Inside - Story Explanation and Analysis

[@sprocket0077]

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.

[@nars_bars8774]

I like your idea, but I think there's more to the title "Inside," than that

[@hobbou7887]

Maybe you never actually step foot outside and the point of the game being called inside makes perfect sense.

[@Alex_Logan22]

There are many, but that definitely could be one.

[@mishqahberowsky]

yeah I think so too...in the beginning of the game. .the boy in from off screen ..perhaps that's when he enjoyed entered the "facility"...and we were on the inside...

[@loftisbros2425]

possibly, I like that idea. and i may be wrong but at the end of the game you bust through a giant industrial wall, and I didn't recall entering a wall towards the beginning which may imply that you are inside the walls the whole time

[@pokemongo-up3rq]

What do you mean there's no dialogue? The Dogs clearly say "Bark Bark Bark!" several times.

[@hihiz432]

@@BobSmith-eo3zp Issa joke, chilll

[@mrlordsaif5708]

r/wooosh

[@theblackbasketball]

-------the joke-----> Your Heads

[@user-ll6oh1uu7o]

@@BobSmith-eo3zp you're such a fucking knobhead

[@STORMY-lv9lr]

Pizza Scout you are dumb

[@TheParanormalist0601]

Inside, Limbo and Little Nightmares are excellent games because of the silence and no dialogue. You mind creates the story and you imagine what the story is.

[@Taggez1]

And they are all Scandinavian! I think this eerie and dark theme is a big part of our culture.

[@nkumars675]

Yeah, these three games has there own interesting and deep stories... These games are amazing

[@SammyBirdTheGreat]

Tovis yeah, seriously tho!! I got to visit family in Sweden once & boy howdy the forests up there are so dark & lowkey unsettling, you definitely get a sense of uneasiness, like there’s something out there. It makes sense y’all would have that reflected in your stories. That being said I live in the desert so forests are really foreign to me & it might’ve just been my imagination.

[@FuckFascistYouTube]

Those three games and Unravel are literally some of my favorite games ever. Unravel is basically just a "happy" version

[@SammyBirdTheGreat]

Scott G. Oh heck yeah unravel is the best

[@SaltedMC]

what's more mindblowing is that someone created this game....

[@TheVanillatech]

Artists ;) And the Industry now is trying to STOP this kind of thing. Because it's not safe. It's a risk. Doing something original, different and disturbing is ALWAYS a risk. But the Industry giants who bought out pretty much 90% of all publishers, developers and journalist / game sites ... don't do risk. They do Tombraider 9 COD 13 Battlefield 7 FIFA 19 etc ... etc ....... etc

[@terra1322]

TheVanillatech but just the same still, as all those games were original ideas as some point, so who’s to judge

[@kiwios1382]

What more mind blowing is that you created this comment and you know who's is awesome? Read the 8th word... I messed up didn't i? Well whatever YOU know what I mean

[@adityathaker9734]

Maybe he just created what came to his mind and we overthought it i mean the graphics and the atmosphere was great but im saying that making an incomplete story isnt that difficult but completing it is when there is such a huge audience speculating its end that u never tend to believe on theory

[@travishardaway6348]

@@adityathaker9734 J

[@Brindlebrother]

This has been said in the comments, but I do love the idea that the game breaks the fourth wall, in that you are in fact the one controlling the boy. At the same time, the developers have created the game for you, the player. The blob represents the path most players will take. You, like the majority of players, will collectively reach the blob ending. The blob is all the players and you doing the same thing. The developers knew this. The diorama shows that they planned this. The group of people standing in the background as that box is dangled in front of you, again, represents the developers knowing what most players would do. When you roll down the hill at the end, most players might think they are free, but you're still "inside" the game. Most players will think the light is the sun shining through the clouds, but others will realize that it's a spotlight because the whole ending is manufactured. To "beat" the game, so to speak, is to go out of your way to find all the orbs and disconnect from the game. Beating the system. So I think it's cool to speculate as to the in-game story, but I think it's really just an allegory meant to connect you, the player, and the game itself. Of course there's a lot of interpretation, but that's what makes it great!

[@JC-li8kk]

I totally missed the bunker in the cornfield. The game will literally just stop after you unplug it? Or do you just continue to the end with everything turned off?

[@enojelly9452]

Thanks, this is the best interpretation I have read so far. Any idea what the tense underwater scene, with the boy being "revived" and markedly different from then on, means in that context?

[@OatsandPorridge]

Omg its dan from game grumps

[@vardansimonyan966]

I like ur explanation

[@enzoashrodriguez8233]

J C the game went to complete shutdown, it’s beautiful

[@NamaJeff]

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.

[@maxderrat]

Exactly! :) That was my point.

[@CALLthaDoctah]

One thing I don't get is why the boy, under the control of the blob, is resisting the siren that helped him along his journey.

[@NamaJeff]

The Jayhawker The boy believes he has free will. He makes his own choices not knowing that he is being influenced by the blob to choose a specific path.

[@bmona7550]

@@NamaJeff No, I think its actually the fact that the boy is partially controlled by the blob in the beginning, not completely controlled. The more he gets closer to the blob the more he loses his will to the blob. Even knowing he will be controlled, he went foward. Why? For the alternate ending, to have the chance to shut everything down instead to be truly free. The mermaid is controlled by the blob and dragged him down to kill him BUT also to not destroy his body. The blob needs full control of the boy who had different plans from it. The boy was then made into the blob's remote controlled vessel after that..

[@lemontree9518]

In mythology, mermaids commonly prefer to drown their prey. Just food for thought.

[@elipter9689]

I can understand the logic behind most of this, but I have a different theory about the alternate ending. I believe that Playdead were hinting at the fact that even though it may feel like the boy is trying to escape from being controlled and being part of a twisted society, no matter how hard he tries he will still always be under the control of someone; the player. The boy, if you think about it, doesn't have any free will throughout this whole story. He is always being controlled by you, the player. Playdead did a fantastic job on this, so much is left up to us and our interpretation of the game.

[@CHr0mi0n]

and in the secret ending he unplugs himself from the player, who is watching/controling the boy over the computers we see in the background. I like this theory.

[@mrlordsaif5708]

OH HEY ELIPTER

[@DailyDoseofShortsVideos]

Elipter yea but In the secret ending he turns off his control and he’s free

[@jackehboi23]

Elipter I appreciate the good grammar here xD

[@Taiiiiiniggaaa]

I like this theory becuase he's getting his ultimate freedom. Unplugging from all control. I think you got it right

[@LightingInvoker]

I also like how at first we're all relieved the meatball makes it outside in his final resting place, but when you think about the journey you went on, the boy has been consistently going deeper and deeper underground since he got in the submarine. You're not actually outside, you're just in a fabricated area meant to trick you into thinking you were.

[@LightingInvoker]

@D That's a lot less fun of an idea though, lmao

[@LeisdogOP]

OK, I think you play as the meatball the entire time. In the game they show that a drone that is controlled can use the mind control helmets like a chain of command. The boy is a drone the entire time and the meatball is controlling it. It is using you like you use the drones: to escape. The alternate ending supports this because he unplugs the entire system that has been there throughout the game and he is left lifeless, much like the other drones without the mind control thingies.

[@OurLove4Dance]

Spot on!

[@gerardodiaz7094]

That’s exactly what the video was talking about lol

[@somerandomguy5905]

Or maybe the blob controls the player who controls the boy. This could be the case because when we start the game we just decide to go forward without knowing why And in the alt ending the helmet wired up to the computers could represent the player

[@autumnhall5447]

but the boy acts human even when being controlled, unlike the other humans who are brainwashed. they act limp and lifeless. why does the boy act different under mind control compared to the other humans? or are none of them human anymore?

[@bmona7550]

@@autumnhall5447 It meant that he still had some will left therefore he was not completely controlled by the blob/Hive. The boy wears a red shirt signifying that he "escaped". He's "back" to the facility to try and change things since the whole facility is rigged. The blob and the boy each have different goals. The blob insists on the insanity of repeating the same mistakes of doing everything to escape. The boy wanted to shut everything down to be truly free. The closer he gets to the blob the more he loses his will and control to the blob. That's why he tries to swim away from the obviously blob controlled mermaids. When he gets killed by the mermaids that's when the boy's body became another remote host for the blob. As for the others, their lack of being human is probably because the experiment has been going on for so long and some are probably affected by the blob's control. The brainwashed humans are moreso due to experimentation

[@behnamplays]

one good thing about 2020 quarantine is that I discovered this masterpiece after 4 years!

[@I_Hate_People_Who_Eat_Paper]

Same 😂

[@madhatter4566]

Same

[@notnA51]

I just played through it again recently. It's amazing on a bigger monitor!

[@CJTranceAddiction]

Yep, me too man....me too. This, Limbo and GRIS! And Little Nightmares....

[@ragegage1221]

I literally watched a 2 hour walk through and I am going out to get a xbox one. Sounds crazy but I want to play this so bad.

[@Shaarapollo]

You completely failed to touch upon one of the most fascinating and brutal parts of the facility. The pulsating sound area. Why does no one pay attention to that part of the game it obviously has some meaning.

