Level 317

SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:

The Playground of Mind and Matter.

Jovial Joints
Perplexing Puzzles
Revered Rewards

An amateur photograph of one of the many "shuffleboards" of Level 317.

Level 317, better known as "Neon Shuffle", is the 318th Level of the Backrooms.

Description:

Level 317 is a strange facility that resembles a laboratory. Every piece of furniture and architecture in the level is black with outlines of bright blue neon. The level is split up into two sections - the control room and the lobby.

Level 317's control room resembles an empty cruise ship control deck with a long counter at the windows, which has a D-pad attached to the center. At the back of the room is an elevator with no observed weight limit. The keypad of the elevator, rather than leading to floors, can lead to any level with an elevator in it with the exception of the button labelled "L", which leads to the lobby. Outside of the control room's windows is a strange game that the level's residents refer to as "Neon Shuffle". There seem to be multiple control rooms, as multiple people can play separate games at the same time. Furthermore, multiple people can enter the same control room as long as they can all fit inside the lobby's elevator.

The lobby resembles a cafeteria, and is always stocked with various soups, sandwiches, and chips. The food itself is completely normal, however if the food comes in any kind of opaque packaging, the packaging will be black with all of the details outlined in neon. A vending machine with one button sits to the far left corner of the lobby which can dispense any liquid its user can picture in their mind. Any attempt to produce a hazardous substance results in the machine producing a uniquely flavored soda instead. This liquid will come in whatever container the user pictures, however if no container is pictured it will come in a black soda can with the Neon Shuffle logo on it.

TVs line the walls of the lobby, all demonstrating several different "shuffleboards" (boards for short) created by the level's inhabitants, who refer to themselves as the Shuffle Squad. The lobby has several touchscreen kiosks capable of displaying boards and possible rewards for clearing a board. Notably, these touchscreen kiosks have a USB port. To the left and right of the elevator are two large, unlabeled, humid bathrooms with constantly foggy mirrors.

Wanderers entering Level 317 for the first time will always end up in a control room. Upon entry, a deep, calm voice referring to himself as "The Conductor" will welcome the wanderer to the level, affectionately dubbing it "Neon Shuffle". He will then make the wanderer complete ten "tutorial boards" before allowing them to re-enter the elevator. The game involves using the D-pad on the counter to move two blocks - one pink and one green - around a 13x8 grid of "tiles" to their respective goal pits. Each input is shared with both blocks. These boards will increase in difficulty, featuring a number of different tiles. A comprehensive list of these tiles provided by the Shuffle Squad can be found here. Completing these levels will yield rewards in the form of items, ranging from Almond Water to Squirt Guns. There are also five items exclusive to Level 317, which are all listed below on the Shuffle Squad's official website, ShuffleSquad.org.

> Access shufflesquad.org

Notably, after completing the ten tutorial boards, wanderers gain the opportunity to make their own boards that they can then share with others, encouraging a sort of community around the level. The Conductor seems to be somewhat involved with the community, allowing certain people to change the color of their boards' neon outlines if their levels impress him and submitting some unique/challenging boards himself. Furthermore, Shuffle Squad member REDBEACHZONE and a few others have modified their boards by applying "texture packs" to them. This is possible via the previously mentioned USB port on the lobby's touchscreen kiosks, which can seemingly allow one to upload files to the level itself. How this is possible is unknown. The Conductor seems unbothered by them uploading these texture packs, and sometimes encourages them to do so.