TIPS & TRICKS
Controller Issue Snap Turning
If you are having issues with having to press the right stick in to snap turn, either select the Oculus API at startup or use the community controller bindings HERE.
This is a compatability issue in SteamVR.
BrVR is made in Unreal Engine 4.25, which has some limitations, including this one.
These tips are not comprehensive and were last updated on 8/2/2025. The game is very deep, and many systems are intentionally not documented. The best place for the latest information is to talk to the devs directly on Discord.
Character and Game Modes
At the start of the game, use the MEG Sign‑Up Form to customize your experience. Here you can toggle Gore (exploding heads, blood particles, decals, etc.), enable or disable Entities, and turn off Firearms for a Backrooms‑only items experience. Many of these settings are available in the Menu (left contrroller). You can enable Hard Mode for an additional challenge in the Settings Menu under Gameplay.
Getting Around
Use the GO PLACES Setting in the Menu to travel between the Frontrooms Apartment, The Simulation Hub, and the Hub. From the Hub you can travel to all MEG approved No-Clips with a No-Clippomatic door installed
Almond Water/Sanity
Almond Water is the lifeblood of the Backrooms and will keep you from going insane. You can tell if you are losing Sanity by looking at the bar on your glove. You will start to notice blurred vision, chromatic abberation, and a louder heartbeat as you slip into insanity. Always carry an extra bottle of Almond Water. Take the cap off first. You can drink just a portion and see the percentage left inside the bottle. There are several different types with different stats. You can brew many different types, including a friendship potion. 5 Gallon Dullers Den Almond Water Dispensers can be found throughout the Backrooms as well as Brewing Machines that can produce all sorts of concoctions via recipes. Visit the MEG Base Alpha in Level 1 where the Nutrient Rich Almond Water Brewing Facility is to try out some different recipes and get some free upgraded Almond Water. Don't forget to Add items to your vault so you can recall them wherever there is a Vault. If unsure about a liquid, don't drink it. Turning the bottle upside down and pressing trigger will pour some out and show you the color. If it looks toxic, it probably is. These toxic liquids can be used in the Squirt Gun or in the Scrap Flamethrower. Nothing like heating up a Faceling with some Pyroil!
As usual you can adjust the amount of Sanity depletion or turn it off completely in the Settings Menu (left controller). Play it your way!
Free Weapons
In your Frontrooms Apartment, use the Balloon Gun and Brass Knuckles; these are free and very effective weapons. You can no‑clip into Level 0 using the stairs in the back of the basement area by the Achievements. There is more information on Balloon Guns in the section below.
Backrooms Weapons
If you choose not to use firearms in the Backrooms, you will be left with classic Backrooms weapons such as the Partygoer Balloon Gun, Brass Knuckles, the Squirt Gun, the Flamethrower (also takes multiple liquids), scrap shotgun, and a few others. You can even use your trusty Screwdriver to poke entities with; good luck with that.
Many liquids can be loaded into the Squirt Gun and Scrap Flamethrower, and brewing can improve them into more powerful variants. Basic liquids such as Almond Water, Liquid Pain, and Pyroil are less effective on their own, but brewing them with other ingredients in a Brewer can produce stronger Squirt Gun mixtures. You can also brew Pyroil with Almond Water to create Blue Fire for your Scrap Flamethrower.
Firearms
There are several firearm stores in the Backrooms when Firearms are enabled, including one in the Frontrooms City (take the elevator in your Front Rooms Apartment building). Only MEG approved Firearms will function properly in the Backrooms. Even still, you may experience a number of anomalies especially with physics and firearms. Always stash your weapons and any items in slots or a backpack before no-clipping if you want the best chance of the items to replicate on the other side.
Relaxed Liminal Exploration/Low End PCsRelaxed Liminal Exploration
For a more relaxed experience, or for players with low‑end PCs, you can turn off all entities and enjoy exploring the Backrooms as a walking simulator, which has allowed players with less powerful hardware to experience the game comfortably. For even better performance, go with just hands mode. There are multiple other setting for everything in-between. Want entities, but no jump scares and no Arachnids? Just turn them off in the settings. If you are experiencing stuttering, lower your Graphics settings, turn off entities, and play in hands only mode. We also recommend using a Link Cable, wifi 6 router, and a hardwired PC connection for the best performance. Often, jutter is caused by the latter and not the game.