[@sxnekid]

It could be how the mind control is transmitted? Or perhaps it could be used as a mining tool when you look at the location. Also what would they be mining for anyway?

[@lagalil]

You cant ask the guy to have answers for everything, he already did an awsome job. My personal theory is that the pulse is some kind of catastrophe of some origin that threatens humanity or a part of it, in a way that excedes its current ability to deal with this pulse. The meatball its part of an experiment to create the ultimate hiver mind that would help humanity to deal with this threat. In a more extensive inquiry, maby the origin of the pulse is in a divided mankind, in wich one of the bands centered in creating more powerful weapons to combat the other one, while the other band focused their efforts into researching the human mind and biologic engeenering.

[@weyheydaneey]

WHAT IF the huge pulsating force in the middle of the game AND the guys chasing you at the start of the game are both part of another entity? What if that other entity was trying to capture the boy to prevent the boy from fulfilling the experiments of the facility which was eventually fulfilled in the real ending of the game. The other entity is in fact against the practices of the facility in the game and the big pulsating force was that other entity's attempt to destroy the facility. That would explain why it was weirdly strong and would destroy everything in its range. Idk but well its a theory

[@John-uw2je]

Space travel. Think, random rockets underwater gravity testing, non breathing beings.

[@ThisDyingEarth]

Like a heartbeat. Or a psionic weapon or emanation from a gigantic creature. Perhaps another blob that's housed elsewhere or successfully escaped in the past. Just throwing ideas out there.

[@ThatShyGuyMatt]

I seen alot of theories but came up with one thats easy and doesn't really have any flaws (given what we know). Near the end when the blob crashes through the elevator shaft he lands in a "display" type glass room. In it is the end scene. A mountain side, the light shining and even a tiny blob where you would end up. Keeping that in mind my belief is while you were controlling the kid to free yourself, you didn't realize the humans (or whatever they are) actually set you up. Look at how they helped you out at the end. And when it ends you roll down into the very same place as that in that display room. But heres the thing. Notice it seems more like a light then the sun? No real background despite being outside. Just the typical greyish mist. A fake moutain with wood behind it. You are in fact... just in a bigger cage now. The display was a model of your cage. So you did exactly what they hoped you would do and went there thinking you were free. But upon landing you don't bother getting up because you realized it was all for nothing. You escaped one cage only to end up in one bigger that doesn't seem escapable. About the only flaw that I could think of is in that display you do see a building right off to the right. Not sure if thats what it was or maybe some object in the display case not related to the room you end up in. Either way I think the cage theory is the most plausible. This of course doesn't explain pretty much everything else like who they are. What you are. How they built what they did. If your on earth and all that.

[@ghivariay9713]

that make sense.

[@erfanmanouchehri6289]

awesome

[@thelgpain6529]

Thats was my thought too. It is like the Hubger Games, you were in a control enviroment, and everybody was watching you struggle over and over again

[@thelgpain6529]

Hunger*

[@victorborof43]

I can't see the comment :/ There's not a "show more" button and I really wanna see your theory..

[@bravebooce2731]

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

[@karnager3formed758]

A nuke just dropped in my head

[@jalen5647]

Nigga you made my day with that one 😂

[@catharsis265]

my mind is in 1 million pieces

[@deadricprince9778]

This made me laugh so hard lol

[@Akymma]

Here good sir, found a piece of your cortex.

[@JDRos]

The plate that counts 20 drones somehow counts the boy in.

[@autumnhall5447]

i think its just based on human weight

[@debaucherous.hamster]

autumn Hall no because when you put the dead body in on the plate he isn’t counted it’s a hint at that you are being controlled

[@jonathankops8741]

@@debaucherous.hamster the dead body does count towards the 20

[@benburns1180]

@@debaucherous.hamster the dead body DOES count though....

[@tay9813]

autistic vibes the dead body does count but I get what you mean like how there expecting him to come and almost see into the future

[@KarlRock]

Now I feel like I was never even controlling the boy. I was being controlled by the ball. And then the facility.

[@ZEUS_WRAITH]

Damn u here to?

[@AXharoth]

false

[@johnhowardz9524]

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.

[@johnhowardz9524]

Same,like games that are somewhat related to life and have some kind of psychological explanation and stuff creep me out.

[@johnhowardz9524]

I haven't seen Fran Bow..Is it creepier?

[@helton3425]

It has a lot of gore and a lot of weird child imagination in it...

[@johnhowardz9524]

Lol

[@amarsofiane]

I think that no theory as far as it makes sense is wrong.

[@FahdRiyami]

I think we're forgetting something. Someone built that underground bunker, installed that PC there, and intentionally put a trap door in the middle of a cornfield to hide it all. Was it the farmer who only built the farm as a guise. Could the farmer have been an ex-Evil Corp employee who didn't agree with what the company was doing? This would explain the song required to enter the bunker. A song only a long time employee would remember so well. If you look closely at the mind control computer in the bunker, you'll see a seat. It seems the ex-employee was once the one controlling the boy (or children before him), guiding them through the facility to try and disrupt the experiment and put an end to it. The farmer was probably captured at some point and thrown into the hive mind, where he guided the boy back to the bunker to unplug the mind control computer, in the hopes of stopping any further attempts at playing this game and ending the experiment.

[@notdelta99]

O.o I, I dont know what to think now

[@notdelta99]

O.o I, I dont know what to think now

[@notdelta99]

O.o I, I dont know what to think now

[@legendsofevil]

There is a picture of that blob in the bunker, so it makes sense that there was an ex-employee who orchestrated the boy's actions.

[@DonatoryThrall]

That does makes sense, i think you all noticed the kids under water with the long hair, maybe they are one of the kids this ex-employee was controling, and somehow he lost control of them underwater, thats why they grow long hair, and they are attacking the kid, because...maybe...if they are not under control, they have some sort of aggresive behaviour.

[@John-uw2je]

In the secret room in the cornfeild, the picture room with red lighting, you can see the pictures develop over time. Its a nice secret image that will spook you. Also, i find it weir how the majority if the game,you go down, but escape onto a beach.

[@logotho7340]

Where can I find an image or video of the room with the developed photos? I'd like to see this spooky image

[@dustinhutchinson7337]

Thats one thing that always super bothered me. You dive about 3,000 fathoms deep between the sub, sinking after drowning, and then swimming. There was literally 20 story building and upright cargo ships. The swim downwards and the minor progression upwards doesnt add up. This is some abstergo level containment.

[@John-uw2je]

Logo Mead There should be a gameinformer thing on it, just look up playdeads inside secrets gameinformer.

[@logotho7340]

Found it, thanks. Looks like one of the photos was of one of those 'mermaids', couldn't make out the other one though. Interesting, how they did that.

[@logotho7340]

No, wait... Is that a tree?

[@duckduckgroose9517]

Hello everybody! I have written a poem based on this game. I have spent a long time on it so i hope u enjoy! In a dystopian future, A wicked flower blooms Dogs bark in the distance Impending their doom A boy’s on a journey To find a beam of light All alone in this world, No sane human in sight He bolts through a forest As quick as a flash For if he gets caught, Hope is lost at last In a dystopian future, White water runs red The ones who rebelled Were left for dead The weak are enslaved As is the poor The ones who rebelled Better lock their doors In a dystopian future, Dawn’s dead air hangs high a broken And as twilight sang it’s last refrain, This boy realizes his quest for freedom May never present a gain The distant sounds of war broke echos Unrivaled over the voiceless land He was scared and had no home to hide in, But he still focused on the task at hand He has gone through tough times Such as starvation and sickness For when he can rest May it be quick and endless This young man is no longer a child, He has grown up so fast He now stands strong and proud, Family hand in hand at last I hope everyone enjoyed and leave a like if you did!

[@calvindennie864]

Prince Groose good shit man

[@duckduckgroose9517]

Calvin Dennie thanks man this was actually a poem I based off this game. I know I’m late to the party but hey, someone liked it!

[@Andyilmatto]

Good guy Groose

[@minh6661]

i love this b l e s s e d

[@bruhmomentxd8300]

Duck Duck Groose poems arent that long.. jk its good

[@TheStephenm1993]

For me the moment that had me highly suspicious that I was actually doing what the people/facility wanted me to, was when all the people gathered around the window, completely ignoring me, even though I was right in front of them, being hardly inconspicious. Some of there glances at me, even appeared to be that of watching me, as if evaluating my movement, seeing what I was doing. Though, perhaps I imagined it. Inspires much thought and speculation, indeed.

[@carsong3047]

I saw the same thing!

[@Sand926e1]

Interesting. When I played that bit, I thought that whatever was happening inside the chamber was so interesting and groundbreaking that they didn't care about my presence.

[@bananaenjoyer123]

oh my god now that you say it it makes so much sense. I felt weird at first like why did the workers not freak out when they saw me... goddamn i love playdead!

[@marielkurki8624]

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?

[@tenebrasolanum4215]

In star trek people wearing red shirts are almost 90% of the time going to die.

[@henrythe7th1]

How come the people working in the "offices" didn't wear masks, and the men outside did?

[@Sircumcision]

Were the guys in the forest wearing masks? I couldn't really tell, their faces looked just as white and blank as everyone else's, or am I just blind?

