES contain an entity of some kind, although not nearly as hostile or direct as Kane Pixels' interpretation (no disrespect, every interpretation has their own merits). For me, it really comes down to personal taste. I love the idea of navigating uncanny architecture, descending deeper and deeper into bizarre liminal spaces that seem to be manufactured for people, yet spring forth in impossible ways, creating recursive mazes of empty malls, movie theaters, indoor resorts, etc.

Yet, Anemoiapolis is still a game, and that necessitates some objective. Collecting tickets never became tedious, no backtracking to previous floors was required; yet some floors seem to demand much more time and effort than others.

The traditional "Backrooms," the final floor I visited (although you can pick these levels in whichever order you like), lasted about two minutes. Meanwhile, the "Poolrooms" segment took me about 45 minutes -- almost half of my total playtime -- and about 20 minutes of that was navigating the first maze, which seemed to be a never-ending procedurally generated series of similar rooms, often navigated through the water which slows down the player significantly.

The Poolrooms level does have the one bathroom maze sequence, which was one of the few genuinely frightening moments during my playtime; the ambience, sound design, and the ominous warning, "KEEP MOVING" genuinely made for a fun setpiece.

Anemoiapolis' horror is not exciting, but it isn't cheap, either. Its atmosphere is unparalleled. Its architecture is mesmerizing and unsettling. Although some players may find themselves bored within minutes, others will find themselves tourists in a series of genuinely unnerving liminal spaces, faithfully recreated and translated into an interactive medium.

But man, I wish somebody told me the golf minigame was optional.

Reviewed on Mar 17, 2023


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