Inkbound

7/10 - Hades-style roguelike with turn-based combat similar to that seen in Transistor. Worth a play

Pros: Polished, crunchy game play experience that keeps you glued to your seat during a run (~60 minutes) as you try to build game-breaking combos. Co-op is a nice addition and adds incredible strategic depth.

Cons: Clearly tries to capture the magic of Supergiant games like Hades, but the dialogue, story, and other intangibles simply fall short

This is a fun, not too difficult roguelite with a story and unlocks that will keep you coming back for another run. At some point, I'll try to ascend the ranks, but for now I'm enjoying playing and learning. Now, if I could just convince my friends to play it co-op with me...

Extremely good roguelite with Divinity-like gameplay. Great for Co-op.

Great solo, and great in coop. Coop is especially nice because you can share items, which further enables great builds in each run. And because it's turn based, it means that it can still be very chill even at high difficulty levels. Gameplay is addicting and each run feels rewarding.

fun system to tinker with in a rogue lite game type, difficulty definitely ramps up in co-op runs, so far I've had plenty of replay value on runs. Just because a character starts out pretty weak doesn't mean you can't augment the hell out of it to be a monster.

While it's short, Inkbound has enough variety and content to make it worth the asking price. Variety in enemies is low, and there are only a small number of stages. The interesting variety comes from the interesting builds you can accomplish, and how you cope with the smattering of powerful items and passive abilities you accumulate through a game.

Multiplayer is by far the most fun way to play. The game difficulty is very poorly balanced for 1 or 4 people, and seems to work best at 2 or 3. At 4, enemy AoE attacks and HP scaling become difficult to manage. At 1, you lack versatility.

I would say that the unlock procedure for the aspects (classes) is tedious and takes far too long considering how short the game is. Because the game has few locations and few enemies, getting quicker access to all the classes would help keep ti fresh a bit longer. In particular, the most recent aspect at time of writing, the Star Captain, didn't get unlocked at all by 2 or the 4 members of my play group before we decided to retire the game.

Still, overall I recommend it, if you have a small group and enjoy developing builds.

A unique turn based tactics roguelike. Take a game like slay the spire or monster train and add an aspect of positioning on a 3d level and you'll get Inkbound. Lots of run variability, many characters, and a reason to come back and keep playing to unlock more upgrades/trinkets/characters.

very unique roguelike with lots of unique builds and playstyle. Tons of cosmetics and drops.

It's pretty fun. Play mostly solo and get some pretty good enjoyment out of turning into a superhuman. Definitely feeds the rogue-like power trip you want from these types of games. Multiplayer isn't perfect, especially with randoms, but with friends its a good time.

It's just a math problem disguised as a video game. And honestly, I would get tricked into doing my assignments again and again.

Inkbound is another roguelite from the developers of Monster Train. Its not a deckbuilder, but it has a similar focus on turn based combat. Unfortunately, while Monster Train is one of my top three favourite roguelites (alongside Slay The Spire and Balatro), Inkbound doesn’t come close to that high quality level.

Gameplay (average quality)

Story (poor quality)

Technical (good quality)

Recommendation

I'm eagerly awaiting expansion for this game with new character classes.

A bit overwhelming and confusing at first with a lot of narrative elements I just cannot imagine caring about, overall its a fun package and despite the limited options and enemy variety you definitely don't feel like any run is like the last. The 3D isometric turn based gameplay uses movement within a defined area as part of your turn and most of the gameplay is about playing out your abilities, moving around, and then letting the enemy have their turn in the way that deals the least damage to you but its hard to explain without seeing it or doing it yourself - definitely not as dull as it sounds.

Phenomenal game. Great variety of characters/aspects, builds, and tons of choices to make over the course of a run to really customize and break the game. Quite interesting lore and surprisingly long quest chains/story with quite a few unlockable items through meta progression. Granular adjustable difficulty that scales quite a bit from easy to hard (unranked to rank 20). Soundtrack and art are A+. This game is amazing and I can only hope for more content! Highly recommend for roguelike deckbuilder/strategy fans.

Played for 30 minutes and it already crashed in the middle of a battle. This isn't Early Access, so you get no leeway for a buggy game. It's getting returned.

Steep learning curve but easy to get into.

Glitzy, sticky, doughy, and stubborn, Inkbound's rainbow of possibilities manages to spread a little bit of ink, quite a bit too thinly. Roguelikes are a good bargain from a design point of view, because a few piles of separate game elements can randomly collide in unplanned ways that are fun for the player. There's lots to experiment with, and the weird quest progression system will certainly give you reasons to run gauntlets AGAIN and AGAIN, but as you do you'll start to notice that mix & matching isn't very good, and that "correct" play has you investing deeply in a few vestige classes on every given run. With a few exceptions, battles feel monotonous, and I could tell designers were struggling to use the game system to challenge their players with the inclusion of the closing ring of poison and the heat-seeking, infinite range attacks that enemies resort to. Turn-based perfect-information combat makes dodging way too easy. So character builds and combat decisions alike become too rote, too soon.

