296.0 hours played
Written 3 days ago
Inkbound: The Roguelike That Loves You and Kicks Your Butt Into Roguelike Addiction Spiral.
TLDR Below.
I went into Inkbound expecting a cute little turn-based rogue-something to kill time while my main games were in timeout. What I got was an emotional rollercoaster that made me question my friendships, my tactical intelligence and occasionally my sanity. In my opinion Inkbound deserves way more love. It’s an underrated gem that deserves better visibility and a bigger playerbase.
At first glance, it’s like Hades had a baby with Slay the Spire then let it had way too many fantasy novel and The Pagemaster movie. The combat? Turn-based in real-time-adjacent with fast movement but has enough decision making to make you sweat like you’re defusing a bomb! It feels so good and satisfying.
Now here’s the game wants you to win, but not without gas-lighting you into thinking you’re a God for two runs and then slamming you into a wall so hard you start wondering if your build or your soul was condemned. Everything work is part of the game learning process, this is how you master and manoeuvre your build as whatever RNG throw at you.
The Co-op? Amazing! Team Synergy builds? Chef’s kiss! Be it solo or multiplayer is wildly fun but also sometimes it feels like the RNG gods just threw your hopes in the shredder. One run you're an unkillable death machine chaining explosions and melting bosses. Next run? You're a slightly magical wet sponge wondering why you do much lesser damage.
Now the graphic and artstyle was phenomenally immersive. Vibes? strong. Lore? actually is interesting, though I’ll be honest...I did read through most of it and skip some because there moments I had that “one more run” "I'm gonna get it this time!". Despite some of those BS moments and the occasional "how the freak did I did end with such crappy built there??!" Inkbound somehow keeps pulling me back with their mesmerising aesthetics and deeply satisfying turn based fights especially in Multiplayer.
TLDR:
Inkbound is a criminally underrated roguelike that looks charming, plays smooth, and secretly drags you into a tactical addiction spiral. It mixes Hades-style flair with Slay the Spire brainwork, then lets RNG slap you around until you learn to outsmart it. Combat feels amazing, co-op synergy is chef’s kiss, and the art and vibe are straight up gorgeous. One run you're a God of destruction, next run you're a soggy sponge questioning life and you’ll still queue up again. Alas sum it up Inkbound is stunning, chaotic, and stupidly fun and deserves way more love.