Inscryption

2021Daniel Mullins GamesXbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...

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What it feels like

Slow-building anticipatory fear of something terrible creates the pervasive atmospheric tension throughout. An enigmatic pull of secrets half-glimpsed and answers withheld drives player curiosity and engagement. A creeping wrongness where the almost-familiar card game is subtly, disturbingly off creates unease.

Dread80%

Mysterious78%

Uncanny72%

What it's about

Psychological horror rooted in paranoia, unreliable reality, and disturbing themes is a primary narrative element throughout. Unraveling a central hidden truth about the game's nature and the secrets inscribed upon the cards structures the overall experience. The primary aim is to frighten and disturb through atmosphere, implications, and psychological unease.

Psychological Horror78%

Mystery75%

Horror72%

How it plays

Building and refining a custom deck of cards is the primary progression loop and core gameplay loop throughout the experience. Cards serve as the units and actions of moment-to-moment combat, forming the strategic combat system. Escape-room style puzzles woven into the game world are explicitly highlighted as a core component alongside the card combat.

Deckbuilding95%

Card Battler92%

Environmental Puzzles80%

Hidden Object & Search68%

Dialogue Trees55%

Logic Puzzles55%

How it looks and sounds

Interface and game systems are presented as existing within the fiction of the card game world itself. Pixel graphics contribute to the aesthetic, though mixed with other visual styles including FMV elements.

Diegetic UI60%

Pixel Art50%

How it's structured

Designed exclusively as a single-player experience with no multiplayer component. Play is divided into discrete runs/attempts that reset on loss, with meta-progression carrying forward between them. A bounded story arc with beginning, middle, and definite conclusion, though discovering all layers requires multiple playthroughs.

Single-Player90%

Run-Based85%

Campaign75%

Meta-Progression65%

Short Playtime40%

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