Weirdly, as a player who rarely cares much for story, Inkbound made me miss the driving momentum of Monster Train and Hades. Escaping from hell sets a clear atmosphere you can taste from the word "go". Inkbound just says there's a bunch of ink everywhere and it can become sentient or something.

I'd recommend it for $15 or so.

Amazing!
Everything you would expect from the Monster Train makers.
If you are reading about the game, you know you will like it.

Fun game!
Interesting Setting, Interesting Style, Interesting Story, funny crazy builds, challenge modes and more difficult modes.
Really enjoying it! Still haven't tried co-op though so no clue what thats like.

Trash server, lag as hell, legit unplayable.

Fantastic turn based roguelike. Atmospheric, crisp, excellent both single player or multiplayer. 10/10 another smashing hit from an already successful studio!

Their other title, Monster Train, is an excellent grab as well, if you're looking for more of a deckbuilder than a turn based RPG style.

Since buying, playing this game non-stop!
Having all these different classes, skills, items and a similiar progression system like slay the spire, is an absolute blast! Although every build seems to be quite viable, there are certain builds that clearly dominate within all classes, Nonetheless, key mechanics, rank and ascension system for skills are perfectly in sync elevating the satisfaction from run to run. Overall, in my humble opinion, this game is a must have for rogue-like enjoyers and my personal game of the year!

This game would be a sideways thumb for me if I could, but I can't.

I'll start with the good. Mechanically, the game is very fun - it's a turn-based roguelite with an emphasis on positioning. The strategy of it lies in its equipment system, called "vestiges," where each one has one or two specific synergies which get stronger and stronger the more you invest in them. The game offers you a choice of three at random, and is more likely to show you items from your strongest synergies, helping you snowball, and Inkbound lets you live the roguelite dream of having an incredibly busted build that instantly nukes the whole screen of enemies, with enough strategic depth to make it interesting to do so. Despite that, the game is challenging enough that runs will fail somewhat regularly if you make a build that can't hang. The in-combat UI isn't cluttered or busy, and once you learn to read it, it's easy to tell how much damage you are going to do to an enemy, and how much you will take in a turn, and vice-versa. There's also a very helpful button (bound to R by default) that resets your movement between actions, letting you test out different positions to see how much damage you will take.

Then, the bad. The game's quest system leaves much to be desired. This would not matter if they could be ignored, but several character classes and many of the strongest vestiges are locked behind them, which forces you to commit to runs specifically to achieve quest results (and often abandoning them halfway through) which feels more like a grindy chore than fun. The quest menu is an absolute mess and fulfilling an objective means the tracker often displays "Complete one of these three subobjectives:" without displaying what those actually are, forcing you to try to dig through the quest menu to change what's tracked manually. Some of the quests are based on RNG results during a run, which is also frustrating. The story is underwhelming, and the characters you perform these tasks simply don't have the draw or charisma to them that makes me want to help them. The most obvious parallel here is to a turn-based Hades, but with all the parts of Hades that I liked replaced with a failed attempt at childish whismy. The very attractive side characters that made Hades so appealing are replaced with a bunch of losers, and instead of chasing them down in the hope of more interactions like I did in that game, I found myself clicking through the dialogue as quickly as possible to try to get to my quest reward.

Finally, the mid - I found essentially nothing compelling about the setting or the plot - it's neither bad nor good, it simply exists, but that does mean that when things happened in it, I did not care. The game aesthetically is very much the same - it's stylized consistently, but not in a way that I find interesting or appealing. The voice acting performances are good, though not compelling simply by virtue of being attached to such uninteresting characters.

All those complaints aside, I'd still recommend this game to someone looking for a satisfying strategic roguelite - it might not be the first game on that list, but there's enough here to have fun with.

This is a tactical roguelike and you can see that it takes a lot of cues from Hades, with a neat twist of being all turn-based. There's a solid, 20 hour game in here. Unfortunately, it's buried in a 40+ hour experience. If that middle 20 hours of grinding were cut out, I would be able to recommend it, but that's a heck of a slog.

All the other things I would say are very much secondary to that. Combat system is kinda cool - but you have to spend 20 hours trying to do very specific things in it, which is annoying. The story is good - at least, the story arc that starts at 30ish hours. There are lots of options for character builds, but during those middle 20 hours you see so many samey unlocks that it loses it's charm (and becomes harder as each random pool of items gets so big).

