Xbox One PS4

Inside

PlatformPuzzleAdventureIndie

Time to beat: about 3.5 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Inside (stylized in all caps) is a 2016 puzzle-platform horror game developed and published by Playdead. The game was released for the Xbox One in June 2016, Windows in July, and PlayStation 4 in August, followed by releases for iOS in December 2017, Nintendo Switch in June 2018, and macOS in June 2020. The player controls a boy in a dystopian world, solving environmental puzzles and avoiding death. It is Playdead's second game following Limbo (2010), sharing similar 2.5D gameplay.

Playdead began work on Inside shortly after the release of Limbo, using Limbo's custom game engine. The team switched to Unity to simplify development, adding their own rendering routines, later released as open source, to create a signature look. The game was partially funded by a grant from the Danish Film Institute. Inside premiered at Microsoft's E3 2014 conference, with a planned release in 2015, but was delayed to 2016.

Inside was released to critical acclaim. Critics noted it as an improvement over Limbo, praising its art direction, atmosphere and gameplay. The game was nominated for numerous accolades, including game of the year, and won several independent awards for technical achievement. As with Limbo, Inside is included on multiple lists of the greatest video games of all time as compiled by game journalists.