Don't Let It Out is one of the indie psychological horror games that has taken the gaming community by storm on the Itch.io platform. Developed by the genius game developer SmileStrawbunny, this short point-and-click game not only delivers heart-stopping scares but also conveys a profound metaphorical message about human psychology.
Before entering the haunting world of the game, let's review the core information (Core Entity) of this title:
You are trapped in a cramped bathroom with the character Soleil. Your main task is to interact with the surrounding objects to prevent "something" horrifying from escaping through the sink or bathtub.
The gameplay is familiar but extremely stressful.
The game uses a mouse-click mechanism for interaction. You need to constantly observe for unusual signs:
Every action you take consumes time and directly affects the character's psychological state. Real-time pressure is the most terrifying weapon SmileStrawbunny has incorporated into this game. In 99 Nights in the Forest, you have plenty of space to move and escape, but in this bathroom, the confinement forces you to constantly manipulate your hands without a moment's rest.
Don’t Let It Out has a total of 3 main endings. Each ending reflects a choice and how Soleil confronts her inner fears.
How to Unlock: This is the easiest ending to encounter on your first playthrough. Simply focus on calming Soleil, constantly washing your hands, flushing the bathtub and sink to prevent the dark entity from escaping. However, if you don't manage your time well or let Soleil's panic reach its peak, the entity will erupt.
Meaning: This ending shows a desperate attempt to suppress negative emotions, but ultimately the "monster" inside prevails.
How to Unlock: Instead of trying to clean the bathroom, actively interact with self-harming objects or directly confront the distorted mirror multiple times. Let the dark tentacles take over the room without significant resistance. Unlike the clearly visible, colorful predators in Rainbow Friends, the threat here is an invisible entity, slowly devouring the protagonist's sanity with each wrong click.
Meaning: A dark ending where Soleil completely gives up and is consumed by depression and loneliness.
How to unlock: To achieve the True Ending, you need a bit of patience. At a certain point when the game presents a barrage of choices, you must choose to stand still and not interact at all, or choose dialogue lines that emphasize "self-acceptance." Instead of running away or resisting drastically, you let Soleil confront her true self directly.
Meaning: This is the game's only bright ending. The "tentacled monster" didn't disappear, but Soleil learned to live with and accept her own wounds.
On the surface, Don't Let It Out looks like a typical Lovecraftian monster game. However, the entire game is actually a metaphor for depression and its psychological struggle.
The bathroom in the game represents Soleil's closed inner world. The mirror reflects not her appearance, but her self-doubt and the distorted way she perceives herself. The foul-smelling black tentacles emerging from the sink represent the negative thoughts and traumatic memories that Soleil tries to "hide" (Don't let it out) so that others won't see them. This style of exploiting fear stemming from psychological deformities and distorted imagery is also a familiar artistic element often seen in the grotesque circuses of The Freak Circus, where physical and mental pain is exposed.
Through the game's endings, the author wants to convey that: Trying to hide or suppress the dark corners of one's soul (Ending 1) or letting it consume them (Ending 2) both lead to tragic outcomes. The only way to heal is to bravely acknowledge, confront, and accept that it is a part of one's life (True Ending).
Have you unlocked the True Ending yet? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the game!