[@tenebrasolanum4215]

I never pay any attention to them, they just seem like a generic bunch of henchman to me.

[@Braithekaikiller]

may be that´s why the blob stop after rolling down

[@NoirRaven]

I really hate these names people have come up for the living mass in the game. Blob, Meatball; all of these things undermine what we're looking at. A cluster of sentient people who are in the epitome physical and emotional distress. Yes, these are _sentient human beings_ inside that tank, which explains why the rogue drone has emotions/fears. It's the emotions/fears of the Hive-mind. As for how the Hive-mind came to be, well, it doesn't make a lot sense until you consider what we witnessed while trying to "rescue" it. The boy got pulled into the mass and became one with it. I believe this mass of people, were previous rogues that either happen at random or are necessary for the mind controlling process. No one can be sure as to which, but it explains how the boy knew where to go and, for the most part, what to do. Hell, this even explains the resets in the game where, after you lose a life, you start off back at the invisible check point. Possibly as another rogue. TL;DR: Each and every one of those writhing body parts, are a previous rescue attempt. So, okay, what about the diorama? Why hasn't anyone properly sealed the Cluster away somewhere so it can't be freed? Why didn't it break out before now? My guess is that no matter what, there must always be a rogue and something for the rogue to search for. We saw that after a certain amount of people, it gains too much power and strength to be controlled so, why fight it? This explains why the scientists and staff members, help usher it along at the end. This has happened before and will keep on happening so again, why fight it? The diorama demonstrates where the Cluster will be housed for the time being. (Before/if they kill it.) This also somewhat explains the Cluster's reaction to the fall. I'm not sure if it's conscious during the last few moments there but if it is, I get that it's at first, relieved. It made it. It's outside. Even God seems to be smiling upon it with sunbeams. Except that's not a sun. I don't think it happens before the scene ends but, eventually, this thing will realize it's in another cage and it will, yet again, want to escape. But what can it do? I think every bone in it's gelatinous bio mass is broken, it can't move anymore, not after all that punishment before and after the trees. So it does what it's always done, send a signal for help, but perhaps, it can't do more than send a psychic sense of it's whereabouts, and the new rogue just ends up repeating the same process, leading it to the tank and become the first of many, to become the new Cluster. Either that or the scientists create a new cluster with "volunteers." Possibly even the corpses of the upper class who got killed during the rampage. (Which is why they don't care about the carnage.) Gotta put those bodies to use, after all. As for how often this happens; Well, I've actually grown pine trees in my yard. I planted them when I was seven and now at thirty two, they're taller than my two story house. Given that the cluster seems to be about 12-15ft tall, I'd say this process repeats every seven to ten years, seeing as the cluster is even bigger than some of the trees it unfortunately runs over.

[@lagalil]

Its a blob. It can be the most inteligent and full of feelings being in the planet, but it is still a blob.

[@vermillion4318]

tl;dr, please explain in a sentence :x ?

[@vermillion4318]

***** Thank you, appreciate the time you've used.

[@almagel]

Neko Slayer lazy piece of shit

[@vermillion4318]

***** Surprised you still care enough to reply considering all you do is insult people for a living and make a fool out of yourself, degenerate.

[@williamheller6648]

I think the mermaids were a failed attempt at making humans being able to live underwater

[@darkflame728]

And if there was a flood that destroyed parts of the facility (cause a lot of the places seem flooded) then that'd make sense.

[@sleepyreapy1222]

they were drone labour like all the other drones you see being suspended in that synthetic womb, something fucked up and they never matured, you can tell they've been there ages because their hair is long, theyve been there so long their hair has grown, the constant immersion caused them to mutate or evolve to breathe underwater

[@user-gi6hd5ol6f]

@@sleepyreapy1222 and she's lonely! that's where you come in

[@leonardfeuerstein]

Dude thats awsome

[@nidhinkrishnankutty6415]

Well... Most of the ones inside the facility never tryed to kill the boy. And mermaids some time succedd in killing the boy the same way people tryed to kill the boy in the beginning... . . .wierd

[@chris21taylor]

"The only winning move in the struggle for control is not to play", love that ending...Great explanation!

[@KenmoreChalfant]

Why is it that, while the masked people try to kill the boy throughout the whole game, in the end the office workers don't seem to mind the boy, and even help the blob escape? They seem scared of it, but at the same time only scared enough to run like 20 feet and then turn back around and watch. I think the masked people and the office workers are regular humans, working together. The masked people are guards and the office workers are scientists and engineers. They are growing these drones to do manual labor; you even see some of them in hardhats, doing construction. I think they created the hive mind to control all of the drones. However, they don't have total control over the hive mind and are constantly monitoring it and have guards watching all the drones to make sure they aren't acting fishy. I am not sure if the boy is being controlled by the hive mind directly, but rather, the hive mind ends up noticing the boy and actively helping him reach the blob. Notice: early in the game you often walk by drones and they do absolutely nothing unless you hook up to a mind control terminal and control them manually; but sometimes you go by a few who just stand slouched and don't even notice you. Later on they all start joining you and helping you automatically; even when you do not have a mind control device. I think, as the blob is hooked up to the machines, it is somehow weakened or too bogged down controlling drones to control its own body, which is why it can't escape on its own. When you first swim up to it it doesn't move at all. After you remove the first terminal it moves a little. Once your remove the second terminal it tries to grab you but doesn't seem to have much strength. By the time you remove the third one it gains enough control to pull you inside. From there, I'm not sure if the boy gains control of the blob or you switch to the blob... or if they are now fully assimilated and there's no distinction anymore. I also view the alternate ending as more of an easter egg than a part of the canon story. I think the computer represents the player, i.e.: the boy was controlled by a computer the whole time... And the fact that you have to find all of the secrets first and then go back to a spot near the start of the game represents kind of a metaphor that you may choose to save the boy from all the terrors later in the game by unplugging yourself from controlling him, ending it early. The biggest mindfuck, a potentially big hole in the story to me, is the diorama. The fact that it foreshadows the ending before it happens makes me think it was all pre-determined... but by who? And why? My best guess is that it was just an easter egg, and not integral to the story. If it was meant as more than an easter egg, then I think your explanations is okay. I would basically say: the blob has escaped many times and, because it's mostly made up of the same minds, tends to do it in the same way.. Its creators even tailored the path for it, to stream line it and make it more predictable. In the end they probably go pick it up and put it back in its tank and things go back to business as usual... until it eventually happens all over again many years later. My theory as to who the boy is and how the game starts? He was just some orphan boy living in the woods.. perhaps with a family who was killed/kidnapped by the masked men. He comes across the truck in the forest and starts following it. Notice how you follow the route of the truck for awhile until you get to the city, where you see the truck stopped and the people getting in line and marching through the street. Maybe his family was taken in one of those trucks once and he wanted to find them.

[@raidolato]

"the masked people try to kill the boy" - maybe they dont, they shoot sleeping arrows. Look at this gameplay /watch?v=ViPRSi0iVvQ at 6:07, arrow in boy back. Masked ppl try to capture him, machines uses paralizators, dogs and water-girls kills.

[@raidolato]

"I think they created the hive mind" - there is no hive-mind, that four plugs linked with blob r different than mind-control plugs. Blob have that four plugs just to have ability to breathe underwater. Similiar plug water-girl gave a boy. That wasnt mind-control plug. Boy received a mental power when mind-control-helmet had short circuit (when the first shock wave hit).

[@raidolato]

"I also view the alternate ending as more of an easter egg than a part of the canon story. I think the computer represents the player, i.e.: the boy was controlled by a computer the whole time... And the fact that you have to find all of the secrets first and then go back to a spot near the start of the game represents kind of a metaphor that you may choose to save the boy from all the terrors later in the game by unplugging yourself from controlling him, ending it early.." - thats brilliant theory and i think thats the true interpretation.

[@raidolato]

"potentially big hole in the story to me, is the diorama" - it can be a simple plan of artificial beach (the world is destroyed so they need to do artificial beautiful places) but i think that is somekind of metaphor.

[@KenmoreChalfant]

I was playing through some random parts of the game again, looking for more meaning. I have heard some people say that the "outdoors" in the very end is all a fake set, and the big wooden wall you break through is like the back of how a set of a play looks. If this is true, the scope of this facility is ridiculously big. But I noticed something else. There's at least one other time after you are deep in the facility where you randomly enter an "outdoors" area. If I remember right, it's half way through the submarine section; the part where you open a door and the pods roll down after you. When you go out there, the forest and the pods and the wall on the far side of the room look eerily like a part near the beginning of the game (where you use a fridge to jump the wall). And seeing as how we see areas repeated in old, derelict parts of the facility, which are labelled 1-3 (with #4 being where the blob is kept); it shows that they have built the same areas many times and then abandoned them. Perhaps the entire game from start to finish is "inside". Whenever you think you're seeing the sky and true sunlight it's all an illusion. It's all part of a set (similar to the movie The Truman Show).