MEG Bases
Join the MEG by signing up on Level 1 in Base Alpha. This will give you aceess to all the MEG has to offer as well as branding and skins for weapons and items as well as jobs like bounties, fixing No-Clip doors, and other adventures. Meg Bases are a respite for Sanity as your sanity will increase while in an approved MEG base. This is also where you can find Vaults for storing your items and perpetually pull them out at will (not in hard mode). So if you find an item you really like, make sure you find a vault and put it in so you can retrieve it later at any vault throughout the backrooms.
Character Skins
You can change character skins in your Frontrooms Apartment closet. Options include a Female skin with faster movement but less health, a Male skin as the standard option, a Hazmat suit with slower movement but immunity to gases and some toxins, and a Hands‑only mode that shows only your hands. Skins are a beta feature, so for best performance we recommend using hands‑only.
No-Clip-O_Matic Doors
You can also change the style of the MEG No‑Clip‑O‑Matic doors in Settings. Doors can be changed to other effects like gas or electrical particles for variation. (Some are more performance heavy than others). You can change the Door Picture to a glitchy texture or an interior cube map, but these changes do not appear in the Hub for performance reasons, as there are more than 100 doors. There is also a Job mechanic for MEG employees to fix doors in different levels and earn Backrooms Bucks.
Settings and Customization
Spend some time in the Settings Menu, which is very extensive. You can turn off Sanity, Hunger, Health, and Thirst depletion, and many community‑requested options have ended up here. We even have a ton of VHS overlays if that's your thing. If you can think of it, there is a good chance our Discord has requested it too.
Inventory and Equipment
You have a main inventory system that holds items and craftables you find. There is also a secondary inventory for ammo and other reloadables like batteries. When you are holding an item such as a flashlight or weapon, the matching batteries or ammo will appear on your chest.
You have several on‑body slots: two hip slots or pockets, two upper back slots, and a head slot that is ideal for a flashlight. In addition, you have a Backpack that you can fill with items and carry from level to level.
Use the permanently attached screwdriver on your Backpack to open regular boxes, pop balloons, and attach optics on your firearms. The screwdriver goes back to the Backpack when dropped. To put items into your inventory, pick them up and press the trigger button. Batteries can be removed from flashlights and stored in your inventory. Items in your inventory can be sold, or used to craft and upgrade gear at the respective benches.
Vaults And Storing Items
When you find an item, you can store it in the Vault in your Frontrooms Apartment or in Vaults found in other locations throughout the Backrooms. Vaults, Upgrade Benches, Crafting Benches, and Almond Brewers are found at most MEG bases. You can customize the Vault with Favorites, and once you mark an item as a favorite, you can spawn that item at any Vault. In Hard Mode, Vaults are limited: you can only store one item at a time, so it is one item in, one item out.
Watch and Navigation
Your watch displays your time spent in the level, number of exits, what you were killed by, your Backrooms Bucks amount, and the name of the level. You can toggle the watch on your left wrist, right wrist, both, or turn it off.
The MEG‑approved No‑Clip‑O‑Matic doors are the main portals between levels. However, there are many other ways to no‑clip in and out of levels: stairs, walls, holes, elevators, and areas with shimmering particles can all be no‑clip points.
Exit Radar
The Exit Radar can be found on Level 15 and Level 41 and can locate both door exits and other no‑clip zones. To use it, hold down the A or X button, depending on which hand is holding the device. It will show you the way to MEG known Exits.
Balloon Guns and Related Items
Balloon Guns are powerful Backrooms‑only weapons. Developed by the Partygoers and used in the Partypooper wars extensively. Attach a few to an Entity and make it float to Dispatch it. Some entities like Clumps and Smilers are immune to the Balloon gun. You can upgrade the Balloon Gun to a triple‑shot version, a fully auto version, or find the Balloonderbuss for heavy balloon action that makes entities float.
Balloons can be popped by many items, but they can also be popped directly using the Balloon Gun. Hold the Balloon Gun in either hand and press the bottom button (A on the left controller or X on the right controller) to pop the first balloon, then press again to pop the remaining balloons in order from last to first.
You can attach balloons to yourself to float, and you can upgrade to a version with a propeller that allows you to slowly propel yourself while floating. Be careful not to get stuck, especially in or under doorways.
Entities and Interaction
Many Entities can be friended using a specially brewed Friendship Potion. Jerry the blue bird and most entities can be befriended by giving them Beef and Almond Water at the same time. Clumps, Memory Worms, and Dullers cannot be befriended. You can use VasoSkin Ointment to friend a Skin‑Stealer. Squirt a little in your hand and rub it on you rfavorite Skin Stealer. They love it.
When friended, entities will usually fight other entities for you, but they can die in the process. Jerry is a big blue bird—stay away from him unless you are prepared to befriend him. And do not join the FOJ.