If you like roguelikes it's still maybe worth a play, but even if the ending is pretty solid it isn't really worth getting all the way to the end.

Oh my gosh this gameplay loop is addictive.

And it's easy to queue up with randoms - unlike a lot of roguelikes out there!

The games simplicity and beauty are such a perfect balance. Gameplay and combat are superb and engaging

I love this game. Tons of fun builds, good music, Everything is voice acted (and the VA is good), Tons of replayability!

TL;DR - this is one of the most brilliantly executed TBS games I've ever played. It's ultimately super complex but done so in a manner that is accessible and with extremely high QoL. It's a joy to play, offering both a challenge and the "runaway train" experience of OP roguelike builds. It's smart in ways that I didn't even know a TBS game could be. In short, if TBS interests you at all this is top-tier. If TBS doesn't interest you... this one might.

I honestly have not played any TBS-type game that is as tightly balanced as this one. Which is crazy because there is a LOT going on. Tons of skills, tons of modifiers, tons of enemy types, and enemy behavior that changes dynamically, such as them changing position upon being hit. There is way more nuance to the combat than you'll find in most TBS games - you have to worry about attack, movement, picking up items on the battlefield, hit order, etc.

This might sound overwhleming and daunting and it would be if it weren't for the absolutely elegant way it's all put together. All the bits works seamlessly here - from the varied types of attacks, to enemies interacting with each other on the battlefield (e.g. trampling each other). It all flows organically and, honestly, for like the first 15 hours of gameplay I played (and beat runs) mostly off vibes and intuition. While the word itself may make this praise sound pedestrian I can think of no better word for it than "Coherence".

The entire game has this coherence about it - from the way the systems work to the world building to how you build and express your character. It all fits both in-universe and mechanically and it all feels natural and proper. The execution is nothing short of brilliant and it feels *great* to play.

The game itself is challenging until you start to get some more experience under your belt. And this is where I think the "rougelike" really jive with this game. Sure divine RNG can still carry, but the real benefit of multiple runs is each time you learn a little more about the enemies, their attack patterns, how your skills can change, etc. In that sense it's way more of a "soulslike" experience than a "rouglike" experience - your game knowledge is ultimately what lets you beat that boss, not that you lucked into the right powerups.

Of note is this game implements keywords/toolstips better than ANY OTHER game I've seen. They give you basically full info on every keyword and if that keyword applies a status effect, well they tell you that too. Occasionally you'll run into a nested list of keywords/status effect that, if they go too deep, you might have to look something up. But overall the UI is dang near perfect at giving you all the information you need regarding an ability; it'll spoil you for other interfaces.

Also major props for going so hard with worldbuilding. The universe is interesting, alive, interactable, and full of charm. It's an incredible universe that they made and I'm super excited to learn more about it.

I originally bought this game for co-op but honestly much prefer single-player. This is because in co-op you both execute your moves simultaneously and so it can screw up the very intricate dance of battle. Especially as enemy aggro is often drawn to whoever last hit them, changing even things like where AoEs hit. It's just difficult to coordinate without screwing yourself or your partner over. It's not unplayable by any means - and I've had fun in co-op - it's just a different experience.

Game is super fun. Glad i bought it. Hope more people buy it and enjoy it as much as me and my best buddy do!

Inkbound is an amazing hidden gem of strategy games. The builds and playable characters are diverse and interesting.

If you like turn based strategy games, definitely give this one a go.

Turn-based roguelite with multiple characters with each, many types of builds
You can play this solo or multiplayer, but I solely played it on my own

Mechanically, this game is wicked. As with all roguelites, the start is a bit rough while you learn the ins and outs of the battle system and each an every single item, but by the end of a few runs I was flying through each book (this game's version of a dungeon floor)

The bosses have quite a few unique mechanics that keep you on your toes adding to that strategy aspect, and since this is turnbased - there's no pressure

Naturally, you will gravitate towards characters and builds that you like or aligned with your playstyle, but there is enough variety to keep you entertained for many runs

I found the voice acting to be very pleasant and well done, so kudos to all the actors

If you just want to breeze through a run and just experience the game and/or story then there are difficulty levels catering to those who want to dabble in the game, up to the masochistic gamers who define their life's work with their gaming achievements

The one main thing that brings my score to the game down is the pacing of the story and quests. For example, towards the end there are many times you are required to reach NPC A who is in a specific book/world, only to then be asked to visit NPC B who is in yet another book/world, then once again asked to return to NPC A for their response... I don't really have an answer on how to make the questing experience better, but I just know I didn't enjoy that

In the end, to reach the credits I had to do many, many runs (some runs that I needed to restart in order to find that NPC in question) which made me feel the game overstayed its welcome
Thankfully, the game's mechanics and build diversity got me to stay until the end credits which lends to how neat they are

TLDR: is it fun? yes
should I get it if there's a sale? definitely
should I play it for the story? ehh

Hades with "turn-based" combat and very very deep systems of builds and combats.

overall a pretty solid game, however some builds are either really weak or under developed.

i typically run a thorns crusher build but do enjoy the punching class.