[@schoenbaard]

This is an amazing analysis and video, thank you! I think I have a small addition to your observations. Remember that the underwater creature is afraid of light? It pacifies the creature until it cannot move. I think the hive mind (or blob) is the same. That's why they lured it there, in the enormous spotlight on the beach, to contain it, and perhaps kill it. (btw, the spotlight can also be found in the diorama) Maybe it was like a backup plan for when the hive mind became self-conscious and try to free itself and run away. In this way they could channel its desire to be free and eliminate its threat. This also explains the reason why there are so many different reactions of the people to the whole event. When you go into the 'womb' of the hive mind, there are people cheering, because they know they succeeded in creating an artificial conscious mind, this is an amazing achievement. Although they had a backup plan, of course they didn't know exactly how the blob would get out. So when the blob broke the glass they were surprised and shocked (Just as the police would have a backup plan for when a dangerous criminal escapes prison. They don't know how he could escape, but in case he will, there is a backup plan to capture him). Although the people in the direct path of the blob are mortified (and righteously so, they are gonna get trampled), everybody is still looking from a distance because its an unbelievable thing to see. Then there are the people that are helping you, because they are executing the backup plan to lure you to the path to the beach and eliminate you. Other people are aware of this and run (in the background) to the dark theater to get a last glimpse of the greatest scientific achievement in the history of mankind (artificial consciousness), where you then fall through the hole into the water.

[@maxderrat]

I'm going to include this in the follow-up to this video.

[@1zippy]

it's weird the CEO got killed by the meatball. maybe only the scientists were in on the experiment, and chose not to tell their boss? also, just wanted to point out that before you enter the final out doors scene, the wooden wall you knock down is set up to obviously look like a back drop. reminds me of the Truman show LOL

[@Oracol]

I actually didn't kill the 'CEO' figure. I slowed down, went back and forth in his office, actually trying to avoid running the guy over, and when I finally decided to bust through the window the 'CEO' figure just stepped aside and walked away unscathed.

[@1zippy]

Philosopherous interesting. huh. thanks for sharing

[@huehuehuehuehue1986]

Or! It may not be the CEO after all, giving the blob a sense of fulfillment and vengeance. Some meta-shit goin' on haha

[@Danilego]

I think that part wasn't planned. I mean, they can't totally control where the blob goes so I think some parts were not part of the plan

[@BradleyDS90]

Maybe the guy was just a clone created for the purpose of making the blob feel accomplished in thinking they killed the head guy.

[@TonberryQueen]

So _that's_ why he scientists were cheering when they saw the boy swimming naked in the chamber where the meatball resided! They were cheering because their experiment was, once again, a success! Yet another of the world's strongest inhabitants has been guided to the meatball. They all knew this would happen, because it had happened many times before.

[@AKACookies]

That doesn't explain why they go to such great lengths to try and kill you then

[@TonberryQueen]

Well, if it's a "test" to bring only the strongest of what's left of free humanity together to form that blob, then part of the test may be to see if the boy they're chasing is smart, strong, and quick enough to survive to the end. If he can't survive to the end, then perhaps he's not a worthy candidate for assimilation.

[@durian111]

+A.K.A Cookies I think it is a test, remember the blob is a hive mind and the kid is just a control drone, if the kid die it consider a fail, they will try it again, the point of the experiment is to see how the hive mind learn, just how we observe octopus escape, it will try and try again with new drone and learn how to evade human and assimilate with them till it got free from it captive. The diorama is the best example that this experiment is a control test, they already anticipate the next course of action this blob going to make, and this experiment is to see if it will change it pattern.

[@mswishwashstoning8450]

Wait,, why are the scientists trying to find the strongest of people again? How does it help with the population crisis? Especially since all these strong people get absorbed into the human blob.

[@BradleyDS90]

They were cheering but some of them were killed when the blob cracked through the water chamber's glass. And some killed on the way to the wooded area. Personally, I think the entire game takes place within a facility. All of the trees and water areas, etc. are a fabrication.

[@1sobre2]

Holy shit! When I finished the game I was :o. Now seeing this explanation, specially when you showed the Diorama... :ooooooooooo. Fantastic work, dude!

[@maxderrat]

Thank you, good sir! :)

[@DIRECTORshane]

I interpenetrated the ones trying to 'drown' you, as just trying to help you. Maybe they wanted to lead you to the ability to breathe, but didn't make it in time and you die. I had kind of a eureka moment, when the one that finally connects you to the machine didn't seem any different than the others. There was also no major change in between the last one to drown you, and the one that saves you. Just a thought though. Great breakdown to an amazing piece of art.

[@kcorangejuice3667]

Gabriel Meirele

[@chictapi]

don't know if i'm too late for all the inside hype, but i remembered when u controlled the zombie people to put them on a plate of 20, they acted EXACTLY like the little chicks at the farm that follow you around, with one lagging at the end in both cases

[@bmona7550]

chictApi I think the chicks following him hints that he used to be there, escape but came back. Baby chicks follow anyone who they are familiar with

[@kennyrogers9362]

wait are there 20 of em?

[@nitroexsplosion]

Don't forget the dead one

[@kennyrogers9362]

i didnt

[@nitroexsplosion]

@@kennyrogers9362 Was referring to the OP but that's good. There's a lot of nuances in this game to be scrolled over carefully.

[@ienjoy7819]

Now this make sense. Because the people that play this game are actually a part of the facility, because players control the main character. It is posible because in the game you can control a controller of someone

[@ThisDyingEarth]

Yeah we're all Inside this giant facility in a sense. Edit - We control both the blob and the boy, the blob controls the boy, the boy controls the drones/clones/mannequins... and on and on, and possibly vice versa if you look at it from a different perspective. The architecture, buildings, etc have a dreamlike quality to them, i.e. areas blend, the layouts don't make sense, etc. The diorama reminds me of the geodesic dome from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. This is the reality that we've been given by the entities that wish to study/modify us. Perhaps the scene inside the diorama shows, in miniature, part of the boundary of the world the boy finds himself in. The entities that shape the world of Inside use it - and others like it, perhaps - to train/familiarise the blob with its surroundings.

[@friendlyelites]

+ThisDyingEarth well its more we have control over the boy and when the boy is absorbed into the blob his will is the one that takes over letting us take over the blob, in whole its just a large cycle in a larger world where the blob must reach the beach, or as seen in the secret ending, lose control entirely by deviating from the path

[@90sFlav]

finish this gem today. This blow me

[@Clawwle]

Nice

[@AggJr]

Didn't know you played this btw love your visuals and your music

[@jamesjiao]

Are you telling people to finish this game today or are you planning to finish it today?

[@abondonedchannel6870]

90sFlav *gem*

[@abondonedchannel6870]

Raptor Cawk its "game" dude

[@seraphimvalkyrin4543]

The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is the people rushing to look at the blob thing while it was contained. Like they all wanted to see the thing they created for the first time. If it had been an on going experiment then I doubt so many people would be rushing to see it.

[@Chocolate9712]

and also the blob kills people, wait but none of those people were wearing masks right? which we assume signifies being an upper member of this society structure, so what if the scoentists that "died" were really drones being controlled by some people far off to make the hive mind think it was really escaping and killing its captors when in reality no actual damage or loss of life occured? I just had this thought mid reply lol idk if theres some evidence against it but its pretty interesting anyway.

[@apeture_explorer4810]

+Chocolate9712 I think the purpose of masks to give them faces is just a metaphor signifying them to be the face of the organization, the representatives of it considering you never see the scientists outside.

[@storyteller3036]

+Chocolate9712 yeah, that's what I think as well. it was obvious with the way there were parts of that escape where the scientists helped in the escape. if they really didn't want it getting free, they wouldn't have made it possible in that way.

[@RunningwththeWolves]

It could be that if the boy was part of this whole set up thing to be part of the blob thingy, then it could be that all these scientists were rushing to see what the outcome would be. If this is a cycle which happens every few years or so as someone said before, then it's possible that this was all planned out and the people that work at the facility were trying to see what would happen when the boy joined the blob, whether it would end the growth or if there needed to be more people.

[@AJIEKC777]

I would probably say that maybe blob started doing something unusual. For example he may have started moving, feeling the boy being close. So people were like "OMG this shit was in coma for years and it started moving randomly, need to see it"

[@moondawwg]

I think every time you die it isn't the same boy that comes back, but a new drone that now has learned how to overcome the obstacle that killed the last one, the same way you learn to do that as the player. So eventually all that knowledge goes into the meat ball to improve it. I love it, It's so creative and original.

[@TheProphegy]

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

[@calvindennie864]

@ Eddie Cardwell me2 bro

[@draxcir]

Has a next game come out yet?

[@maricruzmartinez3930]

@@draxcir yeah little nightmares was their third game I think

[@marcinpomidor1226]

@@maricruzmartinez3930 "Little Nightmares is a puzzle-platformer horror adventure game developed by Tarsier Studios and published by Bandai Namco". There is only one known image of the new Playdead game

[@occosaijelsem]

@@draxcir not yet but there are some images and a little text explanation on their page. "Our current project is a 3rd-person science fiction adventure set in a remote corner of the universe". Theres some very little footage

[@caelroraback2213]

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.

[@kx7500]

You should also try undertale and deltarune!

[@LanaaAmor]

@@kx7500 Undertale and deltarune suck. It got popular because of autistic youtubers like dunkey and a few memers.

