Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26242189-20160605230949/@comment-27701762-20160605233717

I wouldn't include 2, 3, 4.5 or 7. The SAVE/RESET mechanic isn't simply a game mechanic: it is a part of the universe (or the Underground) itself. The basic idea is that it is time manipulation. The plot uses the more common terminology as it applies to video games, but that doesn't mean that when characters acknowledge the ability they realize that they are part of a video game.

Meanwhile, Flowey's specific lines are ambiguous. Saying "This is all just a game" is certainly a common trope (or its inverse, "Is this all just a game to you?"), without it needing to imply that the characters are part of or realize they are part of a game. It's the same as when a character in a movie says the title of that movie: it's a piece of dialogue that triggers the idea of self-awareness, but doesn't imply self-awareness on the part of the character. As evidence, Asriel's follow-up to that line uses "win" and "play" with quotation marks. If Asriel is literally saying that this is all a game and he is aware of it and its rules, then there is no need for the quotation marks.

Chara's lines are equally ambiguous since we don't know the relationship between the protagonist, Chara, and the player. While it looks like Chara is talking to the player, it is also clear that Chara is making a deal for Frisk's (which is "your") soul.

And Alphys recognizes the possibility of alternative universes, but this is a common theory outside of video games. We'd need something more specific to even speculate that she realizes that she's in a game.

I'd also definitely move Gerson up from speculation.