Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2023
Backfirewall_
Developer Naraven
Backfirewall (stylized as backfirewall_) is a 2023 video game developed by Swiss independent studio Naraven and published by All in! Games. Described as a "tragicomedy set inside your smartphone", the game is a puzzle adventure game in which players traverse levels to sabotage a smartphone to prevent its operating system from updating. Upon release, Backfirewall received positive reviews from critics, with praise… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
197 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 2, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
87
LovedLoved
164 positive · 24 negative
95% range 82–91%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 164 | 24 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
9 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
450 of 493 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 197 · most liked firstOkay, but hear me out: this is the closest thing to SOMA I've played, and I've tried many a time. Insanely, comparable drama came in the form of this comedic game that kicks the fourth wall left and right and is closer in tone to Dr. Langeskov than any sci-fi game I tried. Don't get fooled by the wacky characters: it's a game about death — and coping with the understanding that your God is a scammer. You play as an update assistant that tries to install a new OS to a phone. It turns out,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game was fun at first and I would recommend it, if there was not this big but… This game still has bugs that make it unplayable but has not been updated since February 2023. With no communication from the developers, it seems like this game will not get any patches or updates in the future. When I played the game on release, I got softlocked near the end of the game. Knowing that the game just came out, I submitted a detailed bug report and waited. It seems like that there must have been…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, loved the story and the puzzles especially the great endings!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Backfirewall_. A first-person puzzle adventure game set inside a mobile phone, a setting that has the vibes of a quirkier Tron. Starts off seeming like it's going to be a Portal 2 knockoff, but then transforms into a manifesto about labour and the value of knowing one's worth.
unlabelledView post →This game is criminally unseen, sweet, funny, and definitely worth your time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fully narrated first-person puzzle-adventure - think The Stanley Parable or Dear Esther, but with considerably more actual gameplay. The game takes place in the world of an anthropomorphized phone, where the operating system, apps and processes are all characters and the player character is the Update Assistant app, launched by the phone's user to replace the current operating system. The operating system isn't very thrilled about that prospect and points out to the player that going through…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You feel how much love just went into this beatiful game. So many sweet allusions to the IT universe. Well-made puzzles, great storytelling and enough gags to make you giggle and laugh. Highly recommended for those who like games like "The Stanley Parable" or "Superliminal". All in all a solid 8.5/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's like Portal and Stanley Parable mixed together, and the ending hurts just as much as the ending in Portal.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good game. No more, no less Don't expect to get mind blown, as there are several games that uses the same tropes and either did it first or simply better : funny narrator, meta humor, computer/tech theme and puns, real world media and so on. If you've played Stanley Parable and/or any indie game around the concept of smartphone/computers, it probably won't amaze you or feel fresh. But honestly, it works. So that's not much of a problem as long as you temper your expectations. I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today is Backfirewall_ 2nd birthday 🍻 To celebrate we've released on itch two of the earliest build the game! This one is the very first prototype we made: naravengames.itch.io/backfirewall...
unlabelledView post →I stumbled upon this game kind of by accident from other people mentioning it just in passing and I'm glad I did. Really enjoyed it. Portal-like humour although not quite as good, with mostly decent easier puzzles. Interesting story as well, with likeable memorable characters. A bit nerdy without being over the top either. Not too much else to say about it really other than it's worth a playthrough for sure and deserves more attention that it currently has. ------------------------------…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright so, I barely ever write reviews so don't kill me if it's an unstructured mess or whatever, but this game was just amazing I didn't really think to myself "Bleh that's repetitive" or "Wish I was playing League right now" (the last one was obvious though), I just played for the fun of it. And damn did it deliver. Are you looking at this game expecting it to be funny with a tiny bit of puzzles and tasks added to it? You're pretty damn right. BUT! This is also a heartfelt game that can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →when they said tragicomedy i thought they were exaggerating . erm. i may not have laughed (was VERY amused and got attached to quite a few characters, though) but i definitely DID cry. shoutout to os9 i miss you dad
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only one save slot, no manual saving, no loading of previous saves, no revisiting previous areas. What year is this? My save got corrupted somehow so hey, guess what, start all over again. No backups, no cloud saves, nothing. I'm just going to uninstall it instead. This is not acceptable. FWIW it was okay when I was playing it, but it's over-scripted. You're not supposed to take control away from the player in a first person game -- the whole point of first person is to minimize the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Other games on that list: Look Outside Disillusion (Too many Yume Nikki fangames to count) Backfirewall_ Binding of Isaac Battleblock theatre REPO To the Moon (the old rpg game) Ao Oni (Puppet combo's entire library of games) And many more on my steam whishlist that are currently slipping my mind.