[@kx7500]

@@LanaaAmor it’s still popular right now. Also what’s wrong with being autistic? I don’t think you actually get the appeal of undertale, it’s way more than what is shown on the surface or in memes or whatever. I played it knowing nothing about the toxic culture or memes or anything other than sans, and I finished it now having a new favourite game of all time and an influenced perspective on the world about determination, power, freedom, violence, friendship, and a lot more. I’m super invested in the lore of the game and yet there are things constantly that are legitimately there in the game I STILL only find out now after squeezing this games contents dry. Everyone has their own tastes which is fine but all I ask is you not be judgemental, I probably don’t fit into whatever mental categories you may have put me into.

[@placebo_effect]

SAME

[@BadVoodo0]

I think its over complicating the story. -The monster is used to clone / control drones. -The drones are used either as a massive experiment or perhaps the world maybe normal outside and drones may act as slave labor since they're able to farm pigs and such. -Everyone in the facility is immune to the monsters influence. -Some random boy was playing too close to the facility and was unprotected so it got influenced by the monster which is why every intruder NOT wearing a mask is executed so harshly. -The monster has constantly attempted to escape which has left a lot of the facility in ruin, which is why there's so many layers. -The scientist decided they can't stop the monster from trying to escape so i'll be easier to give the monster "false hope" and a predetermined path so they can reduce damage done as a failsafe should the guards be unable to stop the monsters puppets. -The secret ending is the monster wising up and accepting it can't escape and instead deciding to sacrifice its chance of escaping so the scientist can't use it to control the drones. -Water drones are just glitched drones, being unaccessable by the scientist the monster is able to influence them, when you drown there's even a dead body with a needle inside it meaning the monster attempted this before but something happened. -Everything is in ruin because of the monsters previous attempts at escaping or perhaps as a result of resettling locals once it became apparent the monster could influenced people.

[@rabeebibrat1805]

Interesting theory! One question: If the monster controls all the drones, why can't it use all of them against the facility?

[@seanmorris4274]

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?

[@geesisfreak]

"This oppressed little ball." BEST. SENTENCE. EVER.

[@Kaydje]

It's actually just a retelling of Katamari Damacy you hooligans.

[@maxderrat]

I laughed so hard.

[@nabelsnabel5378]

Max Derrat

[@drewbee2096]

Max Derrat of

[@pascalpixel3887]

The DC version. Dark and gritty.

[@BeezOne84]

What about goddamn HEAVY BASS DROP cave?

[@zerogbot23]

That's the facilities most Fire Mixtape, and to save the world from glorious destruction they hid it there

[@ThisDyingEarth]

Where's that? The pulse that obliterates your body? Somewhere else?

[@BeezOne84]

ThisDyingEarth Right after 19 zombies puzzle.

[@prisionedtaco1036]

Yeah sorry I dropped it there and nobody was ready my bad...

[@memeenjoyer3263]

droped harder than greek economy XD

[@awesomekittyzombie]

I heard a suggestion that when the boy unplugs the cord from that thing in the alternate ending, that he is "unplugging" himself from the players control because If you think about it, you are the one in control and as soon as you unplug the cord the you lose control and the boy looks almost somewhat relieved. breaking the forth wall!

[@DaemonEX0]

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.

[@FilmFightFanatic]

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.

[@nebulous9280]

Super late to this discussion but doesn't it seem possible that the hivemind started as a single person as well? It's a large mass of flesh and limbs. Clearly made of numerous other people. If the facility kept repeating this experiment, then isn't it likely that a new body kept merging together with each experiment?

[@bruh717]

If the experiment of the boy running into the facility and becoming one with the blob, is repeated over and over again, that would make sense because it would be growing on each repeat of the experiment

[@tracies19]

You ever noticed that nobody has faces, but the 2 guys you have to sneak past at those pod things wear masks?

[@AlexMourning5635]

The "higher minded" or people in control all wear masks. Like a definitive "we are superior" kind of thing. The scientists don't wear them though, for whatever reason.

[@tracies19]

Hmm maybe but i have only noticed to people wearing them. Have you seen anymore other than the guys i mentioned?

[@AlexMourning5635]

Yeah. The families when you are pretending to be a mind-dead slave, the father and son hanging by the entrance of a warehouse watching a man pick up the crate of people (when you yourself are hiding behind a box), and any people that appear to be spectators rather than proper workers (save for the people at the beginning of the game.)

[@tracies19]

oh okay yeah i saw them but i didn't remember a mask i will check it out later

[@maxderrat]

It might also be a visual marker that protects individuals from capture. Notice how it is only around the beginning of the game that you see people wearing these masks.

[@bradleybindle6428]

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.

[@Xillien13]

So many theories. Brain hurt.

[@christianwillmon5684]

I thought it was just a fucking blob

[@minimash2485]

a fucking 'blob' or a 'fucking blob' very different things

[@XxDatBoyFly1xX]

+MiniMash lol

[@tukus9133]

I thought it was a mass of humans, like the experimenters made the human blob out of limbs 'n stuff.

[@mecrive]

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?

[@ArcienPlaysGames]

Duuuuude holy shit

[@j.madelozo8222]

i just shit my pants... but yup... it clearly is the name of the game.

[@mecrive]

***** Yeah, now I'm wondering if that's meant to be a big lamp or sunlight from the outside world?

[@BradleyDS90]

That's what I think. I think the ENTIRE game takes place in a facility. INSIDE a facility. Everything in the game is a fabrication.

[@blair4935]

yeah, everywhere you go in the game is inside

[@TheAlexroller]

This game is all what I want games to become. Art with playing mechanics and designs that let you thinking and imagining about those worlds. I think we are seeing more games that does all this with time.

[@eifieward7529]

I saw a cool theory which framed the game as a metaphor for cancer, like the boy was just a malignant cell trying to move through the body undetected, the drones represent the normal cells, regulated and benign, being produced on mass and transported around the body, the dogs and the people being the cells in charge of regulating and destroying malignancies such as the boy, and the blob, a tumour composed of drone and malignant cells which eventually wreaks havoc on the body, but is then removed. And the alternate ending where the we unplug the controlling force is point where the cancer infiltrates the body’s defences and shuts it down, killing itself as well as the body. Almost makes too much sense not to have some truth to it

[@neotradnous]

What about that weird astronaut thing in the window? I feel like this game is a movie scene

[@ThisDyingEarth]

Can you jog my memory and tell me when/where this happens? Just finished the game tonight but can't recall anything that looked like an astronaut. Is it towards the end of the game, with the video cameras directed towards a room?

[@neotradnous]

+ThisDyingEarth I think it's shortly after the "rebirthing" scene with the mermaid girl and the cord. You swim past a window and if you wait around for a few seconds or swim slow enough, this weird suit of white is seen appearing in a window.

[@ThisDyingEarth]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for it during my next playthrough.

[@frnchjames2280]

are you the gratata , swag bitch boy

[@neotradnous]

+Nige Cooper (Bookworm) yeah that's it! I just say astronaut because it looks like one but maybe it's a deep sea diver? Lol

[@RustyskillCS]

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

[@maxderrat]

Cheers!

[@danefleury2905]

+Max Derrat (Mackenzie) continuing on I have something to add to the alternate ending theory, I have read that it is most likely the boy unplugging himself from you, the player, idk how this would fit in to the story, but if you look in the background in that scene you can see a mind control machine, and screens in the background, and when you unplug, it goes dark.

[@ghty56222]

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.

[@autumnhall5447]

but its proven in the hidden ending that he was being controlled the whole time

[@autumnhall5447]

and if the boy had no purpose at the beginning then why was he going towards the hive mind? the boy always knew exactly where to go to reach and free the hive mind.

[@bmona7550]

@@autumnhall5447 It just meant that the boy was not completely controlled by the Hive in the beginning. He has his own goal. The alternate ending is his success/goal. He went "back" to shut everything out to be truly free. The Hive's goal is to do any means necessary to eacape even if it meant having to continue the viscious cycle. It probably went insane at this point. The more the boy gets closer to the Hive, the more he loses his will to the Hive. That's why he resisted the mermaid (which is controlled by the Hive). He had his own goal while the Hive wants to repeat the cycle of using clones/the boy as its next controlled husk as a tool to escape. The boy basically died when he made contact with the mermaid because was completely controlled by the Hive afterwards...The boy returned fully knowing he will be controlled gradually, but he did it anyway for the chance to be truly free

[@Sumea_Saukko]

If the boy was a drone how can he drown in the water like a real person and if he was created in a pod and escaped how does he have clothes on? I think he was a real person and was only controlled by the hive mind after he died underwater and were plugged into those cables.

[@CJTranceAddiction]

Hahaah, nice! Makes sense because I was felt like this kid escaped....something. I just couldn't figure out what the "something" was. All I felt is he escaped, is on the loose and now he must be found and stopped....

[@Tonindo]

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. :)

[@bruh717]

That's a pretty interesting take

[@harambe1331]

I could say this whole theory but make it be about society and media/video/games control on the populus.

[@WalterClements.official]

​@@harambe1331how?

