How I interpret the title:

Inside the blob. It seems like the boy-drone is just DYING to get in there and break it free. Really like whoever it was that had that idea that it was just a test for drones, to find more suitable candidates for the blob.

@cook66: That and the secret ending really reinforces a certain conclusion. I have an interesting theory as well about how this might all tie to gaming development as a whole below.

Secret ending spoilers to follow.

I hope your "final form" in this game is guest in both Gang Beasts and whenever the next Katamari comes out.

@fram: Agreed. My jaw dropped when all that happened.

The real question is who is putting these buttons to doors on ceilings?

@jazzylament: I didn't consider this until people started pointing it out in forums, you lost me a bit in the middle, but your assertions seems spot on.

The people helping the blob here and there are wearing yellow hats, they are engineers fixing problems that arise. The suits are simply standing around watching as things go off, not really doing any work, there are so many little things in this game I simply failed to notice or connect while playing it.

That last sequence.. Just wow.

Super interesting reading all the different interpretations!

I may be mis-remembering, but was there any upside down water before you drown? That was the moment where I started to wonder if this was "actually" happening.

Also, note the cream faced business boy:

Love the womb analogies—always appreciate when a theory is so utterly crazy that it almost feels right.

Anyway, got a couple things of note about the endgame (that might be of interest to you @brad if you're still curious):

This has probably all happened before. Not 100% sure why exactly, but there's a couple of things to suggest the scientists have prepped for this occasion. The first and most noticeable example is that they only run in fear a certain distance when you emerge and then proceed to stand by at a comfortable distance and observe. At the start of the whole incident, you have this guy:

If you can't tell, he has glasses and a receding hair line, which makes him stand out from the other workers due to his age/experience. He pushes his way through the crowd hits his hand against the glass to get your attention. If you try to pull at the plugs on the wall, he shakes his hand and points to the blob, showing you what you must do...

And when you start to rip the plug outlet off the wall, he turns back as if to tell everyone else not to worry as his peers begin to flee. When the glass starts to break he holds his hands against the window suggest that—perhaps—this wasn't the intended way you were supposed to leave, and he's the first to die at your gelatin-like hands.

Later there's the presence of the men that help you to "solve" puzzles—the guy that puts the codes in the door, the group waiting by the hook, and the guy that tosses the gas box down to you. These definitely aren't "rogue" agents within the company that have your best interest in mind, as they're all working towards getting you into that water trap near the end (why else would so many people gather around that exact spot unless they knew you'd eventually be lured there?) Another example of why this has happened before is that when you get to the part with the hook, there's this yellow rectangle on the ground:

It indicates exactly where to place the trolly so you can start swinging the lift. It's unique because it doesn't appear anywhere else in the background, meaning it was specifically marked for the blob when it got here (there's also a tv and two chairs behind where the trolley rests, suggesting there were some people waiting there for your arrival... or, slacking off). If you're still unconvinced, this next examples are perhaps the most damning evidence; here's where you reside at the end of the game:

And here's the exhibit you land inside after crashing through some floors:

Notice how the ray of light is precisely the same as the one shining on the blob in the final shot. Why would the scientists (and developers in particular) construct a miniature model of the final area, unless it was to display something? I'm not entirely sure what the scientists were hoping to achieve with this experiment (build the blob better? Faster? Stronger?) but between all of this and the presence of the old flooded labs earlier in the game (that also contain chairs and bandaged-up abominations—check out the room to the right of the place where you "drown"), I don't think it's a huge leap in logic to suggest that the scientists have been attempting to refine this process... or are absurdly good at predicting what you'll do. Plus, remember how Limbo ended, too.

This is kinda why the alternate ending's inclusion feels required; rather than allowing the player to keep running through the same motions, they can outright reject this "mind control" by unplugging the power source, essentially refusing to play the game.

And all the clocks show 13 hours rather than twelve. What do the numbers mean?

I don't know.

@dobu_gm: Superb post, sir, thank you.

The exhibit / ray of light stuff in particular was something I completely missed, and I love it.

Huh, guess I'm the only one not enamored by this game. I was worried this might happen. It's not bad; I just thought it was only okay, and I'm not really interested in the whys of the story or setting. I don't know. The blob part was kinda cool. Eh. I guess this game's just not for me. *shrug*

Inside Katamari.

So this and The Witness are tied for my GOTY so far, and I'm leaning towards this. I liked LIMBO when it came out, but not as much as a lot of people and I really don't think it's held up (the last two thirds lose the atmosphere and it basically just becomes a puzzle game at that point), but I think six years down the line we'll consider INSIDE a classic.

The blob moment was a fitting ending but my favourite sequence of the game was definitely the lockstep moment. It felt super tense, and you were forced into the situation pretty quickly.

