The Exit 8: Is the anomaly-spotting horror game so tricky players are mistakenly reporting a bug?

Users have been reporting instances of anomalies failing to occur in the hit anomaly-spotting horror game The Exit 8, and the developer has been looking into the issue. On the other hand, some players have taken to investigating whether people just aren’t able to spot the anomalies, sharing tips about the game’s most hard-to-spot challenges. Please note that this article contains spoilers for The Exit 8.

The Exit 8 is a short walking simulator game in which you must escape the seemingly endless backrooms of a Japanese subway station by finding “The Exit 8.” To find the exit, you must look out for any anomalies along the way and turn back as soon as you identify one. On the other hand, if there is no anomaly in sight, you must not turn back. The liminal space-inspired game sold an impressive 30,000 copies within a day of its launch and has been growing in popularity ever since.

Posters hanging on the wall in The Exit 8

Recently, players have been reporting a bug in The Exit 8 – even though there seem to be no anomalies, proceeding forward resets the game to Exit 0 (which is what happens when you walk past an anomaly). In response, the developer has been investigating the bug, but has been unable to recreate it so far. At the moment, it is unclear whether there is really a bug occurring or if players are simply overlooking anomalies.

Seasoned players have been suggesting the latter. User @yukino_san14 shared a video of a certain anomaly they consider to be the main cause of the bug reports, commenting that it took them 1 hour to find it.

8番出口で異変が起こらないと言われる原因の8割はコレだと思ってる #8番出口 pic.twitter.com/mOsJTn4NIJ
— ゆきのさん (@yukino_san_14) December 6, 2023

Post translation: I think this anomaly is responsible for 80% of the “no anomaly” bug reports in The Exit 8

The anomaly is indeed extremely hard to spot – it’s the size of the posters on the left, which are larger than normal. The Exit 8 has some anomalies that practically come at you, but anomalies like this one require a keen eye and a good memory of what the area is supposed to look like. Many players agreed with the theory that this anomaly could be causing the bug reports, and the developer @notokeke themselves also reacted, commenting, “I would like to think that this is the cause.”

すべてヨシ！！！！！→0番！！！！の犯人がほぼコイツ。点検慣れした後半に引くと余計に分からないやつ。 https://t.co/1TqIhTX0Ag
— ロッズ (@rods_skyfish) December 6, 2023

Post translation: Whenever you think, “All right, everything’s clear!!!” only to be returned to Exit 0, the culprit is this anomaly. It’s especially tricky when you come across it later into the game when you’ve already develop a biased way of looking for anomalies.

コレだと思いたい(ネタバレ注意) https://t.co/x65mN50B9v
— コタケクリエイト (@NOTOKEKE) December 6, 2023

Post translation: I would like to think that this is the cause (Spoiler warning)

With that said, we asked the developer to name some of the most easily overlooked anomalies in The Exit 8, and they kindly provided us with a list, while noting that it’s subjective.

・Posters growing in size
・The security camera sign following you
・A smear appearing on the ceiling
・Doorknob shifting to the middle of the door
・A door disappearing
・The face on the first poster becoming creepy
・The eyes on the security camera sign moving
・The concourse sign saying “Turn Back Turn Back Turn Back”

The anomalies listed are all quite tricky to spot, so it’s equally possible that players have been mistaken in thinking there’s a “no anomaly” bug occurring. Furthermore, the VTuber duo #NumeGekoLife set out to investigate the issue too, but even after 5-6 runs through all anomalies, they did not encounter the bug described.

The Exit 8 is available for the PC (Steam).

Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-12-07 16:49 JST)