Inscryption (2021)

Inscryption (Nintendo Switch)

Opening Act: 6/10

The game opening does a good job teaching you the basics of the card mechanics. In addition the creepy vibe and environment is a perfect hook to keep the player interested.

Gameplay Loop: 6/10

The main gameplay loop and mechanic is to play matches of card game “Inscryption”, followed by choosing a path forward that lets you upgrade and modify your deck as you go along. So this is a deck builder, and like other games (example Slay the Spire).

If you lose, and when “in between stints” you can explore the environment of the cabin, which is the place you are playing cards. This cabin has mysteryious doo dads around and little puzzles and mysteries making it feel like “escape room” game. This shakes things up a bit, since the cabin exploration also modifies what experiences you will have when playing the card game!

The card building part is addictive and fun. The mysterious element is fun as well.

Hand and Eye Friendliness: 10/10

The game mostly takes place in a dark setting which is easy on the eyes without any crazy flashes or distractions. No precise inputs/timings are generally required meaning game inputs are laid back and relaxed.

Story: 8/10

As you play the game you eventually learn more about your ‘player character’ as well as the mysterious figure in the cabin, and you will also learn about the cast of characters that sometimes speak to you on your cards. As you go along the game has several both plot and gameplay mechanic twists that you may not expect. These twists really make the story pure gold. Due to the uniqueness of these twists I won’t say more. Players will really enjoy the uniqueness of the gameplay experience finding out about these parts on their own.

Sound: 6/10

The soundtrack has creepy vibes and background music and sound effects in the opening act making it very appropriate for the gameplay setting. I played it around Halloween time and it’s the perfect mood setter game.

Overall Experience: 7/10 = Highly recommended, as well as an extremely unique experience

-probably contains spoilers-

i liked the first part immensely- i liked that the mechanics were interesting without being overly difficult to comprehend, and it was easy enough that i could make it through the whole thing without wanting to flip my table but challenging enough that i did have to restart a bit more than a handful of times. i was ecstatic when i realized i was allowed to explore the rest of the room (before the game prompted me to) and thoroughly felt creeped out by the pair of eyes following me with every corner i moved to explore.

the second part of the game fell a bit flat for me. it felt boring, introduced a bunch of mechanics that i didn't care to properly learn (i ended up guessing my way through most of the part and it worked), and i felt myself just wanting to get through it so i could play the next part. there was no incentive to put effort into building a deck that would only last me a few hours, so there was little excitement when i discovered a new pack of cards too.

i was relieved when the third part of the game returned to the same first person perspective gameplay. i liked solving puzzles in between rounds of cards, enjoyed the bits of lore dropped in between. the bosses were unique and engaging, i especially liked the Archivist (though i had immense difficulty locating a file large enough sometimes, oops). i liked seeing my friends list show up as cards in one of the later fights, though i never really understood the camera mechanic (i did this boss last and at that point i just brute forced the victory).

i liked the way the game ended, though i do feel like i missed some of the details that i'll have to go back and search for online. overall fun game, 8.5/10.

soundtrack was also quite nice, though i'm not sure it's something i would listen to on my own time, with the exception of a few tracks (e.g. scribe of maigicks).

It's really hard to put my Inscryption experience into words. One thing I can say is that I don't like card games and this game made me crave for similar things.

I won't write too much about it. I don't want to ruin people's experiences. Everything is a mystery and you have to get to the bottom of it all. It's a bit deeper than just a "card game".

There are 3 acts.

The 1st is absolutely brilliant. This is what sucked me right in. It looks creepy, sounds ominous, it's full of intuitive strange puzzles, quickly teaches you the rules while leaving room for self-learning and packs quite a peculiar story. Even the cards look cool. It plays much more like a boardgame. I think that's what's most addictive about it. The roguelike elements can be frustrating at first, but no run feels the same, and you'll always find out new things about the lore and card strategies. It's REALLY hard, but if you keep trying, you'll get the hang of it and it'll pay off nicely.

Enters Act 2 and that's where things slow down. The game becomes... something else. The story keeps getting more and more interesting, and the roguelike gameplay turns into more of a deckbuilding Pokemon game. It's confusing, but you'll understand. I liked that Act 2 is a little easier and bit more straightforward in its cardplay and storytelling, but it feels too slow, filled with mandatory boring puzzles, and gimmicky battles. The RNG could make or break the 1st act, but dialing it down drastically shifts its pacing once the element of surprise (which is the abrupt change) passes. Not bad, but a mistep, in my opinion.

Things go back to what they were in Act 3, packing new twists and turns. I like how the visuals return to a more darker design and love how sound design makes it feel like a horror sci-fi. The major roguelike card battles are back, a bit easier, but much more complex. Gameplay-wise, this has the best and worst card gimmicks in the entire game. It's hard to explain, but I feel like they kept throwing everything from previous acts at the same time, and by the time you reach the final two areas, it's a fuckin mess. With that said, the story reaches its craziest depths, the puzzles return to being actually fun, fumbling with your cards is back to being addictive, and it all ends with a bang.

