INSIDE · Guides

INSIDE 100% guide

Published by Chubuggles

A chronological route through INSIDE that breaks all 14 hidden orbs in story order, with chapter-select cleanup and the optional secret ending.

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  • ETA

    Estimated time, as the guide’s author estimates: 4-5 hours

  • Difficulty

    2/10, as the guide’s author rates it

Your Progress

14 achievements in this guide

Sign in with Xbox to see which of them you have already earned.

Before You Start

INSIDE has 14 achievements worth 1,000 Gamerscore. Every single one comes from destroying a hidden orb: 13 orbs are tucked away along the story path, and the 14th is a giant sphere near the end that only opens once the other 13 are done. Simply finishing the story unlocks nothing.

  • No online, co-op, or multiplayer requirements.
  • No difficulty settings and no combat. All 14 achievements are currently obtainable as of 2026-10-05, but Xbox unlocks for this game are CURRENTLY COMMUNITY-FLAGGED / BUGGY: an orb achievement can occasionally arrive late or fail to pop.
  • Nothing is truly missable. The pause menu's Load option lets you jump to any checkpoint you have already reached, and destroyed orbs stay destroyed when you load back and forth.
  • One playthrough is enough. Grab each orb as you pass it, and use Load to fix anything you skip.
  • The secret ending gives no achievement. It is covered at the end as optional, and it should be the very last thing you do.

How the Orbs Work

Each orb is a glowing ball wired to a yellow cable. Whenever you spot a yellow cable running off the obvious path, follow it. You destroy an orb by grabbing it and pulling; for the first 13, the achievement unlocks the moment it shatters or switches off. The Last One is the exception and is explained in its own section.

The 14th orb, the giant sphere near the end, has a board of 13 lights in the room in front of it. Each light is one of the earlier orbs. That board is the game's own tracker, so use it if you lose count.

Using Load as Chapter Select

Press Start/Menu and choose Load to see a grid of checkpoint squares. You can load any checkpoint you have already reached, including during your first run. Approximate checkpoint numbers are given for each orb below to make cleanup quicker. Count them as a rough guide rather than gospel: if you land a little late, load one square earlier.

If an orb achievement does not pop: fully quit INSIDE so it isn't held in Quick Resume, relaunch, Load the nearest checkpoint before that orb, interact with the orb again, and give the unlock a minute to arrive. Opening INSIDE's Progress page from the game hub is a community workaround that has helped some players, but it isn't a guaranteed fix.

The Forest and the Farm

The Pond After the Dog Chase

Run through the opening forest until the dogs chase you to a cliff and you dive into the pond below.

Murky Waters

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Pond cave orb — Murky Waters. Forest pond after the dog chase; underwater cave to the left, topple the pillar into a bridge.

Instead of surfacing and continuing right, swim down and to the left, following the yellow cable into an underwater cave. Inside, rock the large wooden pillar back and forth until it topples into a bridge, cross it, and pull the orb. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 6.

The Cornfield

After the pond you climb out and reach a fenced cornfield.

Field Research

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Cornfield bunker orb — Field Research. Hidden hatch in the cornfield; left-hand photo room of the bunker.

In the cornfield, hold the grab button while moving through the corn until the boy catches a hatch hidden in the ground. Pull it open and climb down into the bunker. Take the room on the left, a photo-developing room, to find the orb.

The sealed door in this bunker is the secret ending, which needs all 14 orbs. You cannot do anything with it yet. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 7.

The Farm Rooftops

Continue through the farm until you drop from a rooftop into a cart of dead pigs.

Wee Wee Wee

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Pig barn orb — Wee Wee Wee. Push the pig cart left, pull the barn board, climb the rope and swing left to the rafters.

Push the pig cart left until it hits the wall. Stand on it, pull a loose board off the barn wall, and go inside. Climb the rope and swing left onto the rafters to reach the orb. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 9.

The City

The Safe Drop

Shortly after entering the city, you push a heavy safe so it crashes through the floor.

Left Behind

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Safe drop orb — Left Behind. Drop through the hole made by the safe, then pull the grate off the left wall.

Drop into the hole the safe made, go left, and pull the grate off the wall. The orb is behind it. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 14 or 15.

The Rooftops

Obscure Foundations

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Rooftop ladder orb — Obscure Foundations. From the pipe off the slanted roof, climb down and jump back left to the ladder; orb at the bottom.

On the rooftops, slide down a slanted roof and jump across to a pipe. Do not climb up it. Climb down a short way, jump back left onto a ladder, and descend to the orb at the bottom.

