Inscryption: A Simple Game about Deck Building

Introduction to Inscryption

Inscryption is a deck building game released in 2021, from beloved creator Daniel Mullins. This deck builder was hailed as a top game by multiple gaming publications and had overwhelming positive reviews on steam. It was later nominated for and won multiple game of the year awards.

Basically, it was a real banger, but unfortunately, I had not heard anything about the game during its release. I stumbled into it because I was in the mood to play a new rogue-lite or deckbuilding game and just googled those terms to get some ideas and found all of the praise above.

So, I purchased it without knowing anything about the game except that it was a deck building game with rogue-lite elements. And I do want you to know, dear reader, I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to deck building.

I used to be a professional Magic the Gathering Player. I’ve won the arena tournaments in Hearthstone. I once went 9–1 against my friend in Dominion and they both taught me how to play the game and have a PhD in math.

I was excited to learn a new system and see how it could challenge me. And before I carry on in this review, I want you to know I’ve 100 percented this game as well as Slay the Spire.

Inscryption: Gameplay and Mechanics

So, what is Inscryption like? It’s not dissimilar to Slay the Spire. You have 3 maps to complete, with bosses at the end of each map, and a final boss after all of that.

Overall, the deck building is less sophisticated than Slay the Spire. There are also certain synergies within the game that are completely overpowered and make the journey trivial. Conversely, you’ll also find yourself in situations that are or at least feel impossible. This game lacks any kind of Advanced RNG toggle that could’ve been used to help smooth out these curves.

The game does have a novel approach to the map that you transverse that I really enjoy. Effectively, the game is you versus a mysterious entity covered in shadow named Leshy. He lays out a physical map and you make choices on where you go. It is an incredible simulation of things like tabletop RPG mapping, where you do the same thing in real life with your friends while exploring dungeons drawn on paper.

In this regard, the gameplay feels much more immersive than a more gamified abstraction like Hearthstone.

Each map is a randomly generated field with different branching options. Each place you move can be a fight, a place to restore up to three items, pick a new card, combine the abilities of cards, pick up totem powers, purchase hides, and so on.

If the map is a fight (denoted by a skull), Leshy will pull away the world map and put out a combat map. Then each fight feels like you’re dueling Leshy. In this regard, the game combines traditional deck building mechanics with strong storytelling elements in a very enjoyable way.

Story telling aside, the goals of traversing the map are to make your deck as strong as possible and survive the encounters you face. Every deck starts out exactly the same, with the cards depicted below. Remember these, as they will be important later.

In addition to this, your deck has approximately 10 squirrels. The gimmick of the game is that you need to make sacrifices to play stronger creatures. The Stoat, for example, requires one sacrifice (creature card) to summon. The Wolf requires two.

Much of the game becomes choosing between drawing for powerful creatures or drawing squirrels to serve as fodder for the food chain. Squirrels are effectively the energy/mana/resources in this card game. A truly brutal system that this writer does not support, given how many squirrels are in my Medium’s audience.

As you play the game, your deck evolves and adds more creatures to help you. You have a wide range of choices to enhance your deck. Below is a random assortment of creatures I was offered at my first stop.

The Adder (left) costs two sacrifices to play, does 1 damage, takes 1 damage before perishing, and anything it damages will die. That is what the skull and crossbones sigil means.

The cat (right) can be sacrificed infinite times, but has no real battle prowess. I know cats have nine lives, so infinity seems excessive. The game has dozens of these sigils and memorizing what every one does is key to succeeding.

If you have any history or experience with card games, this should all be very intuitive to most players. I suspect completely new players to deck building games wouldn’t struggle to pick it up quickly.

Battles/Duels

Battles feature four spaces for cards and a duel to deal five more damage to your opponent than they deal to you. Unfortunately, your opponent doesn’t follow the rules. While you must make sacrifices to play powerful creatures, Leshy may play whatever they feel like at any time.

This means it really is much more like Slay the Spire than it is like Magic the Gathering. The odds are nearly always against you and it is your goal to build a deck capable of overcoming those odds and surviving.

As usual, the best tactics in any card game come down to a simple equation of value.

• Percentage of Card Draw — The more cards in deck, less likely to draw any one card. Slim decks are better.
• Trade Up — You can take 4 damage for free. Trade this damage for position and board strength. If damage isn’t going to kill you, you should take it if it means you can set yourself up for advantage.
• Net Positive Play — You start with 4 cards and draw a card each turn. Your optimal plays will be ones that maximize this card value. If your card takes out one of their cards, that’s a zero-sum play. If your card takes out two of their cards, that’s net positive. If one of their cards takes out two of yours, that’s net negative. The heart of all strategy is making sure your cards have the most possible value on the board.
• Keep the Win in Sight — You only need to do 5 damage to win. Even if you’re hypothetically against 8 grizzly bears (4/6 creatures), you only need to do five damage to your oppononet to win. If you have a creature who can do 5 damage by itself and has no blockers in sight, you win every time.
• Redacted + F4

Conclusion

In short, this game has a lot of interesting interactions and choices to make. It is a memorable experience and loads of fun, but it definitely isn’t as sophisticated or as balanced as Slay the Spire. Regardless, Mullins is unquestionably a genius when it comes to game design and development, but his games tend to be fairly straight forward.

I think if you enjoy this game, a more fun experience is Monster Rancher Battle Card Episode II.

Overall, I would still give this game a 10/10! I couldn’t even imagine saying anything negative about this game or the creator! Thank you for reading!