Inside - Story Explanation and Analysis 

If the diorama at the end implies that the final resting place of the meatball is actually another manufactured part of the facility, then is it possible that the rest of the outdoors segments at the beginning of the game were in a similar setting? That would mean that every part of the game takes place in the facility. In other words: Inside.

I find it quite interesting the the mermaid characters instead of trying to snap your neck to kill you, they just start dragging you down further under water. Its kind of like they are trying to show you something.

hold on let me pick the pieces of MY FUCKING MIND off the floor.

I don't know if your theory is true or not,but this game gives me all the chills.I love these kinds of games.

I believe that some of the people were against the tests with the human blob. When the boy ends up in the container which has the human blob inside, some of the people bang the glass and shake their heads. I think that the boy was somehow special. I think that the boy was "the final piece" of the human blob and that the boy had to be the last human to get inside the blob. The animals followed the boy which is also a reason why I believe that the boy was special. I also believe that the mermaids were attempts of making humans that can breathe underwater. It was necessary to create underwater breathing people because the human blob was clearly kept underwater. When they found secure way to transform people into creatures that can breathe underwater, they just didn't care about the mermaids(test subjects) anymore. Maybe the mermaids were FAILED test subjects because they couldn't get out the water anymore. Some mermaids were aggressive, some of them were maybe trying to protect their living area and tried to get rid of the intruder and some of the mermaids tried to maybe help the boy. I don't believe that anyone was controlling them. Does anyone have any idea WHY the birds and fishes were following the boy? And why did the boy wear red shirt?

This is the most interesting game I’ve ever played. The soundtrack is depressing but beautiful, the graphics and animations are unique, and the controls are satisfyingly smooth. Deepest game I’ve ever played.

Something I haven't seen people mention yet is the possibly that this hive-mind is one of many. and that many have gone before. Especially once you control the 'meatball', there seem to be identical paths to yours in the background, and earlier, you could sometimes see a humanoid figure running from left to right in the background, much like yourself. Even the final barrier towards the (domed up) ending clearly wasn't very solid. Look at the woodwork there! It's being kept up with makeshift supports, unlike the rest of the wall. It's not the first time something came through there.

Just finished this game. It was absolutely incredible, loved every second of it. Anyway, my working theory is that everything is being controlled by the scientists and the whole game is just a gigantic experiment. The hidden orbs lying around act like network hubs and enable the huddle to manipulate the boy wherever he is, drawing him ever closer. The various obstacles the boy faces are simply tests to see if he (the huddle) is able to overcome them. This explains why the boy 'powers down' when they are all destroyed; the boy's free will was stronger than the huddle's manipulation and the experiment has failed. I believe the scientists started out using pigs (to see if they could get their technology to work) as highlighted near the beginning of the game, then moved on to people (who are being sold as slaves) as they are seen walking in lines to show the public what they can do, before finally creating the huddle (who I believe is some sort of hive mind) a living being comprised of strong-minded people that is capable of controlling multiple individuals at once. The scientists were always in complete control of the situation however, as the beach where the huddle eventually dies was shown in model form in one of the glass rooms. In short, the whole thing, including the huddle's escape, was planned from the very beginning to test their technology. What do you think?

I never really thought the blob was a hive mind. I thought it was just a giant blob of organic matter from which clones are birthed. The clones are mind controlled by normal people, and are treated like slaves. The blob needs to be acquainted to the mind control devices so it doesn't reject later in the individualized clone's life.

Kinda similar to The Matrix. Neo and the other red pills "escaping" the Matrix and joining Zion's resistance against the Machines is merely another extension of the Matrix. Another system of control within the grander system of control. Neo is also the 6th iteration of The One and all of them have gone through the same journey believing they are liberating themselves and humanity from the Machines' control. Yet they are simply perpetuating the same cycle of control as does our oblivious meatball hybrid in this game. The Matrix was an allegory on free will vs determinism and how society or even the universe as a whole has placed us in an unending dream where we live under the delusion that we are in control of our lives when in reality we may not be. Inside specifically frames this within a meta-commentary on player agency. A popular theme that has been explored in other games like Bioshock and The Stanley Parable.

Unbelievable game. So much respect for the developers, Playdead. I can’t wait for their third game. 😍

I just finished the game and it was pretty amazing. My interpretation of the game is however WILDLY different from most theories that I've read. My theory: During the first hour of the game I started thinking about mind control and factories that use humans as experiments, but during the last hour I completely changed my mind. To me it's obvious that the whole game is a metaphor for child conception, from sperm cell to birth. The boy in red is the sperm cell (you can giggle now). There are parts in the game toward the end that visually represents a sperm cell's penetration of an egg. At one part you can see other people running into a huge building, in a hurry, which I interpret as other sperm cells trying to "win the race". The part where the girl drags you deep down in the water and attaches some kind of cable to the boy's stomach: umbilical cord. That gigantic room where you have to shield yourself from the huge blast that occurs every few seconds can be seen as the child developing a heartbeat. At 2:12 in the video, the blob breaks the glass and wreaks havoc. I believe this implies that the mother carrying the child has had her water break and labor is imminent. This is where the pace of the game picks up and other people help you along the way by opening doors and so on. Also, panic. The last part of the game before you end up on the beach, when you break through the wall represents birth to me. My god, the game's name is 'INSIDE'. So there. That's what I think. :)

just to answer where the boy came from and why there are ppl in teh forest at the begining of the game: i think the kid came from one of those yellow glowing pods that are only found in the forest sections. and the reason at the start of the game ur in the forest is because u escaped ur glowing pod. and the reason why there are enemies around with dogs in the forest is becuase they are after you. as u said in ur video the pods r used to create possible drones (sucking up natural energy from trees ect and using that to create drones) , but for some reason the boy is different. and instead of being a drone he was born/made with a purpose. this purpose could either be created by the evil corporation as an accident or on purpose. i think the boy had no purpose until the scene where he was drowned by the black hair kids. and after that he was told by the hive to help free it.

