98) Dreamcore (2025)

In 2011, a user on the internet's dumping ground, 4chan, posted an image of a HobbyTown location that was undergoing renovations. The image featuring a large carpeted room, fluorescent lighting, and pale, yellow dividing walls, began circulating on the site, and in 2019 was the featured image for a post on a paranormal themed board asking for "disquieting images that just feel 'off'". Another user replied to the post, supplying the image with its first description. Mentioning how this is what you see when you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, and the space features over six hundred million miles of segmented empty rooms, the user also mentions that if you hear something wandering in the space with you, that whatever it was surely heard you as well. Thus, a new creepypasta of being trapped in a liminal space that goes on forever known as The Backrooms was born.

Drawing on The Backrooms aesthetic, Dreamcore is an episodic experience that tasks players with exploring these areas in order to solve puzzles, with each level's ultimate goal being to find an elevator in the vain attempt to escape. Each level features a different setting, each eerie in their own way. At the time of writing, there are four levels that have been released with a fifth and final one announced to be releasing this year. While I doubt that anything in this final chapter will be enough to drastically alter the experience, I will likely post an update going over it after it releases.

The best way to describe the Dreamcore experience is in much the same way as the original posts that helped to inspire it. We play in a first person view, ostensibly exploring each area with an old video camera, complete with a zoom feature and grainy analog video. This greatly enhances the experience, as it's tbe bit of fuzziness to the game that helps elevate the visuals while ensuring they stay suitably creepy. We're left to wander around in each area with no clear goal given to us, forced to explore the empty spaces and eventually stumble upon the path forward.

What I admire most about the game is how, even without having monsters or enemies present, it still manages to fill the player with a sense of looming terror, a sense of dread that permeates the experience. It ranges from little things, such as eyes that follow your movements and the sound of doors opening and closing in the distance, but also includes larger things, such as lights going out or music stopping abruptly. Nothing that would normally be scary on its own, enhanced by the sheer lack of other available stimuli. There were a few times that I fully expected the traditional jumpscare to occur, and the omission of such obvious ploys was more disturbing than if they'd occurred.

I admit, going in I had little knowledge of The Backrooms' style horror and what to expect. The game takes areas that seem familiar and presents them in a way that seems... Off. The emptiness and loneliness help contribute to the effect, making it seem as though you've stumbled somewhere you shouldn't be, like being in a store after they close. Areas where you would expect to see people hit a bit different when it's just you and the sound of your own footsteps. Adding to this is the maddening layout of each area. You'll find yourself traversing room after room with no sign of where to go, and each room will leave you feeling as though you've already been there dozens of times. It's incredibly easy to get turned around and lost, and the reuse of assets makes it all the harder to get your bearings.

Dreamcore is an experience that isn't quite for everyone. It's not scary in the traditional way and, to my knowledge, features no real lose state. The horror simply comes from taking something familiar and presenting it in a way that feels wrong, like a perversion of how you remember them. Everything weaves together to make it feel as though you're exploring a dream that you've never had, yet know all too well. There is, at the very least, the hints of an underlying story, and I'm interested to see if the final chapter ties it together or leaves it maddeningly open to interpretation. If you've seen images and discussions about liminal spaces and don't quite see the appeal, I'd highly encourage playing Dreamcore, as it will very quickly help you understand.