Playdead's INSIDE Story and Lore Explained

A quick little analysis of INSIDE's universe and the theories I've formed as to what it's true nature may be.

Heavy spoilers, so please play the game first, it's a masterpiece.

[kennethrohde]

Its incredible that Playdead has only 40 employees

[Gobblingseagull]

Its kinda sad at the end we didn’t get to see the boy one last time :(...

[qnaman]

The boy could avoid a lot of troubles, simply by walking around obstacles.

[pyguy]

This is the most thought out and fun to listen to theory. It is fleshed out with backstory and reasons behind what went on and WHY the world is the way it is. There is even subtext and deeper meanings. This is a great theory, i thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. I think I will go with this one :)

[jamesdambrosio]

I find it odd that no one mentions the model that the blob lands on, after it crashes through a few floors. It's an exact replica of the last shot. It has a descending forest and a beach, with a light shining on the same spot the blob eventually stops moving. Makes me wonder if it's all a test, to see how smart this life form is, if it can break out of its tank and escape. They have an end destination for it, which is why the light is planted there, and we never see its source.

[EdricoftheWeald]

Finally, an explanation that makes sense and uses all parts of the game! I think you've got it.

[iSOBigD]

Well done. I finally played this After Little Nightmares 2 and I was amazed. I've never seen the type of real-time animation this game had at the end. It started off so simple and got crazy by the end. I'm really impressed how this, Limbo and the Little Nightmares games can have such deep stories and worlds without a single word said or even a piece of text.

[cassidymiao]

"Never knowing the answer is half the fun." I couldn't agree more

[_ft]

i have to admit.. you did a great job, i also prefered from the beginning the idea of a literal story rather than a metaphorical. thats why i m really happy to find your video.. many other analysations start really good (like the one from night mind) but losing their sight into philosophical theories, which for my opinion is going to far.

here some more

----

- summary of night minds beginning analysis: bodies get collected outside from insolation pods into trucks, delivered to the complex, where they complete a function test, to be then used for further purpose. eg lower class worker (cleaner at 5:33) as you mention or parasite food or transformation.

----

- there are many research areas (you prefer to call them stages)

area 02 (4:07) abandoned fast growing forest of big trees and isolations pods
+ maybe isolations pods developed here and used later outside in the beginning area of the game.

area 03 (4:35) abandoned/flooded water area.
+ maybe in this area, they researched gravitational water control and underwater breathing till an accident happend and everything got flooded. only this area is flooded, and its not one of the deepest ones.
+ there exist more than one(, two or three) underwater creatures. first of all, they live in different areas seperated from each other. second, you can tell them apart. one has foot ring with a chain, next has nothing, third has only a foot ring, last again nothing..
+ the underwater creature seem to be a neglected boy. it looks identical to the naked inside boy, except of the hair, which is longer. just grown wild since this area is abandoned. maybe underwater boy and inside boy are the same kind.
+ all underwater boys try to kill inside boy without exception, because this is the simplest explanation. why should the last one be different? they are wild creatures, looking for some prey to capture in the most effective way, so they use a simple strategy, drag
it into deep, like mermaids.
+ there is no reason first to kill inside boy an then to revive him again? it was just a blessing in disguise. when inside boy died, he got attached to the active injection cable during sinking, which saved his life. it doesnt look like as the underwater boy did this in purpose at 4:53 (more likely playdead placed in purpose a pipe in front of this action to hide it). and as soon as inside boy got transformed, the underwater boy lost interest, like inside boy lost the prey status and got a coequal status.
+ after inside boy is alive again, you can see many corpse connected with a cable to a cube. one of them is even still alive and twitching during eaten by little fish at 5:01, like the head over bodies at 5:15 in area 4.

area 04 (5:25) worm cultivation inside bodies
+ here 5:15 you see a detailed view on the plug of the cube cable. the head over bodies
seem like wearing a dismantled version of the mind control helmet. maybe this technique was researched in area 3 and applied in area 4.
+ when inside boy passes the microfilm reader room (big monitors with
side panels)before he reaches the research hall, you can see at the
glass wall after the big 4 in small letters the numbers:
33 11 43 15 43
13 42 43 41
also at 5:34 and 4:36 you can see little numbers at the glass, but i cant read them. i need to check that in the game, and see if this has maybe any significance.

area 5 - 7 appear too
before the blob crashes into the diorama, he passes area 7 on floor higher.
area 5 and 6 are shown behind the window in the room where the blob gets the cube, which must be ignited.

----

- the 14 spheres:
what exactly (if controlling or observating) they do, i didnt saw a hind. is just interesting, that the last one is a giant version of the others.

