Liminalcore Review
Liminalcore is a spooky journey into the Backrooms.
Liminalcore. (Credit: Shadow Owl Studios / Ashen Studios)
I’ve never looked too deeply into Backrooms lore. Originating in 2019 as a creepypasta on 4chan, their popularity blew up in 2022 when Kane Parsons’ short films about the Backrooms went viral on YouTube. The short explanation is that the Backrooms are a virtually endless series of connected rooms—liminal spaces—that exist beyond reality, serving no discernible purpose. Over time, the fan community has developed an extensive lore, describing multiple levels beyond the original story. Shadow Owl Studios’ game Liminalcore takes place in one of these places deep in the Backrooms—Level 37, the Poolrooms.
Liminalcore is a horror game that deals in dread rather than scares. You won’t run into any creatures or monsters. You walk through the game’s surreal environments, and the atmosphere—level design, ambient sound, lighting—creates a deeply unsettling feeling of unease. The intensity of that feeling is multiplied by the sheer scale of the game’s spaces. Never have I felt so scared of slides and ball pits.
Liminalcore. (Credit: Shadow Owl Studios / Ashen Studios)
The world is a vast maze, and it’s very easy to get lost. I often found myself going in circles because the nature of the space is such that there aren’t clear landmarks. In each area, everything looks about the same. Getting lost like that is very unnerving in a walking simulator.
While you begin in the Poolrooms, you’ll explore four levels. Your descent through this limbo takes you through memories of the protagonist’s life, though I found this aspect of the game vague. Maybe I’m too dense, but I didn’t understand or feel anything here. It would have been all the same had there been no attempt from the developers to inject a story.
Liminalcore. (Credit: Shadow Owl Studios / Ashen Studios)
The game features an optional VHS filter that gives the visuals a found-footage look. The filter is well executed, and I couldn’t decide whether I preferred it on or off. Seeing the world in crisp definition was unsettling in its own way. In both, the realism of the visuals makes the game deeply immersive. The game didn’t perform incredibly well on my Steam Deck, but I settled on running it at 30fps to keep lighting and reflection settings at least on medium. With all the water and the shiny tiles, losing reflections dampened the realism and my level of immersion too much. That said, the game’s graphics are very good overall. I found occasional sloppy texturing, but otherwise, this is a great-looking game.
There is no music in Liminalcore aside from snippets you might hear playing somewhere in the Backrooms’ endless spaces. The game’s ambient sound is essential in creating the atmosphere and mood; it’s best played with headphones. Liminalcore isn’t nearly as creepy when you mute the sound.
Liminalcore. (Credit: Shadow Owl Studios / Ashen Studios)
This is a short game. You can expect to finish Liminalcore in around two hours, depending on how often you get lost. I don’t have a point of comparison for this game because I haven’t played anything else that's Backrooms-adjacent, but this was a genuinely creepy experience that made me want to look into more.
Liminalcore is available now on Steam for PC.
Overall Score: 6/10
Played on: Steam Deck