While this is a nice theory, it feels very surface level, it's a very literal interpretation of what happens in the game. Knowing the developer, they were aiming for something much harder to decipher. Hell, the developer has actually stated that the already cryptic Limbo had too many clues to the true meaning. I personally am a huge fan of the INSIDE the body theory. There's just so many parallels that can be made to the human body, especially in the ending, which seems to be related to human reproduction. You've got the brain in the cornfield, the heart is the sonic wave machine, and the uterus, which you arrive at after a long descent, is where you find the blob. It's a complicated theory, but certainly one that is interesting to think about. Thematically it's really interesting. Having a grim dystopian society be an allegory for the human body is not something a lot of people would think about. There's certainly some imagery in the game that tries to lead us towards this theory. When the boy floats naked around the blob, that's some sperm and egg cell imagery. The men in white shirts mindlessly running towards the blob is reminiscent of sperm cells racing towards the egg. And when the blob is lured into the water trap, there's literally a vagina on the floor. That shit ain't accidental, I tell ya. But I don't think the ending is about fertilization, despite the egg and sperm cell imagery. I believe that was there to just point us in the right direction. I believe the ending is about miscarriage caused by the boy, who is possibly a bacteria that has infected the body. The people in white masks chasing you in the beginning could be white blood cells. And the underwater girl connecting that cord to you and giving you new powers can be viewed as a virus, more spesifically a bacteriophage, giving a bacteria new DNA that grants it immunities to things that would otherwise have killed it.

I feel like these are all Homunculus

This personally is one of my favourite games just how there’s so many endings and so many different paths. My theory is that the games name is called inside so the blob at the end where most people think that your “finished” your still inside the game and how even them it’s put you playing the boy it’s also the feeling as if your following the boy journey instead of controlling him. Another big part of the play dead games are that you are only aloud up and side to side never to wonder so almost as if the game is guiding you to your ending whichever one that may be and all these people are trying to catch you but yet when you enter the facility no one seems to care anymore maybe signifying there is no use for the boy anymore and they have already created something much more greater without the boy but yet when you have reached the “end” your still “inside” the facility like how he said with the replica of the mountain and the spot light what if they made a human sized version and made it so your never really free your always going to be controlled by society and others around you and no matter how hard you try no one is going to accept everyone and that’s why when he pulls the plug out maybe that signifys (I’m getting a little dark here) but maybe it signifys suicide and how society’s expectations are to much for one little for or anyone and pulling the plug is the only way of getting rid of this pain and judging they go through but ye that’s my theory

I always thought the alternate ending meant that the player was controlling the boy, and when he unplugged himself, he freed himself from the player's control.

Is anyone playing in 2019?

i've watched a few explanations and yours seems to be the most coherent one so far. kudos

Wow, I love how you put it all together and then the punchline at the end. I love this game so much, and your video has only helped to put a little more perspective to all the theories floating around out there.

Maeby I'm saying something stupid because I didn't play the game myself but when I look at 3:23 of this video it looks like the forest area is made like a huge filmset. Maybe it's a possibility that that is a clue that everywhere you go in Inside is premade as some kind of filmset in the same way the diorama was premade for the end scene?

This description reminds me of demon souls, dark souls and bloodborne. From software never fully explains everything in those games and leaves you to imagine the full story yourself. Its part of what made those games so fascinating.

Anyone else think this: Inside represents society as a whole. If you free yourself from the norms of society then you can be free, or 'outside' like the huddle at the end, however, if you don't make it outside and instead you stay inside and complete the alternate ending, you pull the switch, which i believe represents your individuality and you become brain-dead; just another soulless person trying to navigate this world, doing what others tell it to do - like in our society, we slave away for people above us for a majority of the day, just to be paid less than them may i add, and we repeat this day in-day out, just to retire and be forgotten about. Inside is eerily similar metaphorically from my eyes. I think it highlights the corruption of societal standards and how breaking free can have consequences (in game: he is now in a massive blob of bodies, but free); like being excluded from events, being disowned by your family etc. This is a gorgeous game that inspires us to think and drives us to perceive the world in not just our way, but from many other perspectives.

You know what the alternate ending explains so much also? How the entire journey is fabricated. Notice how all the secret orbs are spread out throughout the entire field ( including the locations even outside of the “facility”) i.e. some random trapdoor in the middle of a corn field . The cold man-made entrapments against a seemingly organic area is like ending up backstage in a crazy elaborate soundstage. Also side note; it’s funny how the facility employees actually help you on your intent to escape as the blob . And as scared as they are most seem to admire you from far about the same as how they were staring at the blob through the looking glass initially.

