Game Theory: Leave The Cycle Of HATE Behind! (Bendy)

Bendy franchise is experiencing rapid expansion with a successful sequel in late 2022, a new game announcement for the current year, and an upcoming movie after four years of dormancy.

A new game called Secrets of the Machine dropped on Steam without warning, teasing three upcoming games and multiple secrets to unlock.

The game is updated daily by developers with slight changes and new hints, creating a living puzzle that evolves in real-time.

The story explores themes of loss, regret, and an evil corporation pushing innovation too far, introducing a new protagonist named Riley.

Riley is six years old when her parents are killed in a car accident, as evidenced by blood splatters on a family portrait and a height measurement on the wall.

• Riley develops disturbing art skills after the accident, drawing twisted monsters instead of cute creatures • Teachers notice her drawings are scaring other students • A school psychologist discusses her deteriorating mental state

Riley creates a character called Gasket—an angry car with blood underneath—a callback to a villain from the mobile game Bendy Nightmare Run, suggesting lost cartoons were rediscovered from Joey Drew Studios' dark vaults.

Joey Drew personally offers Riley a job at his studio, but she is fired for creating disturbing artwork that the company deemed too scary to release.

• The cycle is an inky world created by the ink machine that can be bent to the creator's will • Existence in the cycle is a continuous loop forcing people to relive the same events • When the ink demon is defeated using the movie reel called 'The End,' the world resets and begins again

Completing the story or dying to Gasket resets Riley back to the beginning, confirming she is trapped within the cycle.

• Different words appear at the archway entrance with each cycle reset: 'remember,' 'discover,' 'conceal,' 'real life,' 'illusion,' and 'regret' • These words reflect Riley's dual struggle between uncovering painful truths and wanting to hide them

Riley experiences the same confusion Henry faced about whether her reality is real or an illusion, constantly trying to determine the nature of her trapped world.

• Gent Corporation financed Joey Drew Studios while secretly recruiting desperate people—criminals, homeless individuals, and unemployed workers—as research subjects • Bodies under tarps with black ink staining were found in the Gent building during Bendy and the Dark Revival • Gent controlled the ink machine's development and ultimately removed it

A hidden video shows eyes, tentacles, dripping ink, and words 'REJECT,' 'SUBMIT,' and 'GENT,' revealing experiments testing whether the magical ink would submit to its sentient will or cause bodies to reject it.

Riley is identified as subject number 131389145, property of Gent Corporation, confirmed by descriptions on the game's Steam page labeling her as unstable and dangerous.

Riley was recruited after losing her studio job and needing money, then asked to consume ink from the ink machine to observe her physical and psychological transformation.

• The building is called 'the drawing board,' referencing the phrase 'back to the drawing board' meaning returning to the start to try a different approach • Riley actively resets the cycle, refusing resignation to her fate • She seeks to change outcomes through experimentation in each loop

A banner reading 'Escape your cage' appears in the main room, encouraging Riley to persist in breaking free while also serving as a hint toward the next game installment called 'The Cage.'

The Cage takes place during Bendy and the Dark Revival between Audrey visiting Henry at Gent and the final battle, featuring twisted Lost Ones with skeletons and apparatus attached to their skulls.

• New Lost Ones in The Cage contain red liquid mixed with black ink, distinctly different from previous creatures • Riley's art uses red ink to draw blood, suggesting she creates these new twisted creatures • Coffins building up outside the drawing board may contain rejected experiment bodies that Riley resurrects with her imagination

Both Riley and Sammy Lawrence follow the same path: exposure to magical ink leads to addiction, transformation into twisted forms, and obsessive behavior, establishing a pattern for experimental subjects.

• A Bendy summoning circle is slowly being drawn on the floor of a hidden room, similar to the circle Sammy Lawrence drew to summon the ink demon • Riley may use this circle to create new creatures or to summon Bendy for escape or revenge

Riley and Sammy Lawrence are connected as both seek to oppose Henry, who was Joey Drew's partner and indirectly responsible for Riley's downfall and suffering.

Riley doesn't simply want to escape the cycle—she wants revenge against Henry for his association with Joey Drew, the man who fired her and set her on the path toward Gent, experimentation, and eternal imprisonment.