Horror puzzle Psychological horror Stealth horror

INSIDE

Rate it

A boy alone, hunted through a grey world toward the centre of a dark project.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (97% of 76,145 reviews); Metacritic 87 on PC
Players: 1
Made by: Playdead
Released: 2016

Get it on Steam PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop App Store

What frightens A small boy runs alone through a grey, silent world where men and machines with searchlights hunt him and rows of lifeless people shuffle in step. He cannot fight back, deaths come suddenly and violently, and the dark project at the centre of it all grows more disturbing the deeper he goes.
Content: violence, gore, sudden deaths of a child character, some nudity.

INSIDE is a wordless side-view puzzle platformer from Playdead, the makers of LIMBO. You guide a hunted boy through forests, farms and factories, hiding from searchlights and guards and solving puzzles, as he is drawn toward a dark project at the heart of the place.

About INSIDE

INSIDE was made and published by the Danish studio Playdead and came out on 7 July 2016. It is sold on PC through Steam, on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, and on iPhone and iPad.

The game tells its story with no words at all. A boy in a red shirt is on the run, alone and hunted, and it is clear from the start that he must not be caught. From there he moves through farms, flooded rooms and vast industrial buildings, toward something the store page calls a dark project.

It plays as a side-view platformer in a 2.5D world. You run, jump, climb, swim, push and pull, and each scene is a puzzle about how to get past what stands in the way: a locked gate, a machine, a guard, a searchlight. The boy cannot fight, so most threats are about hiding in shadow, timing a run, or finding another route.

What frightens is the mood and the helplessness. The world is grey and quiet, full of people who move like they have no will of their own, and being caught usually means a sudden, violent death. The store page calls it dark and points to its unsettling atmosphere, and the store lists frequent violence or gore. It leans on dread and disturbing images more than on jump scares.

INSIDE suits players who liked LIMBO, Little Nightmares or DARQ: a quiet, puzzle-led horror story told through what you see. It is single-player and needs no reading or dialogue.

How to play INSIDE

Buy INSIDE on Steam, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox store or the Nintendo eShop, or download it from the App Store, and start a new game.
Move the boy left and right, jump and climb, and grab objects to push or pull them.
Study each scene before acting: look for what blocks the way and what you can move, switch or use.
Stay out of searchlights and out of sight of the people hunting you; when you are seen, run.

Screenshots

The boy stands in a dim hall as a line of grey, lifeless people walks past behind him

The boy creeps past a lit window where people sit working at desks

Underwater, the boy swims toward a bright light among bodies hanging upside down on cords

A submersible with a searchlight scans dark water for the swimming boy

Tips

Watch how guards, lights and machines move before you commit to a run; most puzzles are about timing.
Look at the background and the edges of each room; objects you can use are often easy to miss in the dark.

Questions

Is INSIDE a horror game?

It is a puzzle platformer with a dark, unsettling world: a boy is hunted through it, deaths are violent and the place grows more disturbing as you go. It is horror of mood and dread more than of jump scares.

Who made INSIDE?

Playdead, the Danish studio that also made LIMBO.

Does INSIDE have any dialogue?

No. The story is told without words, through the world and what happens in it.

What platforms is INSIDE on?

PC through Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and iPhone and iPad through the App Store.