Sacrifices must be made…

Inscryption is an escape room/ARG/puzzle game with some FMV moments, wrapped up in a turn based deckbuilding card game roguelike. If that sounds like a lot to swallow, don’t worry……It is, but the game does a fantastic job of scaffolding you up and taking it one step at a time. You won’t get very far until you really know what you are doing.

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW because, well, it’s a Dan Mullins game and secrets and twists in story is kind of his thing. see Pony Island and The Hex

+ reinventing the wheel. Inscryption takes your basic beckbuilder and modifies it in a way that keeps it simple enough for people new to the genre to understand and enjoy. It also allows veterans to create OP decks (like an ant deck that will allow hitting face for lethal on turn 1 for 16 damage) and have a lot of fun playing around with different builds (I found some pretty neat synergies and unexpected combos). Not only this but the game is constantly reinventing itself too, giving further variations with new cards and mechanics.

+ Jonah Senzel. This guy does the sounds and music for all of Dan Mullins’ games. Inscryption’s soundboard is spot on and the music from the menu to the boss battles is exactly correct for the mood.

+ “Nice game. Can I break it?” And the answer to this is, of course! Finding secrets, breaking things and outclassing the NPCs is key if you want to survive and solve the mystery. I love this about these kinds of games that sway in and out of reality, breaking the 4th wall occasionally and leaving you a bit spooked that someone might be actually watching you.

+ YOU GET A PUZZLE! AND YOU GET A PUZZLE! Puzzles puzzles everywhere in this game. Play the card game, solve puzzles. Get up from the card game to walk around, solve other puzzles. Watch an FMV and pause it at the right moment……puzzle. What about this seemingly uninteresting piece of furniture? Yep, it’s a puzzle. Depending on how deep you want to delve into what the game has to offer, the main story line puzzles range from easy as sacrificing a squirrel for a Stoat, all the way up to some real headscratchers. But if you want to really discover the secrets behind the curtain you are going to have to get your Discord hat on and join the group to add your brain to the think tank.

+ Sit at the table and let me tell you a story. From what I can piece together about the story of the game, we have an extremely dark story, psychologically and even visually from time to time. There is plenty of explicit storytelling but also a lot of things you might need to fill in the gaps on if that’s your kind of thing too.

- It’s almost too deep. I get the feeling that without joining the Discord, taking part in the ARGs and watching Youtube videos I will never really fully understand this game or at the very least see everything that it has to offer. I wish I had the time to delve into every little facet of the game and discover it all for myself but I don’t. And this makes me sad.

- “It’s a deckbuilding card game but not as we know it, Jim.” As a game, Inscryption works very well but as a card game it won’t really have the draw to keep you coming back for more in that aspect. There are no new cards to unlock after the credits. There is no PvP aspect, which is such a shame because it would be amazing to build your own cards and play against other people online. So at the end of the day Inscryption is a clever video game with some well thought out card game shell around it.

I absolutely loved this game. I am an old balding fool now who is often nonplussed by new games. Getting into Inscryption had me grinning from ear to ear. It is great value for money considering the price and the length of gameplay you will get out of it.

You can play the original of this game Sacrifices Must Be Made [dmullinsgames.itch.io] and get a feel for the darkness and style of what you are getting into.

If you do check out that link and like what you see, do yourself a favour….don’t watch, read or even glance at anything else related to the game and just grab a squirrel, a knife and a pair of pliers and sit down at the table with your deck.

[b] Sacrifices must be made…[/b] Inscryption is an escape room/ARG/puzzle game with some FMV moments, wrapped up in a turn based deckbuilding card game roguelike. If that sounds like a lot to swallow, don’t worry……It is, but the game does a fantastic job of scaffolding you up and taking it one step at a time. You won’t get very far until you really know what you are doing. THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW because, well, it’s a Dan Mullins game and secrets and twists in story is kind of his thing. [i] see Pony Island and The Hex[/i] [h1] THE PROS [/h1] [list]+ reinventing the wheel. Inscryption takes your basic beckbuilder and modifies it in a way that keeps it simple enough for people new to the genre to understand and enjoy. It also allows veterans to create OP decks (like an ant deck that will allow hitting face for lethal on turn 1 for 16 damage) and have a lot of fun playing around with different builds (I found some pretty neat synergies and unexpected combos). Not only this but the game is constantly reinventing itself too, giving further variations with new cards and mechanics. [/list] [list]+ Jonah Senzel. This guy does the sounds and music for all of Dan Mullins’ games. Inscryption’s soundboard is spot on and the music from the menu to the boss battles is exactly correct for the mood. [/list] [list]+ “Nice game. Can I break it?” And the answer to this is, of course! Finding secrets, breaking things and outclassing the NPCs is key if you want to survive and solve the mystery. I love this about these kinds of games that sway in and out of reality, breaking the 4th wall occasionally and leaving you a bit spooked that someone might be actually watching you. [/list] [list]+ YOU GET A PUZZLE! AND YOU GET A PUZZLE! Puzzles puzzles everywhere in this game. Play the card game, solve puzzles. Get up from the card game to walk around, solve other puzzles. Watch an FMV and pause it at the right moment……puzzle. What about this seemingly uninteresting piece of furniture? Yep, it’s a puzzle. Depending on how deep you want to delve into what the game has to offer, the main story line puzzles range from easy as sacrificing a squirrel for a Stoat, all the way up to some real headscratchers. But if you want to really discover the secrets behind the curtain you are going to have to get your Discord hat on and join the group to add your brain to the think tank. [/list] [list]+ Sit at the table and let me tell you a story. From what I can piece together about the story of the game, we have an extremely dark story, psychologically and even visually from time to time. There is plenty of explicit storytelling but also a lot of things you might need to fill in the gaps on if that’s your kind of thing too. [/list] [h1] THE CONS [/h1] [list]- It’s almost too deep. I get the feeling that without joining the Discord, taking part in the ARGs and watching Youtube videos I will never really fully understand this game or at the very least see everything that it has to offer. I wish I had the time to delve into every little facet of the game and discover it all for myself but I don’t. And this makes me sad. [/list] [list]- “It’s a deckbuilding card game but not as we know it, Jim.” As a game, Inscryption works very well but as a card game it won’t really have the draw to keep you coming back for more in that aspect. There are no new cards to unlock after the credits. There is no PvP aspect, which is such a shame because it would be amazing to build your own cards and play against other people online. So at the end of the day Inscryption is a clever video game with some well thought out card game shell around it. [/list] [h1] THE CONCLUSION [/h1] I absolutely loved this game. I am an old balding fool now who is often nonplussed by new games. Getting into Inscryption had me grinning from ear to ear. It is great value for money considering the price and the length of gameplay you will get out of it. You can play the original of this game [url=https://dmullinsgames.itch.io/sacrifices-must-be-made] Sacrifices Must Be Made [/url] and get a feel for the darkness and style of what you are getting into. If you do check out that link and like what you see, do yourself a favour….don’t watch, read or even glance at anything else related to the game and just grab a squirrel, a knife and a pair of pliers and sit down at the table with your deck.