I loved how this game, like SOMA, used its puzzles to explore its themes. The moments I've mentioned all do a great job of exploring the world through gameplay, and the mind control puzzles are an interesting moral dilemma given that the entire game paints mind control as a cruel practice.

@ridebird: I really like this take on it! Cuz I don't think he's trying to rescue anyone. I think that's people taking the story from limbo and putting on this game.

Typing from my iPad, so not sure how to hide spoilers.

But, what do you do with the joystick in the bunker? This thread didn't seem to come to a conclusion on what to do with it... :(

Wow. Just wow. That last level was a wild ride. So many things I loved about the game:

• The lockstep sequence
• The moment you realize that mind control hats can be nested
• The mermaid's SMB Boo mechanics in the sub, and baiting/timing puzzles out of the sub
• That moment where you break through the first wooden floor in the sub into a vast expanse of water
• The sliding door protection flipping back towards you in the subwoofer level if you aren't careful
• The mermaid death and rebirth scene
• The upside-down water rooms
• The entire blob sequence

@dobu_gm: On iPad, story and secret ending spoilers ahead.

Its pretty much exactly that kind of evidence that led me to my "Inside is an allegory for game development" theory. If we take those researchers to represent the developers, and the blob to represent the game, it would make sense that they would be guiding the boy (which the secret ending reveals to be controlled ostensibly by the player) into the blob, thus completing it, since all games require player in order to truly be complete. It even appears as if the other researchers are cheering the boy on as well. After the blob/game's breaks free, they have all the preparations and contengencies in place for the player to succeed, and lead the game to its eventual release. The diarama, as you pointed out, does indeed show the final resting place for the blob. I take this to indicate the diarama is in fact the visualization of the end goal for the games release.

Neeh, more like a 7.66 for me.

I mean WHAT?! That's the first time I've ever seen a scoring system with 1000 points of "nuance".

@jazzylament:I absolutely love that theory , but one small detail that may change your interpretation is that the ceo eventually moves out of the way of the window if you wait long enough

@matsemann08: It's because I take scores like .0/.25/.50/.75 and take specific aspects that games consist of, like gameplay, visuals, sound, replay ability and what have you, then add it up to get a score. It works for me. My scores don't come out to things like that (7.66), but I think there's an argument that, even though extremely marginal, a game that scored that one point higher, can be considered better depending on their opinion of what aspect in the game is important. Like I said, the score won't make much sense in terms of how I came about it (even if I explained it, because a number attached to a word is subjective), but that specific a score is around what I think the game deserves in my opinion, and you can look to scores around other sites as a comparison. So, I guess I'd say it's the middle of 'great' and 'really good'; closer to 'really good'. The way I do it may be screwed up to you, but it isn't to me.

My thoughts were that as The Boy, we were being controlled by the The Blob from the very beginning of the game. Basically, I think that The Blob engineered an escape plan, and The Boy was simply a meat-puppet that executed the plan for it.

The secret door with the secret code reinforced that belief further: You simply shut down and become like everyone else - You pulled the cord that kept The Blob in control of you...But at what cost etc?

I missed that too, hadn't studied the diorama before. What a great connection.

Oh boy. I listened to all the Inside talk in bomb/beastcasts before playing and when they mentioned you being hunted, I kinda began to suspect that the surprise twist would be that the suits are after you, because you're a failed experiment that eventually discovers crazy powers within himself, that you'll use to wreck everything up. I guess I was...kinda right? The last part was still a very jaw-drop experience, fortunately. Some fun theories here, especially the game one.

While I can now certainly appreciate Playdead taking their sweet time with this release, I hope we won't have to wait for their next game as long.

I just finished this and hot damn. I didn't enjoy Limbo at all but this blew me away. With tone and setting of this game was spectacular and it keeps your driving forward with the constant draw of what's next. There was more than one moment when my jaw dropped at some of the crazier moments. After the blob moment I was almost stunned with shock at what was happening as I controlled my new form. And I think this may be the first game to ever to make me a little queesy at some of the more disturbing imagery in the game, which says a lot with such a stylized art direction.

I had to say I was a tiny worried when I started this game that I wasn't going to enjoy it, like I didn't really enjoy Limbo, but I think I can say this is one of the few game that everyone should truly play regarless of how you feel about their past game or 2D puzzle/platformers.

The whole game takes place inside a child's mind during Bring Your Kid to Work Day.

I also just finished this game in one sitting. Wow... just so much to take in! Absolutely fantastic, definitely one of the best games I've played this year. I loved Limbo too and, while being completely different in story, Inside also left me with immense feelings of intrigue and questions.

Had a lot of fun reading through all of your theories. The ones on the boy basically being the sperm and an overall "birth" metaphor seem pretty spot on! It connects a lot of the dots in my opinion.