Here's my 2 cents: I think the meatball is just an intelligent AI, and it, along with the drones, are something like Bio Androids, achieved by means of those parasites which are fostered in the pigs you see. You grow the drones with those forest vats, and integrate them with the parasite. Essentially, The meatball is just a powerful and intelligent variant of the drones. The drones are ultimately a product. During the marching segment the spectators are there for a product presentation. The audience at the end is there for the same reason. This is all an experiment to advance the meatball's intelligence. The goal is to get the meatball via the Boy to successfully get past the 'gauntlet'(that includes the people who kill the boy on sight) and "free" itself. The meatball's prime directive is to get on that shore. This experiment is reproduced until it is successful. Each death is just a failed iteration of the experiment. By the time you get to the lab, the goal of the experiment is fulfilled (after numerous attempts!), and all the workers rush in heated excitement to see the end result (cigarette smoldering in the ashtray, phone is off the receiver, computers are left on), and this is why they are no longer hostile. I think the notion that this whole thing repeats itself, namely Meatball being freed, is wrong; When you rejoin Meatball, this is the first occurrence of it in the game world; the few human deaths that occur because of your escape are completely accidental. Meatball: Super fast, super strong, pliable and durable, works in tandem with humans, intelligent enough to solve problems. In other words, the perfect worker. The alternative ending can be seen as a good ending because the AI gains enough intelligence to go against its directive and shut itself off. The alternative ending room is where the AI is.

what about those dead pigs in the beginning? it looked like the blob was forming into one of them at the end of the game

Dude, u totally nailed it!!! Thanks!!!!!

There's also a picture of the meatball in the underground bunker that's in the cornfield. So I do agree to an extent. I think that the meatball actually started out as one drone/boy and as the experiment happened over and over it became the meatball. That would also explain the numbered sections throughout the facility and the parts underwater. Those were areas where it has been and escaped before. It also explains the convenience of how the boy navigates each area as if he's been there before... in a sense. And the true ending is the one where he unplugs the power cable.

Meanwhile I’m still wondering what that giant repeating sonic pulse way out in the fog was all about when you’re up over that body of water.

You’re a genius ... thank you. You’ve made me love my favourite game even more than I already did

absolutely masterful game. that ending... :'(

Its now free on Epic Games you need to play it

You really killed this explanation

Guys, you dont see the big picture here - names of the games - limbo, inside. The two games are about the human body. The boy is certainly (atleast for me) a red blood cell, the guys with white masks are white blood cells, the human body has leukemia (Leukemia, a type of cancer found in your blood and bone marrow, is caused by the rapid production of abnormal white blood cells. The high number of abnormal white blood cells are not able to fight infection, and they impair the ability of the bone marrow to produce red blood cells and platelets), the blob is the brain, which in the end get disconnected by life support systems and die.

The young boy is trying to free him self from YOU! The player! But he can't..You know those weird light things where you control someone, that's what we are doing! The little boy is a limp person just like every other person! But you are controlling him! How do I know? Well in the secret ending (the one where you collect all the collectibles) You hop down a latch and find a power source. Now what do you see in the background? One of those lights. And you know who's controlling that light? YOU! That light you see is controlling that little boy. Now the little boy or you find a lever, you pull it once, that head light controlling thing starts flickering. Pull it again, you break that head light thing. And you see the head light thing completely turn off. Now this is why I said he is one of those controllable limp people. Once you destroy the helmet. The boy falls and looks over at the side. Then he crouches and looks down. He is limping because he's out of control of you. Is this true?

Seeing as one of the orbs is near glass that was punctured by a rapidly growing tree, the facility has found a way to speed up the growth of organic matter. The humans are grown and since they grow so rapidly they're basically adult sized newborns.

My thing about this game is... You won't pick up that everything was 'planned' until you replay the game from the beginning. The game makes you believe everything at the end is good. You're free now. That's fine for the average person. Living in perceived freedom in your own bubble. But as soon as you start asking questions about life... About the display with the model of the hills, the fact that they guided you towards the end... It makes you start doubting this reality. You play again, uncovering more and more secrets. The orbs locations being random hard to reach places means you're driven to it by your burning desire to know the truth. The alternate ending showing a photo of the blob a sign that you've seen it: The controller and the controlled. And that's what the alternate ending is: The truth that you'll never be truly free from the harsh cycle of life and death; of freedom and captivity.. Of control and being controlled... Until you let go, and unplug yourself from the reality they created and made you believe is the only truth.

my top 4 theories so far: 1. The entire game takes place INSIDE the facility (even the ocean) 2. The giant pulse of doom is actually an anti gravity machine that keeps the facility in the air, 3. The "real" world is overrun by drones and is absolute chaos, 4. The mermaid things are anti drone creatures,

When I played it the first time I also thought there was some kind of selection, like if there were more than one meatball. I noticed in the background where you throw the fire crate Into the tube that unlocks the door, there is another one that has already been lit, thus another meatball might have lit it as well, but failed further ahead on its journey. Also, when you have unplug all the orbes, the only way to go back to unlock the other ending is going through the screen selection to go back to the cornfield only this time you can open the door, so it is posible that the kid (test subject) that unplugged the orbes in the first place isn’t the one that unplugs the final controlling device, but the next kid (test subject) that went after the first.

