The Exit 8 inspires train-hopping subway escape game Station 5 

On December 17, developer ClickToPlay Games announced the subway station escape game Station 5. It is due to release on December 30 for PC (Steam). 

Similar to recent indie hit The Exit 8, Station 5 is a walking simulator set in an underground station and takes between 15 minutes to an hour to play through once. The player is trapped inside an eerie, empty-looking subway system and must successfully take a train to Station 5 in order to escape. 

Starting at Station 0, you have to ride the subway and decide whether or not to get off at each stop. Like The Exit 8, this game contains anomalies that you must heed in order to successfully escape. In Station 5, the anomalies are found inside the train carriages; if you find an anomaly, you should get off at the next stop and wait for another train. If you can’t find any anomalies, then it is safe to keep riding the train. 

The anomalies are object-based; new items might appear inside the carriage, or they might disappear or move around. If you fail to notice one of these anomalies, then the train will whisk you back to Station 0 to try again. 

The Steam page describes the game as a “short walking simulator inspired by the ‘spot the difference’ games and liminal spaces (backrooms).” It seems like the popularity of KOTAKE CREATE’s The Exit 8 probably inspired Station 5, given their similar setting and anomaly spotting gameplay mechanic. It is common for a game that becomes a big hit to inspire similar games to be developed. “Only Up” and “Suika Game” are recent games that have spawned similar titles or copycats. The Exit 8 was only released back in November 2023, so we might well see more anomaly spotting games set in eerie liminal spaces in the future. 

Station 5 is scheduled to be released on December 30 for PC (Steam). 

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-12-18 14:08 JST)