Play ‘It’s What’s Inside’ with friends through Netflix’s online game

Spooky season is upon us, so what better time to wear your friend’s skin as a costume?

Want to experience the freaky fun of the body-swap thriller It’s What’s Inside firsthand? We get it. Out of SXSW, Mashable contributor Siddhant Adlakha praised writer/director Greg Jardin’s jaw-dropping film as “a ludicrous, metaphysical midnight romp that forces its ensemble to look at each other — and at themselves — in surprising ways.”

Following this wild movie’s Netflix debut, the streaming service has launched It’s What’s Inside: The Game, in which you can walk in the shoes of suitcase-toting Forbes and his crew of dramatic college friends. The Mashable crew played it, and the results were hilarious and horrifying!

But how does this game work? Thankfully, there’s no sketchy suitcase involved. According to Netflix: “Using cutting-edge technology, you’ll swap faces and voices with each other as you try to guess who is in whose body. Head-spinning? Absolutely. Nerve-wracking? You bet. But don’t worry, the game is totally safe. Your friendships, however, might not be.” Dun dun dunnnn!

Are you game?

How to play It’s What’s Inside: The Game

Credit: Netflix

All you’ll need is a laptop or desktop computer (mobile devices can’t participate), three to five friends, and 15 minutes of free time.

The It’s What’s Inside: The Game site offers a tutorial and private rooms so you can experience the thrills of this mind-bending movie in an exhilarating new way. But how do you swap bodies? The site invites you to take a selfie and record two minutes of audio, so your friends can essentially use your face and voice as a filter within the game.

Don’t worry about your data. Mashable has confirmed with Netflix that “players’ likenesses and voices are accessed for the game, but they will not be stored or used beyond that. Once the game is over, that data is deleted immediately.” 

Here’s how to play It’s What’s Inside: The Game:

Visit www.itswhatsinsidegame.com — the Chrome browser is recommended for best results. 

There, clicking the Start Game button will prompt you to accept terms and conditions. Click “Next” to accept, and you’ll be offered a code, which you can share with your friends to build your private playroom. From there, you’ll be instructed to record audio from a creepy script and take a selfie. Here are some tips for the best user experience in recording your audio: 

• Allow the site access to your microphone.

• Make sure you’re in a quiet space with low background noise.

• Speak clearly like you’re having a conversation with a friend.

• Scroll as you normally would to reveal more of the script you need to read.

• Once you’ve seen the “recording complete” prompt, click the Next button.

From there, you’ll take your selfie using your computer’s camera. Here are Netflix’s tips for the best user experience: 

• Don’t lean in too close to the camera, and make sure you take your photo in a position that you’re comfortable in. You’ll need to stay in a similar position when you swap bodies with your friends. 

• Note: There’s a small flash of soft yellow light when we take your photo.

While the site gets to work swapping your virtual bodies, you’ll watch a brief tutorial video on how gameplay works. You’ll take turns answering question prompts as your friends. As they answer, you can guess who’s who by placing their “Polaroid” (selfie) on the board over their new identity. The player with the most correct guesses and the player who tricked the most players will win.

Before entering your private playroom, the game will notify you which “body” you’ve swapped into, so you know who to act like. Once everyone is ready, the host will click the Start Game button.

Tips to win at It’s What’s Inside: The Game

Credit: Netflix

Here are more tips from Netflix on how to get the best experience out of It’s What’s Inside: The Game: 

Once we drop you all into the game, we’ll give you about 20 seconds to get familiar with your new face, and all your friends’ new faces. Use this time to get your body and face in a good spot so that your body swap is convincing. Once that 20 seconds is up, it’s time to get into Q&A.

Try replicating the image your friend took, the way they positioned their body, their face in frame, the angle of their head. The better you match that image, the better your swap will be.

Note: you will be muted until it’s your turn to speak in the Q&A. Everyone will answer the same question that shows up on the top of the screen. You will be unmuted when it’s your turn to answer, and then placed back on mute when your turn has ended.

Keep an eye out for the bright green prompt that will tell you when it’s your turn to answer. Also, the timer at the top will show you how long you have left to answer the question. If you end up not using the whole 20 seconds, feel free to click the End Turn Early button.

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At any time throughout the Q&A, if you think you know who’s who, then drag their Polaroid onto the body they’re hiding in. Gameplay will last for 10 minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes, all will be revealed, and you’ll be able to see who was in whose body. Everyone will be revealed one by one, and you’ll be able to talk freely over a video call.

After you’ve all been revealed, we’ll move on to the post-game lobby, and you’ll see the final scores. You’ll have roughly 5 mins to talk through the scores. For one minute, you’ll be able to see who was the best guesser and best imposter. For the remainder of the time on the clock, you’ll be able to see the group scores and who guessed who.

You can exit the game at any point by clicking the Finish Game button. Once you’ve finished the game, you’ll be able to download a shareable asset that you can share on social media.

Play it while you can. It’s What’s Inside: The Game will be live from Oct. 9-14. It’s What’s Inside is now streaming on Netflix.