I think it's simpler than all this. This game represents death. At the beginning the person is trying to deny and run away from their inevitable passing. Cancer is running through their body and they're fighting, trying to beat it. The next section has you treading water, representing the fight. Coming in and out of water for air, still battling. You eventually lose the battle, being taken down as you are forced to face death. Drowning in despair, you begin to accept it, and your finite lifespan left. The next section has you able to swim around in the water without air, and there's symbolism here with the people being kept alive underwater by machines. A couple of the puzzles force you to have the water set halfway through the room. Also symbolic. Representative of being caught between life and death. The cancer is winning and you want your loved ones to pull the plug. The ending of the game is the tumor metastasizing and spreading through the body. Causing havoc, assimilating other cells, and destroying everything. Eventually it destroys the body that it is INSIDE and the person goes off to the afterlife, representative of the light shining down at the end. The alternate ending plays into this as well. With finding all the modules in the game representing the indecision and search for other answers the loved ones tend to go through, trying different healing methods, looking for alternative solutions. After finally exhausting all other options and realizing there's no other way. They finally and simply, pull the plug on the life support. "Inside" refers to the human body and what goes on inside ones mind as they are caught between life and death. Thoughts? Likely no one will ever read this.

So you elaborated much better than me but i felt the same way really early into my first play through, everything just seemed so on purpose and directed at a challenge. This was made especially clear with the “20” puzzle as there woukd be no point locking a door in such an experimental way. Too many areas existed with no real purpose but to test you, such as the shockwaves field and many other examples. But the moment i saw the real ending, i was blown away that i had guessed right. Until this video i felt empty at the original ending, but thanks for clearing it up :)

I believe the plot has two sides that needs understanding, one the boy represents our belief, and the other represents "control". While metaphorically the boy represents "belief" The boy, physically (his small stature) symbolises or compares the will of oneself (you) against the will of world. This is also suggested in the game's title "INSIDE". To understand "control" let's break the sequences of the game into 5 sections. Section 1: In the early stages of the game, the boy on dry land, represents the transparent side of the world in correlation to his belief. He sees only what's apparent to him. (he believed the masked men were his only enemy) Section 2: As the game progresses, the boy sees the submerged world. In this sequence the boy discovers the opaque side of world ( for example, if the dry land represents the cover a book, then the submerged world represents it's content) At the end of this sequence the boy reaches his final obstacle 'A broken bridge' beyond which the sun shines. On failing to cross it he is drowned by the creation. The boy drowning, represents the outcome of his effort ( your effort). Section 3: Upside down world. The boy now is revived; the boy able breathe underwater literally translates his death, he no longer required to breathe which allows him to swim beyond his human capabilities. In this sequence the world is upside down, this narrates the true side or the reality that the boy didn't see in the first two sections of the game. The boy needing to descend the water to help him move forward hints that the boy's beliefs are false. From this sequence it is clear that the boy, on being revived is no longer in control. Section 4: In his sequence, the boy is a part of the Hive and is set free. But at what cost? The game does a good job at the end of this section, the viewers (us) consoles himself/herself that the boy is now free at a heavy price. In actuality the hive was intended escape from the start, A room staging the exact replication of the beach can be seen during the rampage of the hive. This also shows that the outcome of the hive's escape was predicted before the boy was even under the hive's control. This sequence Leaves the true controller of the boy and the hive a mystery, creating a false belief amongst the players. Section 5: The alternate end. In this sequence the boy pulls the final plug and falls on his knees implying he is finally free of control. (At the cost of losing himself here as well) Only on completing both the endings, the game reveals that, the boy (our belief) was always controlled indirectly by someone who intented or predicted the hive's motive. In conclusion, the game enlightens the viewers that our beliefs is not our own choice. The boy (our beliefs) can either play by the the predicted rules or not play at all.

My fucking brain just said: "i fucking retire dude"

one thing I think was interesting was when the people suddenly started running PAST you, and not trying to stop you. Something that small REALLY threw me. The whole time you think your trying to escape, then all of a sudden that is no longer the case, you can stand next to them like they aren't your enemy anymore, and suddenly there is something more important and curious than just 'escaping' which is what you thought the goal was the whole game. the one time in the game where everything I thought I knew really got turned on my head. then of course, the blob part.

This theory also matches up with the title of the game because even though the boy believes he is freeing himself and the "meatball" thinks it is making escape out of the facility they are, have and always will be stuck INSIDE the facility. Another thing that supports this theory is that when you go into the cellar in the cornfield there is a red room for photograph development and one of the photos is a picture of the "meatball" and it is standing up instead of floating. This seems to suggest that they have freed it before and it moved around. I think the boy might be a rogue version of the the water wraiths, because he looks a hell of a lot like the *excluding the long hair*. They also seem to have their own will unlike the other "meatball" controlled people.

You missed an important part. There were dead or dying pigs with worm like creatures. Even some people in the factory had them. I think an alien worm like aliens have something to do with all this. Near the end you can go up the ladder instead of down and there is a giant sphere I couldn't get in. What is that?

In the room where you look out the window to the facility that hold The Huddle there’s what seems to be a molecule structure on an orange computer screen. You can also see that they are taking the Albino’s directly towards the huddle, implying that those people basically serve as slaves to the foundation.

