The Backrooms 1998
Games review
As of Aug 18, 2026, The Backrooms 1998 is rated 84% positive on Steam (831 reviews).
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Is The Backrooms 1998 worth it in 2026?
An 84% positive rating from 831 Steam reviews puts this indie horror game comfortably above average, though the score alone cannot tell you whether those voters were drawn by genuine quality or simply by affection for the Backrooms lore. The two complaint categories on record are small in number but pointed: one reviewer found the horror execution embarrassingly overdone, and a separate user reported the game was heavy enough to break their streaming setup, which is a real warning for anyone running OBS, Discord, or other background software on mid-range hardware. There is no documented evidence of what specifically earns the positive votes, so a buyer is trusting the crowd score without knowing whether the crowd shares their taste. Backrooms fans willing to accept that risk and running capable hardware will likely get their money's worth; anyone else should wait for a sale or more detailed coverage.
Players already invested in Backrooms creepypasta lore who have capable hardware and are comfortable buying on a crowd score without knowing the specific reasons behind it.
The horror may come across as try-hard rather than genuinely unsettling, and the game places a heavy enough load on system resources that it caused problems for at least one user running additional software, a meaningful concern for streamers or anyone on mid-range hardware.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes on this page. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Pros
None stood out across the reviews.
Cons
- performance and optimization1
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- IM a streamer using a vtuber and ur game is to to to heavy pls make it better my vtuber is broken thank u
- excessive or ineffective horror1
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- the game tries to be overly scary, and it just makes it cringe
Themes and quotes are drawn from 2 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 831 ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.