From the get go, we are thrust into a world where we have no idea what we’re doing. We play as a kid who emerges from a rocky wall or boulder. No clue what’s going on there. But we’re out of there alright.
The controls are simple. We can only move, jump and grab things. But this is not your typical 2D game where everything is planar and has no depth. No, Inside has depth because it’s a 2.5D game.
In the beginning of the game, I was fooled into believing that we are running away from something, but I soon realized that we are actually running towards something. We just don’t know what yet.
So, how about we find out? Of course, spoiler alert ahead.
Light is Bad, Dark is Good
The dark atmosphere of the game contributes to its rich storyline, and the use of light in some places is just impeccable. For us to progress in the first part of the game, we have to stay away from the light.
It could be headlights, or a torch, or even a spotlight which are in most places.
The light being harmful and getting us into trouble — which results in the child literally dying — is an important factor in judging the world of the game. Everything around you would rather have you remain in the dark than to be seen in the light and apprehended.
Only Forward
This game is incredibly linear with its gameplay and storyline. Each puzzle brings the child closer to his mission, and brings me closer to overanalyzing the story.
It doesn’t matter if there is no road ahead in the child’s journey, or if there’s deep waters in front of him — our only way is forward. And our only purpose is to keep moving.
Conformity is Another Word for Control
There is blatant use of mind control in the game where we also get the chance to control the almost dead and dull people around us.
When the people are not being controlled, they’re busy crouching on the floor doing nothing. It’s as if they are just awaiting their next orders from their controllers. Much like toys which are left on the floor when a kid doesn’t want to play with them.
It’s a sad existence but what is scarier is that these people are only being controlled so that they can be used for experimentation.
What do you think these people are looking at in there?
Connection Leading to Disconnection
Along the way in our journey, we have to get rid of these spheres that look oddly like disco balls minus the fun. There are 14 of them, hidden around in the game, which act like a link to power the biggest disco ball out of them. The biggest clue to where they are located is the yellow cable.
All the spheres are connected to one another, which means they are all controlling the people in their respective areas. While the machines are completely connected, they are the very things that are hollowing people inside and disconnecting them from one another.
It’s ironic how the visual of a natural object (tree) is being used to show the linkage of unnatural objects (the orbs).
Why a Child?
I’ve pondered this for the entirety of the gameplay, mostly because I like overthinking about everything. And partly because the world of Inside is filled with machinery and people that are out to get you. Now, why would the developers want to make the protagonist a kid when that’s the case?
The answer came to me in two parts when we play as the Huddle.
My practical answer is that a child is smaller in comparison to an adult, which means the child can get into smaller spaces. Also, children are more curious and can be innovative in most cases. Plus, I didn’t see any children being controlled in the game, which means the people running everything didn’t care about them enough.
Now, my philosophical answer is that this world was supposed to be for the child. This ruined world where people are being experimented on and controlled. The child represents the next generation who is the most affected by the experimentations and mind controlling.
It makes perfect sense that the protagonist would be a child, who we can sympathize with. I know for a fact that I felt bad whenever a dog would eat the poor kid or a controlled adult killed him. But that’s the world that the child lives in. Well, almost lives in.
Plus, the ending could count as being hopeful?
Two Endings, Two Choices
If you had the choice to escape or die, what would you do? Of course, you would escape, because who wants to die? Don’t answer that please.
But escape is a double-edged sword where you are free yet so deformed and in pain that death doesn’t sound so bad now. That’s exactly where we are at with the original ending of the game.
Our time playing as the kid ends when he finally releases the Huddle which technically had been controlling us all along. I know, what a surprising turn of events! More shocking since the Huddle eats the kid and we become the Huddle.
For reference, the Huddle is this big mush of people with limbs just coming out of it like an octopus’ tentacles. It’s a horrific sight to see and it’s even more horrifying playing as it.
But coming back to the question. Escape or death? Well, you can choose both. Escape and then die. Because that’s the only way to go.
The Huddle escapes the laboratory and the clutches of all those people experimenting on it. That’s the original ending, and then the alternative ending is the kid shutting down the entire system of mind control.
Funny thing about connection is that if one side loses its link to the other side, everything just falls apart.
Inside a Real World
There are so many things wrong with the world of Inside but they are all real threats. Nothing is just there for sensationalism. Everything has a great chance at happening in our very own reality.
Some of the things are already happening if we really look into it.
People are being controlled. People are more conforming now, and let’s not even begin with the realest problem which we are faced with in both the game and in real life.
When we are trying to escape as the Huddle, all the scientists around us seem to be helping us. One opens a door for us, while another starts up a generator for us so we can throw it at a button.
But don’t be fooled by this sudden generosity. No, they are not suddenly sympathetic for us and feel bad for making us into a mush of limbs and whatever they added into the mix. They don’t even pity us.
They are just trying to help us so that they can trap us, which they fail to do terribly, but that’s not the point.
The point is their behavior. Being kind just to stab someone in the back, or in this case, drop us into a large tank filled with water.
But back to the escaping — have we really gotten out of the facility or is it just another prison we’ve moved onto? I’d say it’s another prison because the facility is run by those people, and the world outside is also run by those terrible scientists or whatever.
So yes. People will forever be terrible. That’s it. There’s no buts and no hopeful retorts. That’s just how it is, and I’ve come to accept it. Because on the inside, we’re either a child being controlled by a blob, or the very blob in question.
What do you think we are on the inside?
Hope you enjoyed reading this piece on the 2016 puzzle-platform game ‘Inside’. You can watch the complete walkthrough by me, if you want. You can also find and support more of my work here on Medium. Thank you for reading!