HOW EVER, there seems to be little to no actual content updates. just looking for some more trinkets, classes, and for the weak builds to get fleshed out or buffed.

Fantastic and beautiful game and needs more players.

Bought it, played with a buddy for a little while and realized it wasn't exactly my style. Could say for certain that the developers put alot of love into the game from the very little that I managed to play.

Absolutely beautiful, complex, unique turn based strategy game with a wonderful mix of story, exploration and progression. Really hits a sweet spot in my heart as you can tell so much passion and care went into this game. This is Roguebook but with devs who went the extra extra mile. AMAZING!! 10/10.

It's an alright game to start, and loved the art style. However it's an MMO. Something that I wasn't informed of about when deciding to purchase.
Refunded. It's not a bad game from the little I played, but believing it was a co-op game rather than an MMO skewed my experience. I wish there was a 'neutral' recommendation for this, cause I can't really recommend it on the little I played, but giving a negative review cause a tag was missing is unfair.

After really enjoying Monster Train, I decided to trust that the developer would deliver a great experience after watching the trailer. I found it a tad too expensive at the time, but as soon as it went on sale I decided to grab it. It's totally awesome. The gameplay is as addicting and engaging as Monster Train, but instead of using cards to summon monsters, you control your character in small arenas, fighting with a turn-based combat system. The progression, unlocks, and upgrade aren't too different from what you'd expect with a roguelike, so after reading the various traits/ bonuses/ etc, you can get the hang of it pretty easily. After playing it for a while, I can say I'd have bought it at full price. Great job, Shiny Shoe!

крайне прикольная и необычная тактика, но элемент роглайка сводит к ожиданию прока имбы.

Fantastic game with a lot of build variety. Combat is a ton of fun and similar to the combat in the Trails games. A lot of cosmetics to unlock too if you enjoy customizing your character.

It's a great game overall I've enjoyed the gameplay a lot. but I like games of this style. It's almost a deck building game. You take the skills you have on whatever character class you're going to use and then you defeat enemies and manage your resources to buff your skills in a certain way to try to reach the end of a run. If you have some friends that play games regularly with you, it feels like it was balanced more around multiplayer. I haven't been able to find groups much and have done ok on my own. There are some strategies that perform way better than others so you'll have to experiment with whatever class you have and try to synergize your build.

Takes some time to come to grips with this game, but after you play for a while, you will get hooked on the gameplay loop and quest to find the most OP build.

An absolutely fantastic roguelite, this game has a tremendous amount of replay value. The story is cute, the art is stellar, and the gameplay is incredibly fun. Combat is well tuned, the variety in items on runs is solid, and your ability to tweak bad luck at important moments with resources is brilliant.

There are several different classes that all play extremely differently which helps keep the game fresh and the game offers both custom challenge modes and progressive difficulty similar to Ascensions in Slay the Spire to keep challenging yourself. Highly recommend.

I obviously don't have much time playing it, but from what I've seen it's super boring. Did a few runs and didn't really unlock much of anything. The artwork/colors felt really unpleasant on my eyes. Definitely not worth it.

A unique take on a roguelike multiplayer turn-based game with great build options AND so many quests and unlockables!

The negative reviews are from morons who suck at the game.
You can go infinite with will collector.
You can exponentially increase damage with poison/burn builds.
You can be invincible and win without even attacking with spike builds.

If you enjoy roguelikes, and play with friends who are capable of cooperating, you can really have a fun time with this game. The ramp-up feels great, and the replayability is very high.

Great game, could use some balance tweaks, but very fun.

Legendary turn based tactic by Monster Train developer.
it has enough heroes to let player try out different play style,
Then each heroes has insane amount of item combination and ascendancy to experiment.

Even better ? This game can simu-turn-based coop work like charm

Very fun casual game. Great balance of each run being mostly independent, while still leveling you up so you don't get too stuck.

I don't actually have 50 hours in this game; it got left on over night on several occasions.

This game is going to ask you to grind a LOT in order to unlock content. I don't really feel like it respects the player's time - especially for a roguelike/roguelite. Its also very, very easy. I got to ascension 17 on 'the hardest character' (the game describes it as the most complicated in the menu) and at no point did I ever feel challenged.

I kept playing hoping that things would get interesting and now I've uninstalled because I just don't care anymore.

very fun to play with a friend !