Game Review: The Stairwell (Xbox Series X)

From Take IT Studio! and Hidden Palace comes an anomaly game, one that puts the player in the role of a newly hired security guard within a unique building. One with a set of floors that seem to constantly loop. It’s your job to study the environment and report what you find. Is something out of place? Head down instead of up. Is everything as it should be? Continue on upwards until you reach the roof and can escape.

A seemingly simple task, but one fraught with danger as this anomaly game comes with more threat and more horror-based elements then normal.

While there’s nothing particularly unique about The Stairwell, and like so many others, it can’t quite match the brilliance of The Exit 8, what we have here is a strong effort, none the less. For starters, it feels like it has got a bit more story and progression is measured in way that feels important. As you go on and reach certain milestones, things change and get tougher, but more rewarding. Alongside that, there are a wealth of anomalies to spot, and some of them are brilliant.

Such as a classic. The men sitting on the bench is now grinning like a madman. So unnerving. Then there is the likes of the ‘clown’ that watches, and in some circumstances, chases. The secret areas that reveal ‘unique’ items, and the demon creature that pops up occasionally. These are some of the more extreme examples and the obvious anomalies, sitting alongside a ton of subtle changes that you will have to slowly learn via trial and error. In fact, some of these subtle changes can be quite tricky to spot on increased difficulties.

Of course, over time and through repetition, it becomes a lot easier to spot a small change to a sign, a missing doorknob, a statue with a different face, something extra in the fish tank, and so on. In fact, by the end, I was speed running the game in less than 15 minutes. Yet, even with that, I never felt short-changed. Especially as the first few plays were far longer. Though that was probably because I was being overly meticulous and studying every major detail to see if there was an anomaly. There really is nothing worse than thinking you’ve got to grips with the game, only to fail a floor without knowing what you missed.

That’s all part of the fun though and The Stairwell is fun. It’s creative, looks good, sounds good, plays well, and has enough replay value (different difficulties, some secrets, etc) to make it worthwhile. For me it sits on the stronger side of the anomaly game scale.