unlabelledView post →It's a cozy puzzle game with good humor. Reminds me a bit of the Stanley Parable. Worth a play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you like doing menial tasks between tons of exposition that can't be skipped this might be for you
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game. Not amazing, but enjoyable with a decent runtime (5-6 hours). "Tragicomic" is a good description for the mood, which balances meta-humor and snark with impending existential doom. Game also gets a cookie because I only broke out of the map once in the course of normal play, and a well-developed autosave/checkpoint system meant recovery was smooth. Bravo, devs. Two technical quibbles: -This game takes up nearly 35 GB of harddrive space, I'm not sure why. -There was one level…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Funny little first person puzzle adventure set in a smart phone and "the user" is your god. Creative ideas all around. More short reviews for hidden gems at my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44819215-Lesser-Known-Hidden-Gems/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of those hidden gems that are just not popular for some reason. The game is pretty good, with VERY pleasant visuals, fun mechanics and puzzles. Also the story is incredible and very captivating. The Voice Acting is also really well done, no joke. What I was pleasantly surprised with was the game's atmosphere and some occasions where it kind of felt like I was actually playing a horror game??? Some hall ways/areas due to the amazing atmosphere and music had me on EDGE even though I knew…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was expecting a short and funny puzzle game, but it feels like so much more, the characters and story is amazing, the music works really well, the puzzles are quirky, funny and unique, the game didn't feel repeatable even for a moment and the writing makes it all the better.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They really didn't lie when they used the word "Tragicomic" did they? Damn...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A quirky exploration/minor-puzzler in a virtual environment. Pros: * Pretty environment. * An amusingly narcissistic "buddy" you quickly learn to love to hate. * Lots of NPCs w/ distinct personalities. * Decent plot twists about 1/2-way through, and near the end. Cons: * Kiss goodbye to the idea of getting even "most" of the achievements in a single run, w/o a walkthrough. * Likewise, no "chapter select", to re-do levels you missed stuff on. TL;DR: If you either aren't obsessed with 100%'ing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Backfirewall_ is a comedic first-person puzzle/adventure game with a clever premise (you're inside a smartphone and trying to help the current version of the OS prevent himself from being overwritten by an OS update) and amusing writing and voice acting. Unfortunately, there isn't much else I can recommend about it, as the puzzle mechanics are generally unintuitive, and puzzles aren't particularly fun or satisfying to solve even when you do grasp what you're supposed to be doing, suffering from…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The style of gameplay is equivalent to Firewatch. Walking around, basic interaction with objects, and a lot of dialogue from a voice that's always with you. It's more of an interactive story than a game. The demo got me interested, the story had my attention for a while, but it withered away. The jokes didn't land, the plot lost focus, and the voices from characters began to annoy me. While the levels did use different mechanics to solve puzzles, it didn't feel different or engaging. I entered…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →damn this game is good
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →YES, you can pet the dog!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent game that I had never heard of. Funny and crazy and tonally perfect - a rare combination in this genre. Updating this review because I've nominated it for best story - I really really loved this game. :p
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really nice advendure game with big dose of humor, puzzles and good story overall. Definitely recommend even for full price they are asking,
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's pretty cool. Simple story game with some puzzles and some exploration. One thing I don't like about it is lack of any possibility of post-game collectible clean up. Oh you missed 1 or 2 collectibles? Gotta replay the whole game. No level select. No backtracking.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It actually saddens me to write that this was a disappointment. The fun puzzles everyone's praising in these reviews? Stop appearing about 70% in, and get replaced by fetch-quest levels and walking simulator levels. The story isn't good enough to carry the game on its own, and the later third of the game felt like a slog. To add insult to injury, we get a new really cool and fun mechanism just for the last 5 minutes of the game. This game was made by amateurs and sadly, it shows. PS Come on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lovely puzzle-adventure game with charming presentation. The style either works for you or it doesn't, and oh boy I sure adore these little processes None of the puzzles were anything remotely hard but they were engaging enough. And I'd say that the set of game mechanics available to the player was enough to create several small but memorable fun interactions with the world, like coloring mechanic giving you ways to help (or not) several characters . The narrative was in okay-to-good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This one was just not for me. The idea is great and the game has some very clever moments (especially towards the end), but the gameplay just didn't engage me much. I forced myself to finish it because I knew it would be a short game. The story and presentation didn't hit the right tone for me either. Making modern phones your central story device seems like a great opportunity to talk about planned obsolescence, environmental impact, or data privacy. All of these words are in the script,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a hidden gem this one has been for me! It combines good game mechanics with humor not dissimilar to Portal 2 or The Stanley Parable, and it has tons of interesting areas, gimmicks and plot elements. Fun puzzles too. I haven't finished the game yet but I'm very eager to. Giving this an early recommendation for sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best games I have ever played. Humorous, fun exploration and puzzle solving. Not to mention the great music.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought the game and was so excited to play it... Only to discover, that the second puzzle in the tutorial (!) does not work. I'm guessing I should be able to simply click the trees to trim them... Well, it's not possible for some reason. Tried clicking normally, multiple times in a row, holding the button, using my touchpad, using my controller... Nothing is working. I tried different games and troubleshooted my equipment - nope, everything works as it should. I'm not even mad just sorta...…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Maybe I expected too much. The writing is bad and the puzzles are barely there.