@dobu_gm that screenshot of the diorama compared to the ending scene is incredible! Didn't put that together at all when I played it but it's perfect all the way to the shine of light. Seems like one of those games where more and more things like this will get noticed along the way as more people finish it.

Well, I just finished it, and...THAT MUST HAVE BEEN ART! I've been hearing so much about art... Those Danes sure do know how to party, must have been playing that black metal the whole development cycle.

About the game, I haven't yet delved into the comments, but after about five minutes after finishing it, I started to like Inside, plot wise. Seemed to me the story pretty much described a descent into man-made hell, the perversion of the State of Nature. I liked the honesty of how it progressed, and how it ended. Inside did not want to be a feel good game, but if you look a little closely at the end scene, they betrayed themselves a little. I thought it a good touch

Only real complaint is that I didn't care for/finish Limbo, but this turned around and was too short.

Finally played this. I'm not sure I'll play it a second time, but I loved it.

I wasn't really a fan of Limbo. It was atmospheric as hell and movement felt great, but the puzzles grew tedious and I thought it kind of lacked a third act, ending at the exact moment I found myself going "alright, now we're finally starting to get going!" Inside reached a similar moment for me toward the end when you first dive into the suspended water, but then continued on, and... yeah, went to unexpected places.

Found six of the secret thingies on the first time through, and I just went back with some hints and found the rest. There were a few missed ones I noticed a small hint of while playing, but I can't imagine I ever would have found a couple of the final ones.

Too tired right now but I'm looking forward to rattling around the events of the game in my head.

I don't know if it was intended, but I got some heavy Akira-type vibes from the end of the game. Just from the design of the tank at the end, the blobiness, mind control.

I want to know how many people spared the dude in the office near the end.

I fucked that dude up, son.

I wish I was a little more careful reading this thread. I hadn't gotten the secret ending yet, and we haven't been super great at indicating when we are discussing which points. Oh well.

Does anyone know if I can just load into chapters, grab the collectible, then load another chapter and repeat? Or do I need to do an entire second playthrough?

@sdoots: You can just load another chapter instantly and look for the secrets. It keeps track of whether you deactivated them or not.

EDIT: Also I have to say that I'm disappointed that you can't crawl into the incinerator at the end. I almost thought that was the intended path, that now you were a monstrosity full of pain and just wanted to die. It would've been a nice little ending, too.

I had to ask someone on my Steam friends if I was missing some step to get in the furnace. It just seemed like how I was supposed to go out.

So I just finished the game and I'm enjoying reading through the theories.

I definitely think I'm going to replay through this game again and kinda explore more to see what is going on.

Sweet mercy. What an incredible game. After playing Inside I've had this feeling of "gaming contentment" for a couple of days now. I remember thinking "this is why games is my hobby" just after finishing it.

Any way, after going back and finally watching the Quick Look, seeing the baby chicks by the corn field got me thinking about the different way animals behave in the game (Sorry if I'm repeating stuff you went through weeks ago. I haven't read through all of the theorizing, only the major/broad stuff):

There are two types of animal that have a distinct reaction to the boys presence; both the baby chicks and the fish swarm around him. At first I thought that was just for effect, it's a striking look. But I'm not so sure. Other animals in the game react like you expect they would. The black birds by the "safe-drop" puzzle fly away when he approaches them, rats scatter away, if he falls down one of the alleys in the city there is a startled cat running away, moments later at ground level there is a bird on a sign that flies away when the boy pulls off a plank by the door.

But the chicks and the fish swarm around the boy. The chicks in particular are really odd. It's wet, muddy, cold, and piles of rotting pig corpses everywhere. This doesn't seem like the healthiest environment for small fragile baby chicks without a sign of a mother hen caring for them. But they seem oddly energetic and full of life still. And the sound they give off sound oddly metallic and artificial. And when you think about the fish, keep in mind I'm no expert in fish, but can fish like that survive that far down, under endless layers of concrete structures? In the area where the boy get the ability to breathe under water just after drowning. Can an aquatic ecosystem to support fish that large survive without sunlight, let alone the fish?

So I wonder if the fish and the chicks are artificial, created by the "Company", and that is why they survive in otherwise unsustainable environments. They probably are an attempt at creating their own food source. Considering all the dead pigs they do seem to have a problem with producing food. If that bleak situation is because of the "Company", or they simply are reacting to it, I don't know. And their behavior; the fish and chicks swarm around the boy, just like the drone-people do eventually. Maybe their behavior is strange because it's could be inherent with being artificially made. Or they are somehow linked with the blob hivemind. They might even be directly controlled by the blob, they are the blob. Considering the implications of the alternate ending they might be swarming because they are detecting "themselves" in the boy. Like they are cheering him/themselves on. Or maybe the connection to the hivemind is weaker in the animals, but they react positively when they feel a stronger connection to the hivemind is present.