Someone did do this before.. Journey is as much an experience as Inside, but with a "brighter" presentation. There's societal commentary. Stirring of emotions. And an untold story beneath the surface.

omg now i got so many thoughts in my head after your explanation. Sooooo many questions

This has probably been discussed before, I just wanted to develop some observations I made in a previous post, as well as praise Playdead's unusual narrative. This is pretty much littered with spoilers. I believe that Inside is a direct symbolism for a human getting cancer, and depending on the ending, either being cured or succumbing to it. The boy is a benign tumor, sneaking his way unnoticed through the host. The game world is the human being itself. The men in what appear to be white masks are indeed white blood cells, looking to destroy or contain foreign material in the body. I don't have a good grasp of human biology, but I would guess that the dogs and humans each represent different facets of the immune system. This tumor is causing mild issues with the the victim, prompting diagnostic attempts to locate it. In the game, these are the spotlights. If found, the tumor is excised, represented by the spring loaded harpoon. The tumor is difficult to spot, however, and the immune system has trouble differentiating it from normal bodily processes (the conga line scene.) The tumor eventually interacts with these normal bodily processes (controllable zombie guys), even using these otherwise dumb processes to its own advantage, growing stronger and more destructive (the various sections where you control the zombies.) I believe the rows of these mindless zombies walking are meant to evoke blood flowing or other fluid movement. As the tumor reaks more and more havoc, chemotherapy is attempted. In the game, we are talking about the water-hair-things. This aggressive treatment can be quite effective in targeting cancer, but comes with it great risks. Indeed, later, we see many otherwise useful bodily processes have been isolated by the immune system (upside captured zombies) due to having been corrupted by the patient's harrowing medical treatment. Eventually, radiation is used (the "air blast" sequence) which seems to be destructive on the body but effective on the tumor. If the tumor survives this, we are looking at the doctors pulling out all the stops: more surgery, more chemo. Eventually they are successful, and the tumor stops it's reign of terror. This is when the long hair creature pulls you to the depths. However, like many cancers, our hero goes into remussion for a time and then comes back even more dangerous (rebirth with the water breathing ability.) It ultimately makes it to another cancerous mass that seems to have been successfully contained (the Blob), takes control, and now we have a full bore malignant tumor on our hands, causing untold destruction as it runs amok. In ending one, I believe what happens is that although the patient suffers greatly, the tumor is eventually removed and dies (lying outside the body on the shore, immobile.) In ending two, where you play that secret song and find the other room beneath the cornfield, this is a scenario where the still undetected tumor attacks something vital, killing the host rapidly (lights out after you damage the apparatus is the secret room), which of course leads to its own death. I know some players are critical of many professional reviewers' high praise for this title, but I, for one, enjoyed it immensely. And the other ending is just that you kill the person before it suffers!

Another great breakdown by my favorite philosopher thank you Max

The player is the person in the bunker controlling the boy.

Hi. My theory is that 'inside' is the simplification of the main part of games: to draw you inside a new world. It starts with a boy that looks at those man as extremely violent and alien-like, using others, etc. and then the boy needs to kill a chicken in order to survive. and he does that. and then he uses the live pig to advance. and then he uses the walking dead bodies to advance, defiling the remains of those innocent man - and he continues - imagining that they are alive and willing to help. then he pulls a dead body that doesn't rise up to save him. all while using that same horrid tech that those alien man uses... then he doesn't mind the bodies getting ripped. after that he transforms to something else, he is now a man eating mermaid. he is inside the water. he is like them, all in the sake of surviving, all in the sake of finishing a game. then he transforms completely, he is now only legs and arms - only advancing and using, he doesn't see anymore, not the live scientists and maybe civilians slain by him, and finally, he can't see the beautiful scenery of the after-escape. the boy didn't survive, he is still inside (and in the allegory - he is inside the blob forever). and in the alternate ending he prefers to die a boy. not living to the next chance of sliding 'inside'. take my body, my soul is mine.

I think the game is meant to reflect Erikson's 8 stages of life. First stage: At the beginning of the game the player imitates Erikson's first stage of life, Trust vs Mistrust. The player is immediately led to believe that any adult they encounter will cause them harm causing the player to fear any interactions with any human. Second Stage: When entering the warehouse (I think that's what it is) after leaving the cornfield the player reaches Erikson's Autonomy vs Shame stage. The player is starting to learn all the functions in the game and basic concepts. Essentially the player is learning what they can do. The player in this stage (at least for me) feels shameful for the way they have to interact with the environment. Poor baby chicks. Third stage: After leaving the pigs and chickens the player passes by a line of people (what are they?) and enters another building. This begins the third stage initiative vs guilt. The player begins using the environment in creative ways - the crane, pushing safe tied to a rope off the plank, jumping from buildings to pipes. After entering the building the player meets the Wall-E looking robots. These represent the parents that try to restrict the players creativity. In the area the player "falls in line" in what looks like a training area with people watching. These people take on the teacher/parent/faculty role. The player has to demonstrate they can follow orders and behave like everyone else. If they don't they they are "removed" and not allowed to progress. Fourth Stage: After jumping through the window the player is in the stage competency vs inferiority. In the next areas the puzzles get harder. The player has to learn how to deal with dogs and using the submarine. In each scenario the player is taught they are inferior to every other being since they can't directly confront them. Fifth stage: The next stage the player is in the stage identity vs role confusion. When the player is using the submarine they meet the mermaid/man creature. I think the developer meant for it to look similar to the child to raise more suspicions for the players identity. The player knows there not human and not like the controllable characters. Sixth stage: After surfacing the player is in the stage intimacy (relationships) vs isolation. The player does interact with the groups by getting the necessary amount on the scale to solve the puzzle. Even though they are grouped their is no development between the group of npc's and the player. Immediately after solving the puzzles the player abandons them and moves on further isolating themselves. Rebirth scene: After the mer-thing drags you underwater and then the player is "reborn". The next few stages leading up to combining with the blob is sort of redefining the fifth and sixth stage. The player then has the ability to connect with others without assistance from the helmet. It also gives more information to determine what they are - it's clear that you aren't human, a mer-thing or the npc's. Seventh stage: The next stage, generativity vs stagnation, begins when the character sees the crate of npc's being carried away. There is a family there and I think this part hints at the players lack of productivity. While the humans have been able to create families the player is still struggling to survive and has created nothing. Eighth stage: The last stage, ego integrity vs despair, begins after combining with the blob. After escaping from the facility by falling for all the tricks set up by the facility the game ends ubruptly. This ending is very unsatisfying on purpose. The point is to feel unsatisfied as one would if they had not accomplished any of their goals at the end of their life. Secret ending: The secret ending is grim. Realizing that the player is on an unfulfilling quest after the playthroughs to get the collectibles the player shuts themselves off and becomes another npc. The limp stance is similar to all the other npc's that can be controlled. I think all of the npc's in the game may have been like the main character but decided to give up at some point. The rest of the humans are the ones that were able to accomplish the trial and may be trying to recreate themselves in these semi-human beings.