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly? After just playing a game that normally costs 15, on sale for 6 that had a 2-3 hour runtime, this game blows that one out of the water at the exact same price/discount point. Mind-blowing in comparison and I have a bias because of it. This game is substantial and worth so much more, not only in terms of an overall experience, but definitely worth your time as well. Fun and breezy, easy and cheesy. Has some legitimate laugh out loud jokes and some legitimate hard pass cringe moments,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I forget how I received this for free, but came in with the expectation I would not enjoy it. I was taken aback when I found a fun puzzle game that was set in a world inside a computer. As someone who understands how computers work and run it was a joy seeing these concepts turned into worlds and characters. The puzzles were fun, and I finished the game after coming in expecting to play for 15 minutes.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had the game on my radar for some time and finally played it. I liked the game and overall story and characters. And generally, I will still recommend the game. There is a lot of fun stuff to get from this. Some fun jokes and stuff but.. BIG BUT.. be warned! There is no free roam post-game, no chapter selection, and no manual saving. Noting. And quite a lot of missable stuff. Also, there is no skip option for cutscenes and stuff.. so replayability is kinda not there and not fun at all.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Voice acting and writing are trash. Jokes are hit or miss. Wouldn't play it again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good but not great game, I recommend using a guide from the beginning as it is a big collect-a-thon but lacks several features like level select or a good indicator of progress and a lot of one way doors that will lock you from getting all the collectible without replaying the game several times over. If you don't care about the collectibles then the game may seem empty and shallow, the story is slow and there is just not much to do in the environments. Still a solid game and I recommend…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really liked the reimagination of every computing concept as a character or place, and both narrative and jokes where on point through all of the game. If I had to say something wrong, I'd say the game is not very well optimized. I've played it on Steam Deck and it wasn't very fluid, it takes as much storage as games like Monster Hunter Rise for just 3 hours of content and it crashed once and had to reboot the whole Deck. Not a deal breaker, but good to have in mind when considering to buy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A wonderful game that I can't describe the depths of my emotions for without giving spoilers! Love the characters, loved the world, it was fun to play, the voice acting was great, everything that there is nice to say about this game, I'd say it! (P.S. If there's ever merch of the adorable in-game toys, I'd buy them in a heartbeat!)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I never thought a game would give me feelings for an operating system. Backfirewall_ is a charmer that keeps the charm going all the way to the end. While its length is on the shorter side, there’s plenty to be had as you navigate the likes of phone batteries and antennas. It’s full of laughs and isn’t afraid to slow things down for heavier moments. Put your phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and go play this game. Full Review: https://gamechronicles.com/backfirewall_-review-pc/
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked it a lot. Good game play, good story
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#Backfirewall is a first-person #puzzle #game that takes place inside a smartphone. It's a humorous and enjoyable adventure that is fantastic on the #SteamDeck. A big thank you to All in Games and Plan of Attack for providing the game for us to review. https://steamdeckhq.com/game-reviews/backfirewall_/
unlabelledView post →absolute banger
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I finally understand what's happening inside my phone during an OS upgrade
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game. The athstetic and art direction are pleasing though not particularly stand-out. The puzzles can demand some depth of thought though they tend to be rather simple. The movement is the simple bare minimum one would expect in a 3D game, though it doesn’t require any more than that to function well. The music is pretty good though none of the tracks really stand out. The high point of the game is the characters and story. Oh my goodness the story. The is one the exceedingly few games…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A charming little puzzle adventure with an interesting and funny story, likable characters with excellent voice acting, and creative level and world design.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty fun little gem of a game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I found this game to be below average. The performance is not good. There are a lot of lag spikes all over the place that I could not find a solution to. The writing is incoherent and dull at its worst, and kind of amusing at its best. I did not feel attached to the overall plot and characters, except one character and their fate. There is no adventure. You walk slowly along a prepared path and do some very very light puzzling at times. But mostly it's just talking to people, do some "fetch…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really wish I could rate meh... It's an okay walking simulator but nothing exciting. The white bread of gaming.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →lowkey might've cried a little bit towards the end. whoopsies. DEFINITELY coming back to 100% when i have the time and motivation... i'll never forget you, os9.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Coming up to the two hour mark, I started to wonder if it would get any better, or if the narrative would start going anywhere at all. I thought maybe it would so I pressed on. It didn't. The only things going for it are the visual style, setting, and the voice actors' performances (they all did really great). Usually this is enough to carry a game for me, but not in this case. Dull and uninteresting story, dull and uninteresting (but well-acted) characters, "puzzles" aren't engaging, many…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing Game, Love the Humor of this game and the easter eggs
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →sooooo much fun and knew how to switch tone for the emotional moments . love the voice acting and the puzzles are really innovative . i <3 OS9...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In Backfirewall_, you play as an app exploring the quirky, colorful, and surprisingly emotional inner world of a smartphone — all while trying to stop an operating system update. Sounds weird? It is. And that’s exactly what makes it so great. The game shines with clever writing, plenty of Easter eggs, and a story that really took me by surprise. Toward the end, it actually hit me emotionally — something I didn’t expect from such a wild and satirical concept. One small but brilliant detail:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game, Story is pretty good, art is nice. I enjoyed what I played
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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