Collect the VHS tapes
Make sure this is actually the step you are on. If an item or prompt is missing, backtrack one room and check the inventory first.
Check the Tape Total Before Leaving the Computer
The computer displays the target for the current lobby: 24 tapes solo, 32 with two players, and 48 with three or four. We say the number out loud before splitting because the shelves do not tell you which teammate is still working from the solo count. The computer is also the final objective; collecting the last tape does not open the route until somebody returns and interacts with it. For a visual reference to this route, see Escape the Backrooms: The End Map.
Clear the Library in Complete Shelf Zones
Pick a side wall, clear every shelf in that zone, then move to the back and opposite side. A half-cleared aisle is hard to recognise after the lights change, so we avoid grabbing one visible tape and immediately crossing the centre for another. The coloured spawn reference on the related map is a search priority drawn from observed runs, not a promise that a tape will occupy every marked point.
How the Scratcher Changes the Search Route
The Scratcher cannot rely on sight, but it reacts strongly to sound and patrols between the shelf lanes. Its shushing noise is the early warning. Stop sprinting before it reaches the aisle, let it pass, and resume from the last fully cleared shelf instead of improvising a new route.
- Fire alarm: choose the shelves you want next, pull the alarm on the opposite side, and use the distraction immediately. Wasting an alarm before choosing a destination only moves the danger without advancing the search.
- Table: if a chase has already started, get under one of the two tables and stay there until the Scratcher breaks off. A table is the recovery tool; an alarm is the planning tool.
- Co-op noise: one player calls aisle status while the others keep voice and movement clean. Several players sprinting across the centre can undo the same distraction.
Recover When the Library Lights Go Out
The blackout makes unfinished shelf work much harder to identify. Keep a flashlight available, finish the aisle already in front of you, and regroup at a table or the centre computer rather than sending everyone into a different dark lane. If the Scratcher is close, hiding safely is faster than losing the tape count to a restart.
Use the Current Exit to Level 94
After the required tapes are collected, return to the centre computer and turn it on. The unlocked door leads into the damaged rear room; climb its ladder and enter the vent to reach Level 94. The Orb shown in old routes was removed from this progression, so do not wait beside the computer for a portal animation.
Escape the Backrooms: The End Walkthrough Video
Video chapters
Player route notes
Things we check before pushing ahead
We use this as the quick “don’t make the same mistake twice” checklist. If your room, spawn, or prompt does not match the video, stop and check the normal route first—patches and co-op timing can make an old shortcut look tempting when it simply will not work.
Use the fire alarm
Look around slowly before guessing. Props can hide chairs, switches, notes, and pickups; a second camera angle is usually faster than brute force.
Hide under the table
Call out what was pressed, collected, or opened. It prevents the classic “we all thought somebody did it” reset.
Survive the blackout
If a skip behaves inconsistently, leave it and take the intended route. A clean run beats getting stuck in geometry.
Multiplayer tips
At The End, let one player read the terminal or tape clue while another watches the route back. Call every completed objective out loud so the team does not lose track of the final requirement.
Encounter file
Entities in this level
What each entity does on this route, and the move that keeps the encounter under control.
Scratcher
How it appears here
One Scratcher patrols while tapes are collected. Fire alarms distract it, and it stops being the active threat after the computer sequence is completed.
How to avoid it
Choose the next tape aisle first, pull an alarm, collect during the distraction, and return to one of the two hiding tables.
