Playing Response: Inside

During these days, I played the game Inside. Though is just a linear game and players can do nothing more than controlling the main character to move around and interact with things, the game still has achieved a lot with these simple functions, and there are much more to be observed in this game. I played for three hours and haven’t yet completed it, but it has already impressed me.

For visual effect, this game seems to be very dark, but important character and objects are highlighted with bright colors. The main character, the boy, is in pink. The chickens that follows the boy are yellow. He seems to be the only person that has free will in this world. This pink color can represent many things like freedom, childhood and dream. However, there is no specific narration in this game, so all concepts are open to players’ explanation.

For audio effect, the interactive background music also contributes a lot to the storytelling. When dangers are approaching, the drums will play more densly, which helps the player to resonate with the boy and feel the fear. When I was running away from the dogs, I was really frightened. It’s not like jump scare, for the sense of fear has alrealy emerged when the danger is approaching, which makes the player play more carefully.

The game is a typical well-made indi game that includes great gaming experience, simple but concise story and detailed yet simple game scenes. I think we can learn a lot from Playdead studio’s games, which also includes Limbo and Cocoon. Sometimes, exquisite storytelling and game flow can be as attractive as cutting-edge technology and complicated landscape.