The Backrooms Online

A free, open-source 3D Backrooms exploration game that runs in your browser. No download needed.

Play now: backrooms.online

This is a community tribute to the Backrooms creative writing project. All code is MIT licensed.

Features

• 5 distinct levels (Level 0–4) with unique environments, lighting, and atmosphere
• 2km × 2km procedurally generated maps per level with dynamic chunk loading
• 11 entity types with stealth-based AI (Smilers, Hounds, Crawlers, Partygoers, and more)
• 55 collectible items from the Backrooms wiki documentation
• Survival mechanics — health, water, food (Minecraft-style)
• Real-time multiplayer — explore with others via WebSocket
• Stealth system — crouch to reduce detection radius by 60%
• Difficulty settings — Easy / Normal / Hard
• Environmental props — pillars, pipes, desks, barrels, debris per level

Controls

Key	Action
WASD	Move
Mouse	Look
Shift	Sprint
C	Crouch
ESC	Settings / Level Select

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React, TypeScript, React Three Fiber, Three.js
• Server: Node.js, Express, WebSocket (ws)
• Build: Vite
• Deployment: Vercel (client) + any Node host (multiplayer server)

Getting Started

# Install all dependencies
npm run install:all

# Run both client and server
npm run dev

• Client: http://localhost:5005
• Server (WebSocket): http://localhost:3001

Client only

cd client
npm install
npm run dev -- --port 5005

Server only

cd server
npm install
npm run dev

Project Structure

backroom/
├── client/                  # React Three Fiber frontend
│   └── src/
│       ├── components/      # 3D scene, entities, items, HUD, multiplayer
│       ├── entities/        # Entity definitions and AI state machine
│       ├── items/           # 55 collectible item definitions
│       ├── levels/          # Level configs (colors, fog, entity pools)
│       ├── systems/         # Collision detection
│       ├── hooks/           # Multiplayer WebSocket hook
│       └── store/           # Game state (React Context + useReducer)
├── server/                  # WebSocket multiplayer server
└── vercel.json              # Deployment config

Multiplayer

The WebSocket server syncs player positions in real-time. Set the VITE_WS_URL environment variable to point to your server:

VITE_WS_URL=wss://your-server.com

Levels

Level	Name	Theme
0	Threshold	Mono-yellow rooms, fluorescent buzz
1	Habitable Zone	Gray concrete, dim overhead lights
2	Utility Halls	Dark green pipes, narrow corridors
3	Electrical Station	Red emergency lights, industrial
4	Abandoned Office	Blue-gray carpet, cubicle walls

Contributing

Contributions welcome! You can add:

• New levels with unique configs
• New entity types with AI behaviors
• New collectible items
• Performance improvements
• Bug fixes

License

MIT — free to use, modify, and distribute.

Credits

Built with love as a tribute to the Backrooms community and wiki contributors.