It would be erroneous of me to say that I “can’t quite put my finger on” what makes The Stairway 7 feel subpar. More accurately, perhaps, I feel like I don’t have enough fingers to distribute between its many disappointments?

While the atmosphere is suitably dingy and gross, and the mechanics of “Spot the Difference” aren’t necessarily bad; that’s where my praise has to end.

For a start; the floors are in sequence, every single time. No randomness. It’s not the same floor repeated but “be on the lookout for anomalies”, it’s 70 distinct floors, in order. This makes the “Spot the Difference” aspect feel a little pointless, you can simply record which floors have anomalies and speedrun to your heart’s content.

Thematically the anomalies are extremely random; mostly random horror game tropes with a few body-horror/gross moments thrown in. Coupled with the fact that the story has absolutely no connection to the theme of any of the floors; this makes the whole experience feel disconnected. Maybe the main character is in purgatory? Then make it feel purgatorial.

That being said; did I encounter any bugs? No. Did I hate my time with The Stairway 7? No? Should I have spent my playtime with a better game? Probably yes.

(My no rating is..purely based on cost vs content)