[@harambe1331]

@@WalterClements.official well im not good at describing so ill just mention a few topics like addiction, "fitting in" vs being weird or thinking outside of the box, consumerism, multiple mechanics that make people think they want something yet they still feel empty exemplified by depression, numbness, lack of satisfactiom with life, and people being cogs to a machine or roles in a play to make the world go round or keep a country strong while they suffer as an individual losing their humanity

[@harambe1331]

people being brain dead and controlled and "power in numbers" are also relateable themes i could compare to reality. As well as wealth imbalance. LOTS of things that this game touches on but i wont act like i know the true answrr

[@wavydane]

this game is a masterpiece, its not even a game, its an interactive artpiece

[@MrCarpelan]

WHAT ABOUT THOSE SLUGS IN THOSE PIGS?!?! ITS THE SAME ONES FROM LIMBO! JAYSUS

[@NotSoProishNoob]

When the slugs was pulled out... The pig went limp like what happens to you when you pull the plug in the alt ending... Those slugs must have played a part in the controllings!!!

[@MrCarpelan]

NotSoProish Noob Probably but what i find interesting is that it's the same mind controling thing as in Limbo.

[@NotSoProishNoob]

George Carpelan Is this a Crossover we hear?! JK... Actually it's plausible cause Inside is made by the same guys that made Limbo... CROSSOVER CONFIRMED! THEORIES SHALL POP LEFT AND RIGHT, UP AND DOWN, NORTHEST EAST TO THE SOUTHEST WEST, PLUTO'S FAR TO THE SUN'S CLOSE, THE- Okay i should stop... *whispers "NYEHEHE" to himself*

[@MrCarpelan]

NotSoProish Noob Haha it's a consipracy! No but i dont think it's a coincidense that both use the slugs as a mind control.

[@emmetthoward4354]

The pig could move in both directions without going into bright light, so the slugs are different than the ones in Limbo.

[@toshizue8627]

....And the boy's name is Akira. :p

[@weaboobies8834]

how do you know?

[@reemazalhamad4510]

Where did you hear or read or invent this name

[@toshizue8627]

Nah, boy has no name. I just call him akira because the ball of limbs he becomes is striking similar to what happens to tetsuo (teen and one of the main characters) in the anime/manga Akira (titular character who is a little boy). On topic though, it's worth noting that there is only 1 zombie boy in the entire game, and other than the merchildren, there is a lack of children in the game as a whole, which I think is narratively significant.

[@ingram2617]

I totally got Akira vibes when approaching the giant sphere containing the meatball.

[@timmadone8930]

I haven't got to play this game yet since I don't own a XBOX-ONE. But I do really want to play it. "Lost In Shadow" has a boss enemy that is basically a ball of limbs. It's actually really creepy when it chases after you.

[@shinjiplays2309]

I like this video, but I still have many unanswered questions. Why were there dead pigs at the beginning? And what was up with that little slug that attached to the dead pig and made it run after you? Speaking of animals running after you, why were they doing that? Those chicks followed you before you had the mind control implanted in you. The dogs always chased after you and KILLED you while the humans only shoot you with tranquilizers. Why were the people trying to stop you at the beginning? How is that part of the experiment if they knew where you were going? Why were those fish following you? Also, why were the scientists cheering for you when you finally meet the blob? If they expected you to be there, why did you break out and KILL some of them. Some of the people ran away in fear and got smashed by the blob. But somehow, the blob fell into the scientist's trap? This is part of their experiment? This is possible, but that would mean the scientists in control are REALLY sadistic. I have potential answers for all these, but it's hard to think of a complete picture. AAAHHHH

[@gaviotazafiro]

Maybe since the boy might be controlled by the blob, maybe the animals were too, in order to help him complete some of his tasks (they helped him sometimes to get somewhere he couldn't by himself)

[@AGrayPhantom]

I just feel the ending is bullshit. Pseudo-intellectual bullshit that gives no proper narrative conclusion. I get it, I understand what they're trying to say, but I just don't like it.

[@yukikuniyoshi1931]

Well, these are my thoughts after watching some othe video-explanations. Well, as Gabriela said, the blob may be able to control the animals as well, in order to help at any moment, but it wasnt needed for this boy(Maybe with other people he blob controlled these animals were necessary, because that boy wasnt the first, as you can see in a part of the game where you see some dead corpses, i think where there were those giant cameras). The slug, as well as those powerfull sonic waves may have been the causes of the apocalypse-Like a virus and a natural disaster . The slug may cause a violent behavior, as well as other stuff prolly. The dogs were sent by the corporation men to get the boy, maybe as part of the experiment, to see if he's one of many ''chosen one'', special and strong enough to get to the blob. The men themself didnt want to kill them probably cause they wanted to use him for other experiments(if he could escape, he would be part of the blob experiment). As its all part of the Corporation plan, they could know that if 1 or 2 more humans joined the blob, it would be strong enough to ''free'' itself from the lab. The scientists would be happy with that, because their main objective is creating the strongest blob to help them rebuild humanity. But, not everything goes the way they want. If the blob breaks a wall which it shouldnt, they get scaried because it wasnt in their plans, even though they knew that in the end, the only possible escape would be the one of the model(with the light on it, right in the beach etc). Thats what you probably imagine as well, just wanted to express it o/

[@elisagron3631]

I also really wanted to know why the boy was being chased in the first place. I read from another videos' comment section that the pigs represented the fact that pigs are often used as test animals cause they are the most human-like of all the animals? that's why there were those dead pigs in the beginning

[@MrGeneralHeavy]

Thats exactly the point, the ending is supposed to be unsatisfying and leave a sense of emptiness

[@gruffalocrumble494]

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.

[@pheodorsands1114]

Is anyone playing in 2019?

[@hardstyledino9357]

Me. Got it for free with Xbox Games with Gold

[@Matthew0]

@Jayizon epic games man

[@RegularRetro]

Had it for years, finally randomly decided to start it today. Couldn't put it down till i finished.

[@tamiaglasgow4621]

Pheodor Sands me 😂😂

[@roon568]

It was free on epic games

[@barbaro267]

So....this is like the Maze Runner series, but more weirdly insane haha. Or just equally insane, if you've read Scorch Trials.

[@filipbistrovic780]

I did read that. That book was weird

[@barbaro267]

Unbearable Seriously weird...the author has a crazy imagination lol.

[@noamias4897]

+barbaro267 that's what made the books so great. I fucking loved the books and I could stay up all night on a school day just reading the books. James Dashner isn't the best author, but he has an unbeatable imagination!

[@barbaro267]

Noamias I actually really like him as an author. Even though I can't find myself getting too invested in the main character of Maze Runner and Eye of Minds (They seem so bland and uninteresting), his writing style is SO smooth and rich, even quirky and witty at times (Minho is the BEST!!). But what I remember most about the Maze Runner trilogy and the Eye of Minds (I never finished reading that series) is his rich imagination, as you said! Even though Scorch Trials was freakishly weird at times, he never ceased to reveal crazy plot twists or cool mechanics (like the scary liquid metal part and Group B).

[@noamias4897]

barbaro267​ Yeah, I gotta agree with you. Have you read all the books in the Maze Runner? I meant that to me isn't he the best author when it comes to the English language, not in any other way. I also read like half the first book of The Eyes of Minds but I didn't wanna finish it cuz school ended and I didn't read as much as much and the book wasn't that good

[@aalizzzle4594]

I forgot how to breath after watching this

[@cookiezncreme9473]

Why do I see you everywhere

[@george_MF_washington]

+Cookiez N' Creme because there is a whole colony of them. 2016 became a popular year to make Bleach accounts

[@cookiezncreme9473]

That makes sense, Washington

[@LiquireRat]

+Clorox Bleach I saw you in a video where i replied to you about me seeing you in leafys comments!

[@lisasummer701]

Breath? 🤣 you mean breathe lol

[@Buttierich]

I feel like these are all Homunculus

[@achmadarvie6661]

exactly

[@wexmell]

Too much Fullmetal Alchemist?

[@goombalo10]

It's not from FM...

[@wexmell]

I just Know it from there...

[@congratulationsyoucanread7327]

homunculi*

[@marichutesado180]

Makes me want to contact the developers of the game and let them speak out what's the story behind this game.

[@maxderrat]

Tell me about it. xD

[@diggydiggyhole-fan]

It's been 2 years. If something was to happen, we would have a result by now.

[@vattgholu]

Am i the only one that thought the meatball is kinda similar to no face from spirited away?

[@smwatertasteslikewater]

vattghern no

[@oneesan9298]

YES (sorry 4 years late)

[@ash_ish]

In alternate ending after unplugging the switch boy goes into limbo. Just my assumption and my be it's prequel of limbo 😮

[@maxderrat]

That's a really unique and moving way of looking at it.

[@ash_ish]

Max Derrat thanks

[@wibblywobbly7804]

that's interesting to think about.

[@shala_shashka]

But what about the girl in limbo

[@shala_shashka]

But what about the girl?

[@Real_Boye]

I have a question... Why were there dogs ready to tear the boy apart? If the plan was to get the BOI *dabs*loud bass sound* in the blob thing then, who sent the dogs that seem to want to stop the kid?