Am i the only one seeing the game as a way to describe how the sperm fuse with the ovum? The challenges, the dogs and the people that want to hunt you, they're the antibiotics secreted by the female body. The last part of the game you can see from the window bunch of white men running towards the the meatball. When you reach the container that holds the meatball you can see the white men standing around the container, like how the sperms accumulate around the ovum. You the player are the chosen sperm which is the only one that will penetrate the barrier of the ovum ( the glassy container ). And finally when the sperm is inside the barrier it will remove its tail to fuse with the ovum to form the zygote, like how the boy removed his clothes to fuse with the meatball. After that the meatball escaped from the building. It rolled to the outside and then it stopped still, like when the zygote rolls from the fallopian tube to the uterus and then it will holds still for the implantation. I know it sounds crazy but that's what I felt when I played the game.

I think that everybody is giving this story way too much credit -.- Note to self: 1) make a game 2) make it fun to play 3) don't even bother with the story, heck just leave most of it completely unanswered and none sensible 4) sit back and enjoy as the fan base writes up a story that's way better than the one you had originally planned (and undoubtedly not finished) & 5) pretend you had it planned out the whole time. FNAF taught game developers more than we thought they did about creating obsessive communities.

You talk about infinite possibilities for imagination, but only present one theory, making it look like the only one. There are countless disruptions and discrepancies. My biggest question is - why do the facility workers help the hive mind? But there's more: Why does the hive mind struggle against the boy trying to disconnect him? What do the worms do? Why does the water have such impossible physics? What is that megathumper? When you destroy one of the glowing orbs while being chased by dogs, the dogs leave. I can't believe they were simply scared after hunting you so diligently, I would say the were controlled. Thanks for opening my eyes to the diorama, I did miss that detail somehow.

Very concise and compelling theory! I really enjoyed it, i haven't looked at all of your content but videos like this are definitely great!

canadian, eh?

I have another thought. the part where the underwater creature "saves" through long wire you connect to looks like the mind control devices. maybe because he dies the connection is lost with either you or the blob. this wire connects the boy back

Hey man, I am not saying that I agree or disagree with your theories, but I really enjoyed how you broke everything down. One thing I think you missed or maybe glossed over is the bombardment. I think that yes, this is a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but the fighting continues. The bombardment may be why part of the facility is submerged and there may be people fighting against whatever the facility is and/or the hive mind that may actually be running the facility. PONDER THAT!

Recommendations for any MUST-PLAY games like inside? Honestly, that game was so moving and masterful, I'm a dirty pirate but I will buy this game and buy this game for friends to make sure development continues.

If the green area (in the beginning) contained drones in those containers, then maybe the boy was a drone who escaped one of those containers. And that’s why people (who were collecting the drones in trucks) were almost immediately chasing after him. Maybe he was a drone who didn’t quite develop all the way (because he escaped early), so that’s why he is a child. He’s one of the only characters who is a child (besides the masked people). All the other drones are adults. Because otherwise, who would the kid’s parents be? If he was a regular child, wouldn’t he look for his parents? If he was an escaped drone, then he wouldn’t have any parents. The mermaids also looked pretty childlike to me. People think that this experiment was done before. Maybe those mermaids were the children who failed before. (just a theory)

As far as the world being deserted I thought so as well before finding the barn with the pigs living in it, someone were still seeing to them I have to presume.

I thought that this facility is some sort of toy factory and the people are trying to controls these toys with mind. The boy is a toy who is sort of gone rogue and trying to escape. Jeez this game makes you a story teller.