I don't think I am over analyzing this. Though the scenes with the chicks and the fish are striking, I doubt they are there simply for the sake of effect. Like, both from a narrative and technical perspective this game is polished and incredibly well thought out. I doubt any detail in the game is there by chance.

TL;DR: Maybe the baby chicks and the fish are artificially made by the "Company" in an effort to create a food source when their farms are failing. Neither seemingly should be able to survive where they are. And they swarm around the boy, just like the drone-people do, but other animals in the game just scurry away like you expect they would.

Considering that you become in control of "the project" they're going to help move you along so they can keep observing your behavior. Its totally for science.

The more I think about my experience with the game the less I like it. Great animation but the whole thing kind of leaves me numb. Felt like I wasted my time.

@alucitary:

I just played and finished the game today. Absolutely incredible on all fronts. I missed a lot of the "collectibles," but I think I found where the real/true ending is. I'm dying to go back and find everything so I can see it for myself.

As far as theories go...

Just something I noticed. Really looking forward to going back and playing it again.

@onionknight14: No doubt in my mind that you never make it "outside" in this game. Scale model aside, here's the room directly before:

The boarded up wall and wooden beams look very much like what you see behind the false walls of a film set.

@flavbot:I haven't counted exactly, but I noticed the other day that there appear to be 20 chicks in that farm area. After you put them through the machine to knock the hay bale down they all seem ok apart from one, who appears to be unconscious, possibly dead. Is it just me, or does this directly mirror the later puzzle which requires 20 human drones to be placed on the pressure plate, one of whom is dead/unconscious? Also a few of them are wearing yellow construction hats which is itself a subtle callback to the colour of the chicks.

Reading the much more reasonable theories on what the developers were trying to say, mine feels super strained, but I figure I'll post it here anyway before I forget - in case it came up to anyone else;

Pretty much from the halfway point, I got a sense that the game's ideologue was fundamentally Marxist. From the gormless workers being carted off in their trucks, to the zombie-dudes following your every command, and finally a literal amalgamation of servile limbs, you see the lower class systematically reduced to something completely devoid of perceived individuality or humanity. The heavy industrialization you see all throughout the game all points to this same idea, of a sort of nightmare scenario in which each lower class is unable to recognize the world around them through simply following the motions of those above. Correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody seems to even be in charge here, they're all just following the whims of some unseen higher force.

My best guess is that the boy therefore represents ideology that opposes this funhouse-mirror capitalist horror show- socialism (I mean he's got that commie red shirt!). He wanders through these various twisted arms of industry; animal agriculture, in all its production-line waste and inhumanity; military, the endless torture of a select few for what appears - at the ground level - to serve no purpose; of course, research and development, the possibility for new breeds of efficiency coming way before any kind of morality. The big downfall of our kid, and his eventual glob form, is that he's trying to work within the system - he's on a path already laid out for him, utilizing the same tools of lower-class mind-control the higher-ups did, and when you're playing their game you're always gonna lose.

Sure, you "break free" in the end, but the trouble is you're trying to win a societal battle on an individual level. So you end up in their trap, because your one-track-minded act of single rebellion has isolated you from the surrounding working class. You kill the "manager", as if that's going to change anything. And then you get out of the facility... or, you don't. As others have noted, it sure is peculiar that you land in a spot that seems to be an exact replica of a miniature-scale exhibit you land in ten minutes prior. Almost as if, in the end, your 'uprising' had already been accounted for, and in all its viscera and monstrosity, now you're trapped on display - ready to show any other potential defectors what they'd become if they tried to fight back.

It's past 4 in the morning so a lot of this is rambling nonsense, but maybe SOMEONE will cop the same tune!

Side-note: I'd probably link the black-haired ladies to Anarchy, as long as we're tying stuff to ideology. They just seem to want to kill you until, at a point, they start to realise you're not an authority - you've spent enough time away from the sub that they see you're just a rebel. From that point they aid you - which in actuality might be seen to hinder you, because it's exactly the kind of call for short-sighted violent uprising that might doom you down the line.

Ok, so WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST PLAY!?

I mean it's a gorgeous, stunning, exceptional puzzle game with atmosphere to spare. But seriously, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?

With the exception of the "the colossal rampaging scrotum" I really enjoyed it. I especially liked it because the puzzles weren't necessarily "hard", they just made you think. I can't count the number of times I tried doing something over and over again, then taking a step back and saying 'ok, what should I be doing? ', and then feeling silly but good.

The dogs and underwater things can go fuck themselves however.

This thread has been active for months, I've seen it pop up on the front page several times, and only just now, at 3AM on a Tuesday morning, have I started to realize the thread title's (intentional or not) double entendre.

I have not stopped cackling to myself for five minutes.