Video Games' Fascination with the Backrooms Phenomenon and Noclipping Glitches

Origin of the Backrooms

The Backrooms concept emerged from a May 2019 4chan thread titled "unsettling images." An initial post featured a photo of an empty room with yellow wallpaper and no natural light. A subsequent user response, consisting of 78 words, established the foundational lore for what would become the Backrooms, describing it as a space one enters by "noclipping out of reality."

Noclipping in Video Games

"Noclip" refers to a game mode that disables collision detection, allowing players to move through walls and floors. While primarily intended for developers to test game environments, players have historically discovered methods to access noclip, enabling them to explore areas not meant for public viewing. This practice reveals the underlying logic and unfinished aspects of game worlds.

Developer and Player Perspectives

William Chyr, creative director at Studio Chyr, notes that noclipping offers a "Wizard of Oz moment" by pulling back the curtain on game design. He recalls instances like a glitch in Batman: Arkham City that allowed players to ascend outside the playable area, revealing flat textures and unrendered sections of Gotham. Similarly, a bug in Skyrim enabled players to noclip out of the world, exposing how in-game objects like tables were often partially embedded bookcases.

Connection to the Backrooms Aesthetic

The visual and conceptual elements of the Backrooms, such as furniture clipping through floors, directly parallel the unintended sights encountered through noclipping glitches in video games. This shared experience of encountering unfinished or surreal environments contributes to the resonance of the Backrooms mythos within the gaming community, aligning with the feeling of seeing what players were never meant to see.