It kind of reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984, in which control of the population is exerted by higher authorities. I did find the dystopian and general apocalyptic decay quite upsetting and throughout the game, was always wondering why so many people and devices were set up to kill this innocent (?) little boy or prevent him (me) from achieving my goal, which of course, was unknown during gameplay. My hat goes off to the game designers who must’ve thought this would create a lot of debate. A superb dark and mesmerising game, and most thought provoking from a psychological perspective. I must admit I never really figured out what the purpose of the mind controlled people were - perhaps it was to perform menial tasks by slave labour to maintain living standards in a post apocalyptic world, but who (and why?) made the decision as to whether a person remained in control, or became controlled? Another point if the game designers are interested, if there is a sequel - WOULD LOVE to have killed those dogs!

Before the boy gets assimilated into the meatball, he's naked, pale and has black hair and can breathe underwater. Just like the other underwater kids but they have long hair, probably because they've been there longer. I think the parasite worms that mind controlled the pig are also in the underwater kids, except for the one that saves you. It saves you because you are one of them but don't know it

this was sooo good and very calming to listen to... but I can’t get over the fact that you call the human blob a meatball

A dystopia by definition requires a false utopia scenario. This game is full of horrors that are well known to the inhabitants and are even the focus of the work they do. This is more of a mutant science apocalypse scenario. This is definitely not a dystopia.

I gave up on thinking there was a deeper meaning because water doesn't even obey the laws of gravity in this game. No, I don't mean when it's floating, I mean when the water levels between two connected vats are not equal, not even when the air above them is in direct contact and so there can be no pressure difference... But you do make a lot of sense. it's just a shame that it's all so obscure that most people will never even realise any of this.

This is some great analysis, but one quick thing this guy missed imo, is I think the long-haired naked swimmers were previous boy-drones, since the facility has been repeating the experiment and will continue to do so, until the hive mind realizes "the only winning move in the struggle for control, is not to play." HOLY FUCKING SHIT the parallels to human society are mind-blowingly dark, chill delivering, and one hell of a depressing experience. Fun puzzles tho lulz

Great video. Great game. Beat in in one sitting. I like to imagine that the stories revolving around limbo and inside are somehow connected.

I recall early in the game pulling a bug or creature out of someone. Which makes me think this is very similar to an Invasion of the Body snatchers type of plot

I think that this is a awesome game that allows the USER to fill in the blanks as they feel fit, what a great concept, talk about a fresh idea thinking outside the box.

I like that you refer to it as "meatball"

i have got a theory on the whole game what if the zombie things that are able to be controlled are people that were experimented on by the scientists and the whole place is like a huge sphere made of illusions to prevent escape attempts by the experiments. the boy is like the zombie things except we are the ones controlling him taken from the alternate ending and taken from the wiki "If the boy unplugs a socket on a wall, the room darkens and the boy will go limp like the walking bodies, implying that he is one of them, and that the computer symbolizes the user that plays the game and controls the boy." we could be a mad scientist who wants the boy to get sucked into the abomination so that he frees it into the wild

MY UNDERSTANDING AFTER WATCHING THE VIDEO----> my understanding before watching the video ------->

Natural light works like that. It's called clouds... Although it is suspiciously close to that replica's lighting for that scene

I think the point is that dangers lurk outside and inside.

The red-shirted boy might a nod to the red-coat girl in Schinlder's List.

I also believe that the kid is being controlled but are we sure it's the hive mind? He try's to set it free but it's clearly been controlled to a certain place currect? Does he know he is being controlled. The secret ending shows how he unplugs it, does that mean that everything was unplugged. When the boy is forced to act like a drone (even though he is one) in the line, what was controlling them to do that? There's a lot more I could say. 😊

there is dialogue, when the big blob cracks opens up the glass they all scream

Great game ! .. please do more the game like this ♥️♥️♥️

This game was amazing. This game scared me more than any other horror game this year

I thought the same thing. Some say the alternative ending represents the kid upluging the player, but I think its more that that. I think its your theory. It was an experiment all along.

I didn't felt any sense of relief but rather mad with that ending which was pretty dull for a game that built up so much mystery.But listening to what you say about sensing some false sense of security at the end well...its pretty creepy to think that the end was staged at the game itself...we saw it for the 1st time and we missed it but our subconscious didn't and thats why we felt empty and bad with that ending. But I gotta say thank you for showing that part of the diorama,cuz I noticed it was the mountain of the ending when I was beating the game for the 2nd time but I hadn't noticed the light was in the exact same place of the rays of the sun...that is simply mindblowing and brought a whole another perspective to ma theories.The diorama part is where it lies the biggest message Inside is trying to pass. This game is insane.

Inside is fantastic to this day. Little nightmares cane out a year later. Wonder if they found inspiration from this game

