I took a little time out of my busy week to play another deck builder. Maybe I am old, but I don’t think that I can remember many more game mechanics in deck builders. I think I read over the wide array of ailments in this week’s game and just gave up. I’m old, that’s it.

This week is the Inkborn Combat Demo

Inkborn is a roguelike deck-builder from Acram Digital. The demo is still up on Steam, and Early Access is slated for Q2 of this year.

In Inkborn, the player is given a deck of cards to slay the wild beasts that occupy this paper-theme world. Very reminiscent of Slay the Spire, or any deck builder, you draw a set number of cards that have a cost, and play cards until the energy is exhausted. After each encounter, a reward is given in terms of a new card for your deck. On occasion, I got to upgrade a named card with a choice of 3 abilities, whether it be more damage, gaining block, or a keyword that I had never read.

After playing Vellum, I am seeing more and more parchment-themed games popping up in the world, and Inkborn does a pretty decent job of aligning everything. Terms like cut, crumpled, and something else are terms used pretty often as you play the game.

Inkborn elevates the gameplay by introducing an additional energy to play with and special attacks that happen when playing a specific combination of cards. Playing 3 block gives you the ability to gain an additional block, whereas 2 attacks and a block will result in an additional attack. These abilites add a nice sense of depth to the combat.

The special attacks help Inkborn depart from other deck builders.

Balancing enemy health and attacks is incredibly important to a deck builder, and I think Inkborn has compiled a nice example of the enemies that the player will be facing. You have the heavy hitters, the status inflictors, the heavier hitting boss, and the crickets that gain a dodge every single time they are dealt damage. The time that I spent trying to take down enemies was a lot more than I wanted, and it often felt like I was losing because the enemies were just so much more powerful than I was.

Inkborn is a solid-looking game so far. The paper theme makes for clean-looking character models and the cards have a gritty, sketched look. I especially like the botting and rip aesthetic when either status ailments or when the player is near death.

I think for fans of deck builders, I would give Inkborn a try. It has all of the elements of a decent game so far, with the core gameplay loop. The look is on point, and though some of the enemies presented are a little tough, I am sure that they are represented to be later-level enemies. Cards are cool and have depth that looks like they could be experimented with a lot.

Inkborn seems dope and has just enough for me to be excited for it.