Playdead's INSIDE: a mind game within a mind game
Playdead's INSIDE is a 2.5D puzzle platformer available in 18 languages to users of PS, Xbox, Switch, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android users who are 18+. Similar to other platformers, like The Swapper, INSIDE traces the steps of a hero who finds himself trapped. Ultimately, he is able to control NPCs to complete puzzles and escape.
This single-player platformer was developed by Playdead, the creators of Limbo, and it builds on its legacy. This eerie, dark, monochromatic world is mostly silent. Seldom punctuated by barking, the sound of machinery, or the main character’s vocals, the environment is confining, dangerous, and mind-numbingly grim.
What’s it about?
This narrative-driven platformer is about an unnamed boy who finds himself alone, hunted, and in perpetual danger. He must cross mucky ponds, run from dogs, jump on charging animals, climb fences, and outrun huge rolling containers. All this is done while dodging shockwaves, robots, guards, and scientists. Solving challenging puzzles, he collects orbs that ultimately unlock an alternate ending.
How long is it?
The game can be completed within five hours. It enables players to revert to the last checkpoint. Players can reach the alternate ending by collecting all available orbs, which requires another 30 minutes. This nightmarish adventure comes with a free trial and a one-off purchase option for a full game upgrade.
What’s special about it?
INSIDE is either a puzzle about escaping a secret facility or an allegory for society and the rat race. The game is meant to be experienced rather than understood. The user has a choice to make: save a creature called Huddle at their peril, or put an end to a mind control mechanism with no knowledge of the consequence.
Nightmarishly good
Chilling cutscenes, graphic deaths, undiscernible faces, eerie silence, nail-biting puzzles, and hair-raising endings- this sums up INSIDE pretty well. The boy, through all his trials and his quest for autonomy and freedom, is an endearing character.
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