----

- finally this brings us to the blob (who is far overestimated as the controlling overmind).
+ at first sight on the blob in the tank, i scientist with glasses tries to tell inside boy something, when he float at the window, but i cant say what.
+ the four deactivated helmets on the blob are not mind control plugs, as many think. it seems more plausible that these are the same helmets like for the head over bodies. here a little comparison:
A- connected to the helmet, bodies and blob seem to be sedated/paralized.
B- for a normal body, they need one helmet to work. for the big blob, they need four.
C- as soon inside boy unplugged the head over bodies by let them fall down from the water, they start to follow him. or better to say, he attracts them (remember the 19 bodies
part, the stay so close arround inside boy, that you cant see him, like
overprotective bodyguards), maybe the same attraction he has on animals
(like you state in the video). as soon inside boy start to unplug the
blob, he attracts the blob too, so he gets absorbed. you can see, that the blob tries to get inside boy more and more the less helmets are connected.
this means, the blob is not controlling anyone. he is just a test subject sedated in the water tank. maybe a first success of a mutated version of the bodies with recombination
capabilities.
+ approching his last resort (ending of the game) at 8:31, the blob reaches a wooden fence, which seem not straigth but konkav. this means it encloses an area. this and the sunny unnatural spot at the beach concludes that his last resort is still inside. this is why i think, its called inside, because when you enter the complex (nearly here 1:13), you stay inside and will never come out again.

---

- alternate ending:
instead of searching for a complicated metaphorical explanation, which often doesnt satisfy, i tried to keep it simple.
so.. what are movie producers doing at the end of a movie to make it more interesting, to create a last shocking moment or to leave an option for a continuation. or should i ask why?
compared to them, game producers have far bigger means/possibilities to put a little twist, like a hidden alternate ending. even if you have to jump back in time by loading old save points.

---
it should be possible to find some more details.
looks like i need to play inside a second time :D

[LuvWebber]

This is one of the better theories I've seen. Well done.

[KarlRock]

Seems legit. I’m gonna play Limbo next, I hope you’ve got videos on it too 🤞

[OAS]

i was looking for a literal interpretation like this, thx!

[Crispy-Chips]

This theory about the flood rising is probably the best way to explain why the government became the way they are in game.

[gummywormjim]

the sleeping state part is spot on! I always thought it was weird that you can hear the drones snoring when their not being controlled.

[Dasgath]

I love you theory, it's the one that makes more sense and it bothers me SO much how blind i was while playing the game. I didn't notice when i spent half of the game underwater, with all those sunken installations, the condition of the world. I was so distracted with the mind control debacle i never stopped and asked myself... where the fuck i'm at right now!? Or why are those guys are running to check on the blob!

At this point i'm still wondering if it was all planed from the beginning and the engineers and leaders worked together to get the blob outside (following the matrix theory, a controlled escape to keep the blob docile with a hope for escape), or if there was a secret group of people who wanted to free you (unknown reasons) and with the help of people inside came up with a plan but got cock-blocked at the last second by the leaders who trapped you unsuccessfully in that water tank.

[BrentHutchinson]

I love your interpretation of the ambiguous nature of the game. I think you’re spot on and I’m thankful that you took the time to explain your interpretation.
When I tell people about the ending, I’m lost for words as it’s hard to fully describe the emotion felt when seeing what you’ve uncovered at the end. Inside plays like a dramatic indie film that leaves you breathless.
Now that I’ve beaten it, I want answers. And your video is the closest plausible explanation that I’ve come across.
Again, thanks. I’ll be subscribing to your channel.
Thank you.

[Vokoca]

A very nice theory! Though some parts of it don't feel quite right to me - if this really was some sort of an attempt to destroy the experiments from the inside, why are the scientists very clearly going with it in the last third of the game? No one makes an attempt to stop the kid as they look at the blow in the window, they just let him walk amongst them as if waiting what he does next. There are more people watching throughout the entire blob escape scene - and at points they even help it progress. They're clearly doing it just to trap it as shown in the scene with the dangling box, but would they really come up with that at the spur of the moment - and moreover, intently watch the whole thing happen instead of focusing on evacuating? There's also that miniature recreation of the ending screen in one of the rooms the blob escapes through...

It all feels too controlled to be a random sabotage... even if the entire game is just some sort of an experiment, how does that fit into everything else?

[thenextmutation]

The ending of the video was perfect. Good actually, AMAZING job with it

[mikeyestrada]

I saw the one max did and his makes sense too but yours is spot on. The way you explained this game made more sense than what max said in his video. To me, you have the right explanation or at least the closest to what this game really stands out to be

[Honigtod]

As the ending takes place in a forest down hill, it would have had potential to create a loop to the very beginning of the game