Inscryption is a game that nearly hit a perfect score for me, but it's letdown by its own tricks. It may be contradictory of me to say this, because that might just be what makes it great. But I would easily stick with a larger version of Act 1's simpler rules.

Trust me, though. Whether you like this style or not, do give this one a chance. It's quite original, and will remain in your brain for a while.

Inscryption is a game that has to be played to be understood, so it's kind of hard to review. I can say that it's all about cards. What makes Inscryption interesting is how the game evolves and changes throughout the course of its runtime, though elaborating any more would ruin the surprise. Another thing that makes it unique is its escape room-ish metagame, where you can get up from the table at certain points and explore the environment that you are playing games in. While doing this, you can solve puzzles and make discoveries that can give you an edge when you return to the card game.

Inscryption floats somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me. While I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the game, as well as its art direction and story, I think the card game itself is far from the best I've played. I'm just not that big of a fan of roguelite deck building games either, to be fair. That said, I can admit that this game is really well built, and the way it morphs at some points is what makes it teeter over into 4 stars ever so slightly. If you're even remotely interested in card games, then you should give this game a shot.

Some spoilery notes: I love the Game Boy Pokémon TGC inspired section, and wish that was expanded into its own game. I was a bit underwhelmed by the game's final act, that dragged pretty hard. The Yu-Gi-Oh duel disk reference at the end was absolutely worth sticking with it, though.

It would be this game. Because it literally is. Truly a great indie game with an amazing atmoshpere, fun gameplay and intriguing storytelling. The card game is simple but addictive. The old school 3D-art style and enigmatic sound design build up to an incredibly dense horror atmosphere. And of course, Daniel Mullin soon enough dives into meta-narratives and self referentiality again, which somehow comes off even smoother than in Pony Island.

I love how the game handles the roguelike mechanic as just being a step beetween different chapters. In this way it gives you the chance to try out all different strategies in the card game, which actually has a good variety for plenty of hours, but let's you progress just at the right time when it's getting old.

Moreover, you have the selfmade deadcards as progression outside of your run as a minor roguelite addition. I think I will refer to Inscryption as an example of a legit and good alteration and implementation of the roguelike mechanic in the future. Daniel Mullin understands its weakness and treats it cautiously and effectively.

I also like how Inscryption understands that the escape room riddles might be exhausting when too difficult and treats this weakness also very well by vaguely pointing out objects of interest in visions and letting the cards talk to you which is a very immersive way of throwing hints.

A brilliant blend of different genres, a definitive gem of an indie and another good proof of game design as an art form.

Inscryption is a surprising and unique game mixing card battling mechanics with a bit of adventure game style puzzle-solving. I personally never had more fun with a computer card game or roguelike title than this game, and its weird horror story and “escape room” feel at times were the cherry on top for me. I am not a huge fan of the roguelike formula generally, but I will tell my fellow people like this that it offers no significant downside in this game in my opinion.

The game is not afraid to alter its own rules in service of its narrative, adding new elements to the formula at the expense with others, which can be a bit frustrating at points of the game. After totally loving the game for several hours at the start, I was not enamored with some of its experimentations and iterations on that formula, and found some of the middle to be a bit of a bummer. It’s not that it was bad, but it felt like the perfect balance established early on had regressed with less interesting decisions to be made during each hour of play.

Before too long though, the battle system becomes more and more complex, enabling several different strategies in a way I really liked. Finding OP synergies and outsmarting the AI opponents feels extremely satisfying. Early boss fights are excellent too, but the last few bosses in particular are downright amazing moments recalling the creativity of boss encounters in games like Metal Gear Solid and Undertale. I think they’re among the neatest bosses in a turn-based game and are worth a bit of a drag in the middle of the game to get to.

I would echo others’ suggestions to avoid looking at things from the game. Its many surprises work best if you are totally unprepared for them—and, I’d add, if you can accept even the ones you don’t like to see where it’s going next.

So, to conclude, there was a significant part of this game where I was a bit bummed out at its direction, but I still struggle to come away from the overall experience with anything other than a glowing recommendation. You’ll certainly not find anything else exactly like it, and when you do think of games to compare it to, they will likely be some pretty lauded company.

I just played this for the entire afternoon and am about to go play more after dinner, so that kinda says it all.

Spoilery discussion:

I’ve kinda figured out up until a “thing” where I have gotten this film reel and have to beat the dude to use his camera. I made it to that battle and lost… oh well, this game is more fun for me to play than the average roguelike game so I don’t mind running through again until I get it. Didn’t enjoy even a card-based one like Slay the Spire nearly this much. There are some really powerful combos of things in the card part of this game that feel fun to use, my favorite being the totem making squirrels unkillable to summon tons of units and accumulate bones as well. Of course this is not even taking into account all the stuff outside the card game which I have enjoyed poking around in quite a bit. I wonder why you can’t select “new game” in the menu… very curious…

Edit: Ok now I know why and I am not sure how I feel about that…