INSIDE Reviews

Length: Inside can be finished in two if not three sessions easily. It won't take more than 3.5 or 4 hours in the worst case scenario. Difficulty: There are some small puzzles but they are not so difficult. So, it is an easy game. Controllers: You can easily play it with a keyboard, but you can play easily with a controller too. Also, for some reason, they have changed interaction button which was left control from their previous game (Limbo) to right control. This was a smart decision on their end. As you can use arrow keys to move and right control to interact. This way, you can just play it with one hand. Overall Quality: Perfect. I liked the atmosphere of this game. Similar Games: If you have enjoyed playing Limbo, Little Nightmares, Far Changing Tides & Lone Sails you will enjoy this game. I recommend it.

ah well tbh it is a little dark for me but theres this different kind of satisfaction after finishing it. its great.

A dark yet enjoyable puzzle game with an intriguing backstory that gradually unfolds as you play. It has a great balance between challenging and easier puzzles, keeping you engaged. Would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a shorter game you can finish in one sitting.

INSIDE is subtle, mellow, and thought-provoking. One of those games that's not just fun to play but also an experience. The audio-visual aspect of this game is a perfect 10/10, and the story is something you'll carry forward in time with you.

+ interesting and fun + sound and graphycs + not too short, not too long

This game did something to the pit of my stomach. Never before has my heart raced like this while gaming. Inside lets you experience the vulnerability of being a child in an adult landscape of horrors. Strange lights. Too-loud noises. Adults as slaves to an unseen system. Adults cannot be relied upon. No place is safe. Dogs are not friendly. You understand nothing, have power over nothing—yet there’s also a strange joy in being a kid in a grown-up’s world. A sense of adventure, even in darkness. I remember that very particular sensation well, and Inside catapulted me right back into it. One of the highlights was a moment of unexpected joy when I was suddenly surrounded by bright yellow chickadees—the only things colourful and innocent in this dark and strange world. ** This game is brutal**. After being dropped into this world as an innocent child, I truly thought there was no way the game would hurt my character. I thought it would be an innocent indie experience. Boy, was I wrong. The first times the men chasing me shot me through the heart and strangled and drowned me in a puddle, I had to seriously pause and catch my breath, heart racing. It reminded me—uncomfortably and vividly—of the unseen horrors of human trafficking. And that’s exactly why this game is so powerful: because it made me feel horrors that are so easy to close off from, and not easily felt through moralising. It’s done incredibly subtly. Nothing is said, but everything is felt. Here, the game design truly rises beyond the level of film. We need a new word for that kind of visceral experience. The fluid, natural animation and motion design added to the believability of the world and sucked me right. I couldn’t put this game down for hours after starting—and that was with zero dopamine mechanics. The story was just that strong. And then there's the game design. You use only two buttons, yet the range of actions, movement and problem-solving you’re capable of within that limitation is astonishing. There’s a saying in my country: “He who isn’t strong, must be smart.” Every puzzle made me eager to solve it, and every time I did, I felt clever—again, exactly like a kid would. This was the first game in a long time where I didn’t even consider looking up a walkthrough. I wanted to do it myself. **Usually, games are power fantasies. Inside is the complete opposite.** There’s no breath bar to warn you when you’ll drown. No indicator of how high you can jump. No cutting away when rabid dogs tear you limb from limb. Just the simplicity of left or right, jump or push—and your wits to know what to do, and when. It's truly a masterpiece of a game. And while I usually don’t believe in trigger warnings, I'll add one here—if you’ve experienced abuse in your childhood, please consider that this game may trigger it.

---{ Graphics }--- ☑ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☑ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Amazing ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑ Average (around 6 hours) ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☑ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Rating }--- 8.5 / 10

A masterclass from Playdead. The game is far from a masterpiece, but INSIDE is an improvement over LIMBO in every way. Its themes are more creative and impactful, its ultra-polished cinematic approach works wonders, and its visual and audio design commands respect. It's still a shame the game is extremely short; otherwise, I had a great time solving the puzzles and following the story.

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING – This post contains major story spoilers for the game INSIDE. Read at your own risk. --- You see these lifeless humans—just empty shells, like scarecrows—mindlessly moving around, all under control of some shady organization. But why? Then there are those chicks that follow you around… and yet, you just use them to push forward. Why do we do that? Even the scarecrows can control others sometimes. What are we actually witnessing here? A bit further in, you reach Lab #2. A failed test subject is doing everything it can to grab you—but it’s terrified of light. Why? Why are there weird soundwaves outside the boundaries of the facility? Soon after, you encounter Subject #3. It’s basically like the one before, but now it has three cables attached to it. It chases you relentlessly… but it never catches you. You manage to escape. And just when you think it’s over... Subject #2 returns. It finishes what #3 couldn’t. It catches you, drags you deep underwater, and connects some kind of mind-control device straight to your heart. Later, you encounter Subject #4. It’s a strange entity that isn’t even shown clearly, but every single lab worker is just staring at it, doing nothing—no one interferes. Eventually, you reach the real Subject #4. A massive, grotesque mass of human bodies. It swallows you whole… and this time, you take control of it. You rampage through the facility, kill the head of the organization, and finally collapse into a strange pool of light—presumably dead. But... is that really the end? No. Turns out, you were Subject #4 all along. The entire journey? It was one big experiment. All those people you met—scarecrows placed along the way to help guide you forward. And remember those officials with masks at the start? The real workers—the ones who actually run the facility—weren’t wearing any. So what was the goal of this whole thing? They wanted to see if they could remotely control a subject without it realizing. Every dead body you passed? Just another failed attempt. But now comes the real question... Who was controlling YOU? When you gain control of Subject #4, you encounter 13 electric orbs—one by one, you disable them. If you restart the game afterward, you can find a hidden door in a cornfield. Go down into a secret bunker, and to the right, you’ll find a locked door with a secret code—based on the positions of those same orbs. Behind that door? A hidden control room. If you look closely, the machine in the background mirrors every move you make. That’s right. That system was controlling you. When you unplug the machine, Subject #4 shuts down for good. But here’s the final twist... Who’s really behind all of this? You. The player. You’re the one pulling the strings, watching everything, pushing forward like a puppet master. But now… ask yourself: Who's controlling you?

Dark, quirky, interesting - enjoyable. An improvement over LIMBO in every way, with nice puzzles, a vague yet intriguing back story and an unexpected twist. Highly recommended for fans of the genre. Duration is about 2-3 hours. Played it on the Steam Deck and it ran flawlessly. Highly recommended, but due to its length better on a discount ( keep in mind both this and LIMBO were removed from other platforms, so who knows how much more time the game might be available here ).