A machine here plays a looping sequence of tones. That is the code for the secret ending. You don't need to note it down; the sequence is written out at the end of this guide. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 16.

The Submarine and the Flooded Areas

The Stairwell With Red Doors

Once you have the submarine, you reach a flooded stairwell that ends in a red door.

Friends in Low Places

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Helmet chain orb — Friends in Low Places. Ram the crate at the bottom of the red-door stairwell; chain two mind-control helmets so the second dummy pulls the orb.

Before going through the red door, take the sub to the bottom of the room and boost into the crate that covers a hole in the floor. Follow the new path to an air pocket containing two mind-control helmets. You can only reach the left one; the right one is too high.

  1. Park the sub in the water just below the ledge under the left helmet.
  2. Put on the left helmet to control the first dummy standing nearby, and walk him into the water so he stands on top of the sub.
  3. Take off the helmet, get in the sub, and move it under the high right helmet.
  4. Dip slightly below the surface, then boost upward to launch the dummy into the right helmet. He now wears it.
  5. Return to the left helmet. Controlling the first dummy now lets him control a second dummy in the background.
  6. Walk that second dummy to the orb and pull it.

Cleanup: load around checkpoint 30.

The Beach Pool

A Tableau

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Beach pool ladder orb — A Tableau. Take the sub far left, ram the pipes twice, climb the ladder.

After the next checkpoint, ignore the door on the right that leads to the beach. Take the sub all the way left to a wall of pipes and debris below a ladder you cannot reach. Boost into the structure twice to knock it down, leave the sub, jump to the ladder, and climb to the orb. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 31 or 32.

The Mines and the Followers

Freeing the Trapped Men

In the mines you use a mind-control helmet to lead a group of followers, ride a mine cart across, climb a wooden wall at the end of the chamber, and free three more men trapped in a pod.

Pack Mentality

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Mine pit orb — Pack Mentality. Followers pull the boards off the climbed wooden wall; fend off dogs with the torch and go left.

On the way back with your newly freed followers, stop at the wooden wall you just climbed; a yellow cable runs into its boards. Have the group pull the boards off, then crawl through alone and drop into a large pit.

Grab the torch in the pit. Dogs will close in; turn to face whichever one is lunging and the torch drives it back, then keep pushing left whenever they hang back. Pull the orb at the far left. Once it breaks, the dogs leave you alone.

Precaution: keep the torch out of water. It is reported to go out, which forces a checkpoint reload.

Cleanup: load around checkpoint 34. That checkpoint is before you get the helmet, so you will have to redo the follower and cart steps.

The Underwater Lab and the Facility

The Creature in the Water

Respite

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Underwater vent orb — Respite. Lure the creature to the right opening, then swim hard left from the left opening to the vent room.

In the underwater lab with the long-haired creature, enter the water through the right-hand opening to lure her toward you, then jump back out once she is close. Run to the left opening, dive in, and swim hard to the left before she can catch up. Surface in a small vent room with the orb. To leave afterwards, push the grate to the left; swimming back the way you came will get you killed. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 44.

After You Can Breathe Underwater

Once the boy can breathe underwater indefinitely, continue to the tunnel with the large fan.

Unfathomable

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Red-handle door orb — Unfathomable. After gaining unlimited breath, open the red-handle door down and left of the fan tunnel.

Swim down and left to a large door with red handles. Turn the handle, then pull the small tab at the top of the door to open it, and swim through to the orb. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 46 or 47.

The Spotlight Room

Clockwork

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Crank shield orb — Clockwork. Crank the shield to the top, then swim down through the flooded room to the orb.

In the room with the spotlight and the hand crank, turn the crank until the shield platform sits at the 12 o'clock position, with its lower arm pointing straight down. Go back left into the flooded room and swim down through the doorway. The orb is now within reach. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 48.

The Room of Hanging Bodies

Room for Reflection

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Hanging room orb — Room for Reflection. Box to the far right wall, hit the red button twice, ride the rising platform to the orb.

Work through the room of hanging bodies until you can bring a yellow launch box back up into the big room. Drag it to the far right wall and use it to hit the red button, which lowers a platform. Ride the box up to hit the button again, then jump onto the rising platform and climb to the orb. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 50.

The Office Elevator

Office Space

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Office attic orb — Office Space. Split followers around the elevator; climb the yellow cable to the attic and get thrown to the ceiling orb.

This needs your group of followers. During the elevator puzzle, split them into two groups. Safest split: at least three in each, since the exact minimum isn't confirmed. One group rides inside the elevator, and the other stays outside and climbs onto its roof as it goes down. Back at the top, exit to the right; a yellow cable hangs to the right of the elevator. Have the first group boost you up to it, climb into the attic, and meet the second group, who will throw you up to the orb on the ceiling. Cleanup: load around checkpoint 54.

