Review: Exit 8 is the perfect “baby’s first horror game” to dip your toes into the genre

If you’re concerned about Exit 8 being a horror game, you don’t have to worry about that. There are elements of horror, but it’s a veritable spot the difference game in a “spooky” package. 

I’m not a big player of horror games because I’m a big baby who hates when things chase me, but there’s no chasing here. Well, there is a river of blood at one point, but that’s not really the same thing as some dude out for your cheeks.

Exit 8; You’ve definitely been here before

As a primarily cozy gamer, horror (and horror-adjacent things) don’t usually make it to my playlist. Most times, the conditions just aren’t right for a cozy experience, and rightly so. The genre generally relies on adrenaline and, too often, jumpscares. 

Personally, I love watching other people play horror games, but recognize that I am not likely to bust into some haunted house greeting the supernatural with, “Hey there, demons, it’s me, ya boy!” 

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few crumbs for us faint-of-heart folk though. Exit 8 is the perfect little slice from the bigger horror genre cake for you to enjoy. 

If you’re familiar with P.T. or I’m on Observation Duty then you’ll already be familiar with how this game works.

The whole premise of it is that you’re in an underground subway and you’re trying to find your way out. To do that, however, you have to get through 8 levels before finding the stairs that lead out. 

The bulk of the game takes place in one corridor with a few small turns so the game can reset the corridor with changes. You’ll notice things like doors along the side, several posters, and even a man walking down the corridor. 

It’s important to observe the man early on because he’ll only walk through once and, yes, he can have anomalies. If you’re unfamiliar with the term anomaly, it’s simply the thing that is different from the rest. 

Anomalies come in all shapes and sizes and this one likes to change up posters, doorknob placements,  etc. It can be as obvious as people standing in the hallway that were not there before or as subtle as a light stain in the shape of a face on the ceiling. 

You’re bound to get it wrong several times before you get the pattern down. 

There have been three corridors of no changes; it’s like high school testing all over again.

How do you pass a level successfully? Well, like I said earlier, you spot the difference. Your first level is usually your baseline. Generally, nothing will be wrong on the very first level of your playthrough. This doesn’t mean that if you mess up and restart at level 0 later in the game this rule is true, however. 

So, really take your time the first go around and try to remember as much detail as you can. We’re not talking about anal retentive attention, but you would be surprised how obscure some changes can be. 

After you’ve counted the doors, studied the posters, and taken in every detail you can imagine, you either go forward or backward. For the sake of clarity, let’s say you’re on level 2. If you decide to proceed to level 3, it’s because you think there are no changes on level 2. 

If you’re right, when you turn the corners, the sign will either say Level 3 because you were correct, or it will say Level 0 because you’ve been reset due to an incorrect answer. 

If you think there is an anomaly present on Level 2, you’ll want to turn around and head back to Level 1. Again, if you’re wrong, you’re back on level 0, but if you’re right, turning around will place you on Level 3.

It sounds much more complicated trying to explain it than it is. 

It’s a pretty simple game that can last anywhere from 15-45 minutes per run depending on how obvious the clues are or how familiar you are with the anomalies by that point. 

It’s, honestly, pretty fun, and we played it through a couple of times just to see all of the different anomalies. And, I highly appreciate that once you’ve seen all of the different changes that can take place, the game will tell you as much. A small sign gets tacked up in your line of sight at the beginning of levels to let you know you’ve seen everything. 

It’s like a whacky horror version of Pokémon; you gotta see’em all.

Now, is it spooky? I did mention a river of blood earlier, which seems spooky. But, it’s really not. What you get at most is a sense of unease. When a door is slightly ajar, or there’s a man at the far wall blended into the tile, it’s a little disturbing, but nothing chases you. 

The worst you get is the aforementioned river that only triggers after you’ve gotten so far down the corridor that you need to run away from.

So, it’s not spooky, but is it cozy? Yes and no. This really depends on you. As you progress through the levels, you’ll feel the pressure of getting things right or risk restarting. I find that around level 5, you really start agonizing over the details. 

If you’re the type of person who hates losing progress, even if it’s only 20 minutes, then you may not enjoy this game. However, I found that the progress loss isn’t really that bad. By the time you’ve gotten to level 5 a few times, you get pretty confident in your choices. 

Well, I did. My husband was feeling some adrenaline to get it right. Like I said, it’s all about you and your preferences. 

Overall, it’s a small game, has cozy potential, and isn’t based on jumpscares. So, it’s really the perfect game to start with. Especially since it’s probably the most tame of the “spot the difference” style horror games that have been popping up over the last few years. 

I definitely recommend it, it’s a lot of fun. If you want to pick up Exit 8 for yourself, you can grab it on Steam and Nintendo Switch for just $3.99.

If this doesn’t seem like your speed, but you want to try the horror genre in visual novel form, then you can check out our review of Slay the Princess. It was definitely chill and a lot of fun.