To get rid of a Smiler just take out your flashlight and click it on and off fast multiple times until he gets a slight seizure and runs away. Wait, they don't have legs...
Disinfectant
Carry a bottle of Disinfectant with you if you have one. Just tip the bottle and pull the trigger and pour the disinfectant all over for some quick healing.
Casino (Level 5 Terror Hotel)
There is simulated gambling. If you have a gambling problem consult a professional first. The Casino offers video poker, roulette, the Clump Wheel, lottery tickets, item slots, and entity slots. Chips in the Casino show up on your chest while you are in Level 5 and holding nothing else. You can buy chips from “Squidman” (the Beast of Level 5), who may approach you with deals. Use the big green Cleanup button to clean up all the winnings scattered around and deposit the Backrooms bucks right into your account viewable on your watch.
When playing the Clump Wheel, you can insert beef as Clump insurance. If the wheel lands on Clump, the Clump will eat the beef you placed in the Clump Beef Insurance Slot instead of killing you. Without insurance, landing on Clumped means death.
You can sell back items you win at the Clump Wheel, such as weapons and Fire Salt.
If you try to steal Casino Chris’s Chris Vektor firearm (Casino Chris is the Skin‑Stealer at the Slot Machine), he will become very angry and try to kill you. He does not like when you use his Slot Machine, but he will allow it, and he is drunk enough that he usually does not notice when you take his chips.
The Casino offers video poker, roulette, the Clump Wheel, lottery tickets, item slots, and entity slots.
Chips in the Casino show up on your chest while you are in Level 5 and holding nothing else. You can buy chips from “Squidman” (the Beast of Level 5), who may approach you with deals.
Use the big green Cleanup button to clean up all the winnings scattered around.
Clump‑Related Items
Clumps produce several special items. Clump Glasses reveal Clumps as green dots when worn, Clump Guns let you grapple and cling to physics objects, and the Clump Viewer can see through some walls. They have several shops throughout the Backrooms to purchase these items.
Clumps will latch onto you and drag you into them and then consume you. They really don't want to, but will if hungry. That's why they made Clump Glasses to keep those in the know out of peril. Put on the glasses and see a green dot wherever there is a Clump on the map. You can fight them by shooting them or using a special Clump Knife to kill them. Balloon Guns have little to no effect on Clumps.
Hard Mode Features
In Hard Mode, your hands can get bloody, and eating with bloody hands can make you sick. You can wash your hands or take pills to recover. You have less health, slower health regeneration, and batteries die faster.
Hard Mode also includes permadeath with item loss, and the Vault holds only a single item instead of unlimited storage. Doors lack text labels showing where they lead, entities are healthier, and you do not have access to the Hub through the Go Places menu.
Radio and Audio
The in‑game Radio includes Radio Ralph episodes and also supports custom audio. You can replace the file named Test Video.mp4 in the game files with another file of your own audio, keeping the same file name, to play your own music.
If you are feeling unstable and low on Sanity, tune to the MEG Meditation channel on the radio. This will increase your sanity. Put the radio on your head to carry it around and listen while you explore. There are hours of playthroughs and Radio Ralph episodes on the official Woo Studios / BrVR YouTube channel.
Mining and Crafting
You can use the Electric Drill to mine Metal, Fire Salt, and Bricks from specific areas. Trees marked with a red band can be chopped down and the wood placed in your inventory. This wood can be used at the Crafting Table to create items or to build structures such as log cabins and fires.
Thruster Gun
The Thruster Gun is a very valuable item because it allows you to fly. Plus it's so much FUN! It is rare, but you can look for one on the ground near a broken green tube in the Tube Playground area on Level 18. It is vitally important to have one in Level 63 or you will have to walk for DAYS!
Traps
You can build traps by using a Trap Grenade and then spending 2 Metal from your inventory to arm the trap. Put one in your vault so you can take one on any mission. The traps are especially important with Memory Worms and their vile offspring.
Building Structures
There is also a structure‑building system; pick up a Building Blueprint at Moe’s Building Supplies in Level 1 to get started. There are also Shack Grenades that when deployed will try to build a structure within the current structure. Often with strange results. However, inside you will have full sanity and there will be other supplies so you can camp out if you wish.
100% The Game
To 100% the game and earn the 100% Gloves, you must unlock all doors, collect all pictures, and obtain all achievements.
The devs are very active on Discord and ready to help in any way. Please ask how to get out of a level or report a bug there before leaving a bad review. BrVR is a passion project, and we are happy to work with anyone to make it better.