Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 300 sampled Steam reviews (289 positive / 11 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing25% mention it
- Visuals & art16% mention it
- World & exploration14% mention it
- Music & audio9% mention it
- Controls & UI4% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing36% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
95%
187 reviews
5-15h
99%
102 reviews
15-40h
100%
10 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 91 | 30 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 100 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 97% | 92 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 87 | 90 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 97% | 93 | 221 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 91.4, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 77,896 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 632 total reviews in window · weighted 156.2 up / 4.5 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (180)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 100
“Describing Inside is difficult, not because one can’t find the words, but because it has to be seen to truly be believed.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Inside is a side-scroller with creative puzzles punctuated by a thrillingly tangible sense of tension.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“"Visually stunning, forces you to think about things outside the game."”
read full review ↗ - 90
“INSIDE creators excellently adapted the game for a Nintendo Switch system, and final result is not inferior to the original version in portable or docked modes. If you have not yet played this masterpiece on the other systems, then make sure you catch up on any platform. But even if you've finished the game, it's worth it to try it again.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Like Playdead’s Limbo, Inside is one of the few video games that reaches the level of allegory.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“INSIDE is a game that requires a player who doesn’t learn as they go along. It is a well-made game from a talented young studio, but save for the final moments has little to wow the player after the first half.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Inside is a grimly beautiful platform-puzzler that, while brief, is packed full of jaw-dropping highlights. While its dark tone won't be for everyone, it's all been executed brilliantly, with gently taxing physics-based conundrums woven into a haunting wordless narrative.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Inside is a really interesting, beautiful, gloomy, atmospheric game. It certainly gets our recommendation, as one of the rare high-quality logical platforms that you will surely enjoy in almost every aspect.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“The Danes from Playdead have not fell asleep in the ashes for the last few years and have been working on another title since Limbo's success in sweat. The result of this work is Inside, a dark journey of a little boy into a ruthless world.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“Inside offers a short but incredibly fun and thoughtful experience that will leave me thinking about it for a long time to come. It’s thoughtful puzzles and physics based platforming guide you on a fast paced journey which by the end may leave you with more questions than you started with. The port for the Nintendo Switch is fantastic and is my recommended platform to pick this up on if you are looking to jump into this game.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“We are in an apparently dystopian context in which a little boy will have to undertake a journey through deadly dangers, solving rather elaborate puzzles.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“It always feels like Playdead could have done a bit more with the gameplay by making it longer and having more complexity to some of the puzzles. Most people will feel completely bewildered when it is all over.”
read full review ↗
The Jimquisition
Pure Nintendo
Fintendo
GameMAG
Slant Magazine
Jump Dash Roll
Nintendo Life
PLAY Zine
GRYOnline.pl
ani-game.com
Indie Games Devel
Cubed3…and 168 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Mac version of INSIDE is now availableNov 19, 2020
- INSIDE patch notes 2016/11/23Nov 23, 2016
- INSIDE patch notes 2016/11/23Nov 23, 2016
- INSIDE patch notes 2016/07/27Jul 27, 2016
- INSIDE patch notes 2016/07/27Jul 27, 2016