Inside’s arrival on PS Plus couldn’t have come at a better time

It is quite difficult, in general, to find a game that truly makes me uncomfortable. There are plenty of horror games that I’ve played that make me squirm in the moment, but it’s a rarity that something leaves me with an unending wave of a feeling that can only be described as ‘what the f**k.’ There is one title, though, that comes back to me with that feeling more regularly than I would like; the seminal Inside, and its ending that just won’t leave me alone.

When Inside came out, at the time I hadn’t played Playdead’s previous title Limbo, though I was familiar enough with it that I more-or-less knew what I was in for. Both games are puzzle platformers, with a young, silent protagonist whose journey is just as much a mystery to them as it is to you.

The world of Inside is an alluring one. There are quite clearly some fascistic undertones to the world, with much of the masses seemingly indoctrinated into following… something. You yourself are forced into controlling select groups of the population, commanding them in ways that allow you to advance through the various puzzles the world places before you. It is, quite obviously, a game about control and authoritarianism.