Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
Inside
A nameless boy flees through an oppressive, dystopian world full of silent threats and haunting imagery. In just a few hours, the game builds an atmosphere that lingers long afterward.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Puzzle / Adventure, set in a world after the collapse. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The structure is guided rather than open, so you are moved along instead of dropped into a map. It is built around short sessions, which makes it easy to pick up for half an hour.
Difficulty stays forgiving, so progress rarely depends on your reflexes. The narrative carries the whole thing, and the mechanics serve it. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 5 platforms. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Oppressive atmosphere
- Short but intense
- Legendary ending
This fits you if
- you want to live through a story, not just play a system
- you actually want to be scared
- you usually have thirty to sixty minutes and want that to be enough
- the writing matters more to you than the mechanics
- you want zero frustration and no difficulty wall
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
Look elsewhere if
- you need real difficulty to stay interested
- you skip cutscenes and want to get to the gameplay
- you want something that lasts, this is over after 4 hours
- you want something light and easy going
What it costs you in time
About 4 hours in total. That is roughly 2 evening(s), so you can realistically finish it this week.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 92 out of 100, which puts it above 93 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 74 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, Puzzle averages 83 points across the database, so this one sits 9 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 1655 collected ratings.
Released in 2016, so it has 10 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2016
- Genres
- Puzzle, Adventure, Platformer
- Playtime
- approx. 4 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Relaxed, forgiving
- Story weight
- Carries the whole game
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Post-apocalyptic
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Mobile
- Critic rating
- 92 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inside | 2016 | approx. 4 hrs. | 92 | Budget |
| Little Nightmares | 2017 | approx. 5 hrs. | 78 | Budget |
| Little Nightmares II | 2021 | approx. 6 hrs. | 82 | Budget |
| Gris | 2018 | approx. 4 hrs. | 81 | Budget |
If you liked this, try these
- Little Nightmares Shared: Puzzle, Adventure
- Little Nightmares II Shared: Puzzle, Adventure, longer
- Gris Shared: Puzzle, Adventure
- Planet of Lana Shared: Puzzle, Adventure, rated higher
- Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! Shared: Puzzle, Adventure
- Slay the Princess Shared: Puzzle, Adventure, longer