The Final Sphere

Before the Elevator Down

Before going any further, make sure all 13 orbs above are done. You can check with the light board in the next room.

The Last One

Collectibles 1 collectible
  • Giant sphere orb — The Last One. Climb up from the elevator ladder; with all 13 lights on, enter the sphere, pull left, then walk out.

When you reach the ladder that leads down to the elevator, climb up instead and follow the yellow cable to a room with grass. The board of 13 lights is here. If every light is on, the giant sphere's door opens. If not, load the checkpoint for any missing orb, destroy it, and come back.

Go inside the sphere, walk all the way right, and pull left on the invisible object. Every light on the board goes dark except the second one, which points back to the cornfield bunker. Now walk back out of the sphere. The achievement unlocks as you leave, completing all 1,000 Gamerscore.

If it does not unlock, use the recovery steps from Before You Start first. Some players report that reloading the checkpoint before the sphere lets them pull the object again and walk out, but others found nothing to interact with, so treat that only as a possible retry rather than a confirmed fix.

Finishing the Story

Play out the remaining sections to the credits. No further achievements are tied to the ending, and the credits are not required for the secret ending; you can do it any time after The Last One. Finish the story first anyway, because the secret ending should be the last thing you do.

Optional: The Secret Ending

Unlocking the Bunker Door

Do not trigger the secret ending until Xbox itself shows all 14/14 INSIDE achievements unlocked. Check the achievement list, not just the in-game light board. Pulling the final cable resets all orb progress, so if any achievement is still pending, you would have to break every orb again to retry it.

This gives no achievement. Do it last. Achievements that have already unlocked stay unlocked; the reset only means you would have to break every orb again to see the ending twice.

Pause, use Load to go to around checkpoint 7, and return to the cornfield bunker. Once every orb is done, the right side of the room is lit and the lever beside the sealed door responds with tones. If it isn't, check the board of lights before the sphere for anything you missed. Enter this sequence on the lever:

  1. Up, Up, Right, Left
  2. Right, Right, Right
  3. Up, Up, Up
  4. Right, Left, Left, Left

Follow the long tunnel beyond the door to the room of monitors at the end. Lift the panel and pull the power cable; it takes two pulls to finish.

Collectibles

Reference

Secret Orbs

14 in the game

Each orb unlocks its own achievement. The 14th, the giant sphere, only opens once the other 13 are destroyed; the board of 13 lights in front of it shows which are done. Every orb can be recovered with Load.

  • Pond cave orb — Murky Waters. Forest pond after the dog chase; underwater cave to the left, topple the pillar into a bridge.

    View in guide

  • Cornfield bunker orb — Field Research. Hidden hatch in the cornfield; left-hand photo room of the bunker.

    View in guide

  • Pig barn orb — Wee Wee Wee. Push the pig cart left, pull the barn board, climb the rope and swing left to the rafters.

    View in guide

  • Safe drop orb — Left Behind. Drop through the hole made by the safe, then pull the grate off the left wall.

    View in guide

  • Rooftop ladder orb — Obscure Foundations. From the pipe off the slanted roof, climb down and jump back left to the ladder; orb at the bottom.

    View in guide

  • Helmet chain orb — Friends in Low Places. Ram the crate at the bottom of the red-door stairwell; chain two mind-control helmets so the second dummy pulls the orb.

    View in guide

  • Beach pool ladder orb — A Tableau. Take the sub far left, ram the pipes twice, climb the ladder.

    View in guide

  • Mine pit orb — Pack Mentality. Followers pull the boards off the climbed wooden wall; fend off dogs with the torch and go left.

    View in guide

  • Underwater vent orb — Respite. Lure the creature to the right opening, then swim hard left from the left opening to the vent room.

    View in guide

  • Red-handle door orb — Unfathomable. After gaining unlimited breath, open the red-handle door down and left of the fan tunnel.

    View in guide

  • Crank shield orb — Clockwork. Crank the shield to the top, then swim down through the flooded room to the orb.

    View in guide

  • Hanging room orb — Room for Reflection. Box to the far right wall, hit the red button twice, ride the rising platform to the orb.

    View in guide

  • Office attic orb — Office Space. Split followers around the elevator; climb the yellow cable to the attic and get thrown to the ceiling orb.

    View in guide

  • Giant sphere orb — The Last One. Climb up from the elevator ladder; with all 13 lights on, enter the sphere, pull left, then walk out.

    View in guide

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