Control Devs Say The Board's Cryptic Lines Are "Basically Gibberish"

Fans who try to decode every line from The Board in Control and Control Resonant may be wasting their time. The developers have said that the alien entity's messages shouldn't be read as a reliable guide to the story, and one of them put it bluntly: it's "basically gibberish."

The Board is one of the most distinctive parts of the series. It communicates with the player throughout the games, but its true nature remains a mystery, and it never makes its morals or motivations clear. That murkiness has made it a favorite target for theory-crafting, with players combing through its words for hidden clues about what it wants and what it is.

The developers' comments suggest that this ambiguity is the point. Treating each cryptic statement as hard evidence can lead to conclusions the creators never intended to support. Lore hunters who build elaborate theories on a few lines may end up with explanations that the game itself never backs up.

For players, the practical takeaway is to enjoy The Board for its unsettling presence rather than expecting a tidy answer. The strongest reading of its lines may be as atmosphere and mood, not as a puzzle with one correct solution.