Okay listen up my theory.The blob or whatever you want ti call it had this kind of relation to the boy that i think was provided by the expiriments of the scientists and it lead on the Blob having controll over the boy, and whoever was the supreme mind was controlling the blob.You can see 4 of those thingies that are the boy uses to controll zombie workers on the blob before and if you remember in the begging in order to controll the zombies both the controller and the person that was being controlled needed to be wearing that hat-controlling-thing. Maybe there is a supreme mind sitting on his office wearing that hat and controlling the Blob.So maybe the Blob (just like us and the boy) thinks it understand the situation (just like we do, we understand this is not a normal universe and some people are controlling other people) and thinks it has a freewill againts the supreme mind (just like we do, us players we think we are doing everything in our free-will but we are being controlled by the blob, and the blob thinks that is controlling us in it's own free will but is actually doing only the actions that the supreme mind allows it to do.(I think it's an expiriment that happens every 10 years and bcs the blob has the same minds they always think to escape in the same way) I think that in the corn feild when you pull the plug and the game stops.It has only stopped for you.I think the blob now is free from mind controlling just like it would have had been if you did all the game and pulled the hats of it.But unfortanely your presence isnt there for nothing else since you don't have a brain and you don't controll the movment of the blob then even if you are not in the blob, The blob's gonna do the same actions all over again destroy eveything then land on a beach because it only has one purpose to go OutSide (still thinking that because now is completelty free from the controll of the supreme mind).But when it goes outside it understand it will always be inside.Or maybe that's for how much the blob can move without being mind controlled.Anyway in my opinion after the blob lands there sciencits catch it again and put it where we saw it for the first time, and after 10 years the blob "wakes up" (ofcourse by the orders of the supreme mind) and does all that all over again with another zombie boy who is put in the beggining of the game by the supreme mind.I don't know what could be intention behind this.But that's what I got from this game.And I'm really sorry if I made many mistakes but english is not my first language.Cheers!

This whole game is desensitization FOR US!!! This depicts exactly how the world works and exactly the extremity of what they will go to in 2021 and onward.

It would seem that the drones are water monster human hybrids, that often come out malformed and have surgery performed on them to make them look more human. It could be that the method mentioned was the standard for possibly even decades, until they learned how to properly grow them one by one in the pods, or possibly, the pods could be devices used to maintain the condition of the drones using nearby solar power. Maybe the pods have people inside them controlling drones? It would seem that the water monsters are isolated without any kind of way to feed, implying that they are immortal, which would explain why the drones we see don’t starve or die from long falls. The reason the drones are malformed could be because the incubation method is imperfect and requires the conditions of water making them fragile upon release. The blob could very well be the facilities attempt to combine several of these creatures to form a hive mind capable of controlling many hosts at once. But what about the mind control devices? Well in limbo we see the same worms that infected and killed the farm pigs, ones known for influencing their hosts movement. It’s possible that humanity discovered a way to replicate the same effect artificially, something they’d done in desperation due to the worms infecting people across the world and severely harming the human population. By creating a large workforce that doesn’t need to eat and doesn’t get tired, humanity could saves themselves from extinction, only problem was, who would control an entire workforce without mass maintain-ment of human operators? The hive mind was created for sed purpose, since as with the rail carts, we know that the facility in question discovered that a host could control another host, which would explain why the constraint on the blob look so similar to the mind control helmet we see throughout the game. Only issue with this idea is that the blob would have to be sentient, but more importantly, contained. The facility predicting the escape makes more sense this way considering if it managed to escape the chamber designed for capture, the lifelike conditions could potentially trick the blob into thinking it was free, making re-capture possible.

when arriving at checkpoint 16, you find yourself on a rooftop with two giant letters R on floor, and C still attatched. When you descent after this you get to the globe you need to destroy. You can see the letter E there! So...REC....next to the globe in the foreground, you can see a running recorder.....anyone?!

This game is future indication that We will be going to face this kind of Human Experiment Facilities in the future. This game Just blown up my Mind.

did you notice that the meatball was shrinking the whole time

start at 1:37

Name "INSIDE " EXPLAIN IT ALL , OK here is my explanation the real meaning of the game name " INSIDE" which explain it all , my eng is bad hopefully you will understand what i mean , every explanation on blob control the people is wrong you know why ? becasue there were workers in field with that zombie type people , blob doesn't need a worker people to work on facility , so only the scientist are controlling the people . but the kid is different and he is not controlled by the scientist and he is controlled by the blob thats why when he infiltrate the facility he act like others and try to bend so the scientist and the machine don't find him and capture him as he is not controlled by them but by the blob , the kid is controlled by the blob and his only goal is to free the blob and thats why the game named "inside " as he is the only intruder in the game . the game is about a facility of mind control test and test subject , my interpolation of the game thanks to this guy :www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4sctkj/the_meaning_of_playdeads_inside/

Your theory makes a lot of sense and I can see you have thought out about it a lot, but there are some loose ends I still don't agree with. If the goal of the organization is letting the blob escape in a never ending cycle to improve itself, why are the masked people and the dogs hunting you down on the first levels. It seems like it would be in their best interest not to kill the boy, and not to get in his way. During a lot of the game, there are a lot of sections were being seen is equivalent to being killed, so why would they kill you? One could answer that they want you be hunted and that being threatened is part of the test, but that seems too farfetched. Like they and the dogs were instructed to chase you down an specific path they knew the boy would take, but not far enough that it would outright kill you without giving you a chance to advance (and how would they know wild animals would do that?).

If there is a meatball, that could only mean one thing.... THAT SOMEBODY TOUCHA MY SPAGET!

So you pretty much were inside all the time cuz the ending as that big meatball rolled on to the beach, a light comes and everywhere was dim and dark so probably it was some kind of structure that covers a city or facility from the real outside world! Just like the beginning where you start off with a light above! That was my first question really which somewhat why this game is called "Inside"

Let alone the theme of the game, the entire atmosphere, the situation boy has been put through, and the whole world seems so depressing. I am depressed from beginning to end when I play this game, especially the meat-ball part.

i played this when i had just removed my wisdom teeth. one of the gaming moments i remember the most