Inkbound totally gets it. It understands what makes a Roguelike really compelling and exciting. This is the new game from Monster Train developer Shiny Shoe, so perhaps that’s no surprise – because if any game can claim to have taken the Slay the Spire formula and made something memorable out of it, something of its own, it’s Monster Train. Still, it’s not an easy thing to do.
InkboundDeveloper / Publisher: Shiny ShoePlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Demo in Steam Next Fest. Full release on Steam in 2023
The magic revolves around, I think, an equation of powerfulness. It’s in allowing the player to break the game in their favour if they gather the right abilities and upgrades and power-ups, just as you can in Slay the Spire, and just as you can in Hades. It conjures that beautiful moment where you suddenly make light of all the heavy work that’s come before, and for a glorious moment, nothing seems to be able to touch you. And Inkbound absolutely understands that. I’ve made myself coo with delight.
I mentioned Hades there – Inkbound is much more like Hades than Slay the Spire. There are no cards but hotbar abilities, and as in Hades, your abilities can be transformed and modified. Also, you’re in a 3D world and you run around it in real-time. And there are NPCs to talk to with illustrated character portraits. And when you progress from a chamber, you choose which kind of chamber comes next. It’s very familiar; it’s almost as if, having ‘done’ Slay the Spire, Shiny Shoe looked at the newest popular Roguelike when working out what to do next.
There’s one huge difference though, and it’s combat. Combat is turn-based, though it feels real-time in how you move around, which is maybe why it feels a bit strange. It’s governed, though, by turn-based principles. You have an amount of energy you use to move and attack, and abilities have varying costs. And when you’re happy with what you’ve done, you end the turn and the enemies take theirs.