[@maxderrat]

The inevitable outcome of growing the hivemind is that it will try to free itself after it gains enough self-awareness. In order to make sure that the hivemind absorbs the best and brightest, the subject must go through several tests that may cause their death. If nobody reaches the hivemind, then the facility's massive mind control continues, and there is no possibility for a stronger hivemind.

[@Real_Boye]

Max Derrat Ah... That could explain it.... Lucky for the boy he has the infinite ability to retry everytime he dies xD... Almost like the scientists are being played....

[@issackellen2209]

+LukaANDkrusty when you think about it the "lives" could just be other test subjects that have gotten to the same point as the last and let's you replay the part that you've failed in..mabye?

[@Real_Boye]

+issac kellen Yeah... I think that that's the part we are not supposed to overthink....

[@maxderrat]

issac kellen Exactly.

[@usagichanp]

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.

[@EmiCantarutti]

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

[@maxderrat]

CHEERS!

[@tay9813]

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

[@MrYooghen]

Although it's the best online analysis yet of the game, I suggest another theory: "Inside" is the inside of a human body. The boy is a cell gone rogue turning into cancer (blob) or a virus infecting an organism escaping immune system (dogs and security guards). A lot of the settings suggest that for example the beating heart level throbbing in the distance, the brain room in the form of the HEAD office etc. Corn, Chicken, Pork - digestive systems etc. The self euthanasia in the cornfield bunker is instant relief from the cancer. But this is only scratching the surface. Great vid!

[@MrYooghen]

to elaborate on that idea: the brain room in the cornfield hides underneath the primal instinct to feed (Cornfield). The boy might be a sperm cell impregnating the "meatball" - while you run towards it you encounter many others in the distance racing towards the protective "encasement" of the ovule. When the blob escapes it's literally through "braking the water". Now, to add up to limbo: there was a christian myth that miscarried babies end up in limbo forever, or so i think (I might be wrong). The blob might be a mutated miscarriage that would put this game into preceding limbo. The whole thing is very corporal.

[@Voice7777777]

honestly that's what I was getting from the game that it's the inside of a body, and those scientists were in fact doctors

[@rkrokberg]

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.

[@Cerise4697]

This is the first time I've seen this theory, and I think it's marvelous. It all fits -- right down to the title and everything. Some parts like the upside-down water might need a little more explaining, but otherwise it seems to make a chilling amount of sense.

[@zHiiPFiiREz]

i feel its a little more in depth than that, i doubt they would make a game just to relate it to the human body, and then in that case what is the meaning/ purpose of the secret ending? kill the brain? this theory doesnt seem to hold when you look at the whole game and its mysteries, i cant help but feel that is a LOT deeper than just: "its a metaphor for a body*

[@polisherci]

Wow, this sounds too far fetched but I love it! I can totally go back and remember the vagina on the floor near the end. And the way blob is being thrown out from the facility, much like a birth (or miscarriage). I think maybe they didn't write the story with that in mind, but added the body references as an art style of telling the original story.

[@ExitStatement]

Yeah, I agree that the dystopian story is the literal interpretation and I also think it's an allegory for the human body, but I took it to represent cancer personally.

[@brodftw]

I no longer have any overarching theory in it, but one thing I noticed today was the theme of vision within the game. The security camera during the drones' motion tests (or whatever tf) knew immediately there was something wrong with the kid, but allowed him to get away if he did exactly as the drones did. Meanwhile the audience, eyeless just as the boy is, don't really seem to register the obvious fact he is smaller and dressed unlike the others. There are other moments too, especially in the industrial sections, where it feels as if the humanoid worker characters don't really perceive your presence until you're part of the blob. In the forest though, you have to conclude they're going by sight tbh, because otherwise there are moments early on where they'd definitely catch you. I guess there are very different levels of clone skills and faculties so it's possible some can see without eyes??? Idk Anyway, if this was a little more watertight I would argue that we're the ones behind the camera, the elite with our thoughts, eyes & absolute ability to determine whether our slave characters live or die. I definitely feel that the game meditates on the weirdness, existentially, of someone dying hundreds of times in bizarre little challenges & always just coming right back. Mario or Sonic, just like the poor bastard kids in Limbo and Inside, may achieve the 'win state' within their insane little hell world, but they'll never get out of it. Limbo kid finds the girl, woohoo, but it's implied they just die there in the forest. Inside kid either switches his whole world off or ends up, while subsumed in a grotesquely powerful flesh orb, exactly where the facility wanted him.

[@kaylinvenney6825]

I read the first sentence, then clicked Read more. I saw the rest and instantly said, *"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!"*

[@Aegis_Mind]

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.

[@sebastianpujols4102]

You really killed this explanation

[@maxderrat]

You really made my day. :)

[@LiverbestGibs]

I'm reminded of a quote from The Matrix: Reloaded. Neo: It was a lie, Morpheus. The prophecy was a lie. The One was never meant to end anything. It was all another system of control.

[@FlowSINISTER]

I loved this game but lowkey I was scared like I felt like this game in trying to tell us something about the time which is about to come still keeping quiet,

[@ebonhawken574]

BigHavoc 666 predictive programming, they show us what they are planning through movies and tv.

[@CJTranceAddiction]

@@ebonhawken574 What do you mean?

[@ltb1345]

@@ebonhawken574 If they were planning that, they wouldn't show us.

[@Handonforehead]

@@ebonhawken574 might make sense if this was made by a big studio but its by an indie team

[@peelan2k8]

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

[@maxderrat]

Thank YOU for your lovely comment! :D

[@jajsamurai]

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.

[@MuhlisErtugrul]

One theory that I think makes sense, the boy is controlled by us (or himself) from the beginning till the mermaid killed him at 5:21. As you guys saw, the mermaid plugged the mind-control thing and from there, the boy gains characteristics of the hive mind like breathing underwater, also now the hive mind is controlling him. The boy was going upwards when the mermaid killed him. After he got killed, he now goes not to where it fell upwards, but to another direction (the objective was changed). We the players are the boy, we think we're the same boy from the beginning to the end but things have been changed in the middle. That's why the boy lost control when he unplugs his own power source, he stops. Because it was before the mermaid killed him, the control was on us (or on him).

[@DuckManQuacking]

Another way they control you is the fact that you cannot move up or down, it's always left or right.

[@MisterJohnDoe]

I think that’s just the usual side scroller game style

[@munawwarabdulmuneer5877]

The obvious answer might be "Duh, because it is a 2.5D game!" but now you're making me think. Maybe it is one of the limitations of the mind-control devices. But in the game there are characters who can move in any direction. This includes the masked guards, the dogs, the rats and the scientists. So they are not controlled. The boy, the pig, the zombies/drones and the mermaids have restrictions in movement so they are under control. Wait a minute... The BLOB also can only move left or right, even while walking. Does this mean that the blob is controlled even after the boy releases it? Why? How? What? Maybe because it is a 2.5D game.

[@RebelingandGaming]

While this may be dystopian, "post-apocalyptic" isn't right. What apocalypse occurred? War? Disease? Saying "overpopulation" doesn't qualify as an apocalypse. And what proof of overpopulation is there? Perhaps the "facility", as you call it, simply wants free labor. Husks don't seem to have rights or will, so they would be perfect laborers. The underwater siren things may not be explained, but saying they are the reason for all the destruction and water is such a giant assumption. They don't seem to be able to get out of the water, they were blocked off numerous times, and overall don't seem to be able as much damage as you said. The whole, "you're controlled by the hive mind" is completely contradicted by bunker. You could say the meatball controls you, but you probably control the meatball. In fact, you may have had the meatball absorb the child so you could control it (that's just my speculation). The thing about saying the entire game was a test, is also a giant assumption. You may be controlled, but assuming the facility is controlling you for a test is just rediculous. You have so many ways to be completely destroyed in the game (i.e fan, explosion, dog, drowning) and there would be no reason for the facility to do it. The pods in the forest also seem to be bigger than the ones hanging with husks in them later. Last part of my rant being, stating that the facility controls so much simply because the meatball falls into a cage that's supposed to trick you, is also a major leap. ANY contingency plan could be used, and stating that because they had a back up plan they control something or are ingenious is foolish. They literally lead the meatball there like a donkey following a carrot on a string. If anything, it just makes the meatball look stupid. And if they hivemind can controls minds, what stops them from controlling the facility employees? Why not control a husk closer, instead of a kid? Why is there a giant meatball? Why would the facility need more control? And over what and why? Why so much security, when we are the only ones actively fighting them? Was the person in the bunker supposed to represent the player, and why? Too many questions left unanswered for there to be a definitive conclusion, only exaggeration and mild speculation.

[@RebelingandGaming]

The title of a game can be interpreted by many things, and what relates to it is up to interpretation. I could say how it relates to the parasite INSIDE the pigs heads. Or how your INSIDE other peoples heads. Saying your inside a giant test because of the title holds practically no weight in terms of a feasible theory.

[@RebelingandGaming]

They lead him there, they specifically had a plan fif meatball escaped, but that doesn't mean it's a giant test. The facility may have resources and slaves, but it doesn't mean they're some untouchable force. Just because they had planned for the genetic monstrosity (that they MADE) to escape, doesn't mean the entire game is a test. Think about before the meatball escaped, the employees crowded around and looked at it. It probably was showing signs of attempted escape, or something else that tipped them off. If it was just a normal day, and the meatball escaped and was still lead there, then there might be an argument. But they probably started preparing for it once it started behaving differently, and prepped the plan near the end.

