nside looks, plays, and feels like a game that took six years to make.
Best Games Played 2016
These games and awards were decided during the Wardcast’s Best Games Played 2016 episode, where we considered any and all games played by the members of the Wardcast in 2016, even if they weren’t released that calendar year.
Every puzzle, every set piece, every situation feels like the product of careful and iterative design. In a popular, possibly pejorative turn of phase, Playdead has made an even better Limbo.
When we say direction, we imply every meaning of the term. Inside has one of the most resolute visions of any video game. Its art direction is impeccable, using 3D models with stark, low poly lighting and desaturated color that portrays the dread of its broken world. The gameplay and interaction direction is stunning, creating well thought-out puzzles mixed with environmental visual cues that ensure any puzzle solution is far enough out of reach to make you think, but never far enough to truly debilitate you.
And yes, Inside has also chosen the correct platforming direction as well: running left to right.
The back third of the game may stretch your brain with its narrative choices, but overall, Inside is a tiny, neatly dressed package that’s worth your time.