[@Balls119]

he never said overpopulation, by population crysis he means a very low amount of people.

[@RebelingandGaming]

You are correct, and now that I look back I realise I missed that, thank you. However, that seems to go against the story present in Inside. Why would people allow other people to be taken and used as slaves if there's a small population? How would that be the solution they come to? Even so, he later states that he thinks they're 'growing them' which basically makes the population thing irrelevant. In either case, just because the player goes through empty buildings doesn't mean there's a population crisis. Most of his points have no actual evidence, and make massive assumptions, which was the point I was trying to make.

[@talesdg]

according to the theory, they didn't take people, they were "grown" in those yellow windowed cilinders in the forest... then they took those grown people and used them as slaves

[@TheCaboose568]

Would like to point out something about the normal ending: Those are fucking tiny trees. We saw that the blob isn't that big compared to a normal person or the kid, yet it is taller than a lot of those trees. I don't know evergreens well but I think wild ones get a bit bigger than the every 10 year old in a blob.

[@whykickamoocow63]

I think the whole last area (where the blob rests), is actually man made (the light itself, you know isn't real) . Like a giant chamber within the complex). Maybe they knew an end was coming for humanity, and thus, built this area. I don't know, but the small trees (when compared to the beginning of the game) just makes me think that.

[@hilariofernandes5299]

Yeahhh, I thought about this too!

[@whykickamoocow63]

Also noticed that the very start is also very similar to the very end. Both beginning and ending have the character lit up by a light which is very "spotlight" Very Russian doll.

[@Voice7777777]

because like he said, it wasn't really free

[@Science759]

Very very VERY good explanation. I pretty much was thinking all the same things that you explained! One thing I have to slightly interject upon is all of the underwater segments. The underwater segments were definitely old testing areas belonging to the facility. The water is there because of some, as you said, post apocalyptic scenario or event. They abandoned these testing areas and continued upward. You can see this by looking at the progression of numbers on the testing tracks. You start with 1, then, by the end by the hive mind, it ends with 4. In testing track 2 I believe, you can see an underground forest with the growing pods for the drones. This shows the first stages of their experimentation with growing the drones. There would not just be a forest underground, that was a controlled environment for experimentation, now left abandoned because of the flooding and not being needed anymore. All throughout you see the glass rooms, flooded in the old testing tracks and still in operation in testing track 4 where they experiment medically on bodies and such. They also needed materials to build all of this, so, they built the shockwave mining operation. Notice in the shockwave area it is all mining equipment, from carts to claws to tracks. The shockwave was man made there intentionally, it was their way of blasting material, hence why there is such a giant and vast void in the earth. They figured out a way to make it perpetual, not needing any refueling, thus why it is still going after being abandoned. This expands on the whole "abandoned" feeling of most of the underground facility. Last thing was the upside down gravity water with the floating bodies and why they are making this ball of humans. When we see the floating bodies attached to the boxes, those are what are controlling the drones as of current. They are in stasis, exactly like a Sensory Deprivation Pool, which explains why they need to be in water floating. Each individual one is controlling a drone by using the helmet that they are attached to which is then attacked to the box transmitter below. Because of the ever increasing demand for drones due to this proposed population crisis, this one-to-one control of the drones, each drone having a single controller, is getting quite uneconomical and inconvenient. Thus, they start making the master hive mind: the strongest and most vast controlling mind that they have ever created. Thus, why they are doing these tests with it. Thus, why everyone was so excited to see it finally happening: the mind escaping. They were aware of the boy the entire time and knew when the boy entered the facility. They were rushing to it because it was about to happen after so long. For them to even make a diorama of the escape scene shows how much they cared about the very escape. The escape would symbolize the maturity of the mind, ready for it to go online. And the theory of the mind unplugging itself and not playing the game was BRILLIANT!!! Anyways, just some of my thoughts.

[@seanbonney5716]

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.

[@SprintRaCeR24]

watching Markiplier play through this was awesome. but the game just didnt satisfy me after all that time. I understand the story and all these theories but i really want to know what happened to the boy after the ball of meat lands in the sun..(if that was still in the facility) and after the alternate ending, what happens after he unplugs that cable.. I just need to know lol. You can say its meant to be that way but no, theres always something that comes after.

[@duckduckgroose9517]

SprintRaCeR24 U are finally free from the horrible world. also realize this was the only sunlight in the game.

[@sensualarmpit3512]

When Stanley Kubrick was asked what the ending of space Odyssey means he simply said he doesnt know. He also said it doesnt matter what it meant to him, what matters is what it means to you. Let yourself be irrational and abstract, sometimes its the way to go.

[@homosexualitymydearwatson4109]

I hate and love those stories. In some way I just feel like it’s lazy writing in another way I feel like we’re just not honking hard enough. I’m not a fan of poetry either because of this. People need resolution. We gotta know the creators true intentions or the story feels void.

[@sensualarmpit3512]

@@homosexualitymydearwatson4109 its your problem that you need it. Like an addict you cling to rational explanations, its desirable in life and science, but in art its pathetic.

[@jacintofernandes2907]

@@homosexualitymydearwatson4109 if you think this is lazy writing then boy you are in for a treat with conceptual/abstract/minimalist art

[@mszigetihu]

There's no explanation to this game. The word you're looking for is interpretation, which is different for everyone.

[@heyyeah6552]

True, but i just wonder what the developers interpretation is :/

[@rainofrest7778]

@@heyyeah6552 fr so annoying that there r never gonna explain da game

[@jamillalamb4985]

Wow this was really well explained and i believe this theory! good job on analyzing this game

[@maxderrat]

Thanks for your kind words! :)

[@Extremophile_]

I agree!

[@benfrancois7856]

Another great breakdown by my favorite philosopher thank you Max

[@wavydane]

this game has the smoothest gameplay i have ever seen

[@thewaterfall8627]

original ending: I saw a theory where there was the blob. then the humans found it and trapped it and figured out it could mind control. so the humans used that to make those lifeless looking humans. the superior humans got to live. the humans thought that the pugs would block the blob from mind control but it didnt. the blob controlled the boy to help if and escape. that's why the boy only goes left right because he knows exactly where he needs to go. he needs to go to the right any way he can. The Secret Ending: when u unplug the plug in the wall and ur carecter "shuts down" he simply escapes the blobs control. I don't know how but he does.

[@WeAMknn]

The pugs lol.

[@thewaterfall8627]

?

[@maegarciafuentes3182]

"that the pugs would block the blob from mind control" Pugs are the best way to stop an abomination made out of human limbs from mind controlling people.

[@WeAMknn]

True. Pugs are our saviours.

[@thewaterfall8627]

+Ian García Fuentes dangit I didn't notice I put pugs

[@ChronoJedi]

Thanks for showing me the secret sections only after i finished the game

[@YoutubeMasterBoy21]

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

[@xuanannguyen7938]

you just had a new subscribe. Very good video. Best inside story explanation so far. I am quite confuse after playing through the game and watch the alternate ending (really confuse) but you make it all clear. Well done

[@maxderrat]

Thank you, good sir!

[@gummywormjim]

I linked this video in the description of my finale to this game! this is amazing dude! it blows my mind!

[@selder_7]

The scorer ending always struck me as suicide by the hive mind, it probably has in effect played this games hundreds of times and knows it can't escape so it just ends it's life instead

[@MasterAjedrez1]

I see these theories inside the game (no pun intended), but I think that outside it, the thing that play dead wants us to know, or see is from the endings of the game. I mean that (spoilers) the ending is like you are inside these games, these consoles, and most of the time you have no physical activity, so you become fat, like the blob at the end, and when you get out, to the OUTSIDE, you shall find peace. And the alternate ending (spoilers) is you finding the orbs, and go through the underground bunker, and then you unplug yourself, meaning that if you unplug the consoles you shall rest. What do you think?

[@FrickenPhoenixx]

to an extent. perhaps it could be that threw out the game that you are struggling for an answer. one that you want dearly and you search for it so hard and anticipate ut so much that when you finally arrive at this ending, you do not accept it. yoh want to believe that there is something more. so then with the second ending you shutting down is realising that whatever the ending is, whether you made this decision or that, you cannot control it. but something you can control is yourself.

[@FrickenPhoenixx]

+Phoenixx "threw out" lol

[@michellerussell4349]

Mind blown...

[@itsmeqwe1]

6:13 He dose not disconnect the link to the "hive mind" but rather to the actual PERSON controlling the boy. Seen in te background wearing a mind control helmet.

[@KiuLang]

Nicholas B but why would the person controlling the boy intentionally unplug himself from controlling the boy?

[@chrisdoesstuff6609]

There is not person. That's just yellow cables

[@tomriddle111]

Great video bro. I definitely feel like your theory makes the most sense. "The only winning move is not to play" which is achieved by the alternate ending. That just makes perfect sense to me. Love it!!

[@lulumink0]

Very well analyzed. We're waiting for Inside 2 to give further explanations.