Inscryption

Challenging and Fun. Don't look anything up. 9.2/10

Inscryption hooked me with its dark, mysterious vibe and clever card gameplay. What it does best is blend intense deck-building with puzzle-solving and a story that keeps you guessing the whole time. The way it constantly shifts gears kept me on edge and really invested. It’s smart, creepy, and totally unique.

I only got into gaming a few years ago when my partner built me a PC. Inscryption was the first game that really blew me away. I loved the balance of the card game with the greater mystery. It has a really great variety of art styles too which was really fun!

Inscryption is a brilliantly inventive and genre-defying experience that masterfully blends deck-building card gameplay, psychological horror, and meta-narrative storytelling into a singular, unforgettable adventure. Developed by Daniel Mullins Games, the title initially presents itself as a dark and atmospheric card game played in a mysterious cabin, where the player faces off against a sinister figure known only as Leshy. However, as the layers of the game unfold, Inscryption reveals itself to be much more than a traditional card battler—it becomes a complex puzzle box of narrative twists, blending roguelike elements, escape-room style puzzles, and even full-fledged horror segments that challenge the player’s perception of reality within the game world. The core card gameplay is deceptively simple yet deeply strategic, requiring players to carefully manage their deck of creature cards, sacrifices, and resources while adapting to ever-escalating threats. Each card has unique abilities and synergies, and success hinges on thoughtful positioning, timing, and risk management. What makes Inscryption truly stand out is how it constantly evolves the card mechanics across different acts, introducing new rules, challenges, and even entirely new game modes that keep the gameplay fresh and unpredictable. This dynamic design ensures that players remain engaged and on their toes, never settling into a comfortable routine. Beyond mechanics, Inscryption excels in atmosphere and storytelling. The game’s art style—deliberately rough and eerie—paired with a haunting soundscape and unsettling voice acting, creates a deeply immersive and unsettling environment that permeates every aspect of the experience. The narrative is delivered through cryptic clues, environmental storytelling, and layered dialogue, weaving a meta-story about control, creativity, and the nature of games themselves. As the game progresses, players uncover dark secrets behind the cabin, the mysterious figure, and the very origins of the cards, leading to mind-bending revelations that challenge conventions and expectations. The meta-narrative is cleverly integrated with gameplay, blurring the lines between player, character, and developer in a way that few games dare to explore. Inscryption also shines in its puzzle design, offering a variety of brain-teasing challenges that complement the card battles and deepen the mystery. These puzzles range from decoding cryptic messages to manipulating the game’s interface in unexpected ways, rewarding curiosity and persistence. The game encourages exploration and experimentation, and multiple endings add significant replay value for those eager to uncover every secret. While Inscryption is widely praised, its unconventional structure and frequent shifts in gameplay style may not appeal to everyone, particularly those who prefer straightforward experiences. The game’s darker themes and moments of tension can be intense, and some puzzles can be quite challenging, demanding patience and creative thinking. However, these aspects are part of what gives the game its unique identity and lasting impact. In summary, Inscryption is a daring and brilliantly crafted hybrid that pushes the boundaries of what a card game—and a video game—can be. It combines innovative mechanics, haunting atmosphere, and a layered, thought-provoking story into a cohesive whole that captivates and challenges players on multiple levels. For those willing to embrace its mysteries and embrace its unsettling charm, Inscryption offers a deeply rewarding journey into the unknown, redefining interactive storytelling and gameplay in the process. Rating: 9/10

Love this dudes projects. To much ARG for me to do myself but they are not necessary for the experience. Was expecting this game seance the beta(?) and wasn't disappointed one beat.

pretty fun, the game makes sure to hold your hand throughout the experience by pushing you in the right direction, cool characters, nice aesthetic, overall great game

Inscryption was recommended to me by my brother and I went into this game blind. I had no idea what to expect from this game. The game offers some tutorial-like stages at the beginning, however, I still found act 1 gameplay confusing for a while. I feel they could have taken a little more time on introducing the game to you. By the time I was comfortable with the gameplay, I was then thrown into new gameplay with act 2. Avoiding spoilers, Inscryption switches up on the player quite drastically. I had mixed emotions about this. After completing the game, I learned to appreciate each part. I ended up replaying them for achievements and had fun. -Rougelike: I found the rougelike aspects of the game quite forgiving. This was refreshing since the game was a bit hard to understand. -Soundtrack: There's not a whole lot of music in this game. The songs are atmospheric and fit the vibe of the game. I especially enjoy the leitmotifs in the final boss of act 1. -Plot: I have read a lot of praise for the plot, but I never was that intrigued. It is presented in a "shock value" style. I cared to know more about the in-game characters (Leshy, Magnificus, P03, Grimora etc.) more than scenes about Luke. -Endgame: Kaycee's mod is the endgame mode. It is an advanced version of act 1 with more cards and abilities. The endgame has the best gameplay in my opinion. I had a lot of fun going through the challenges. 100% the game. With this addition, I would overall consider it a 7.5-8/10 game.

Absolute holy moly. The first part of the game was peak cinema and the lil puzzle and horror parts were so so wild. Everything afterwards was very surreal and intresting. Like what's actually going on? Gonna continue tmr, but this was so fun and unique for now

such a fun deckbuilder, combined with a total MINDFUCK of a story. absolute cinema 11/10

Wow, just wow. I'm so glad i went in blind. This game is batshit, it's the best game i've played in a long while; i'm still sitting here stunned and digesting, a second playthrough is imminent but not for right now. Words fail to describe how amazing this game is. & tell me why i started out hating Leshy & ended up w tears when he told me the scores don't matter & it was a good game? T.T wasn't expecting to feel this emotional fr. I chose Magnificus & it GUTTED me that the handshake was of importance to him & yet we never did it - just rip my heart out why dontcha T.T So, so many post-game feels, it's a must-play no matter if you think this genre isn't your type bc it will be.

"New game" isn't an option. As soon as you boot up the game for the first time after installing, you are forced to select "continue game". That kinda sets the vibe for the religious experience that follows. I didn't think that a deck-building card game could change the way I view all of fiction and storytelling, but I'm okay with being wrong. Everyone needs to experience this game once in their life. Beautifully and carefully crafted, Inscryption is a genre-bending masterpiece that I will play until my dying breath.

it’s like if you mashed together a roguelike, an escape room, a found footage horror movie, and some guy’s cursed childhood trading card collection. but like, in a good way. highlights include: - losing and being immortalised as a creepy card - squirrel-based ethical dilemmas - the phrase “stoat moment” now living rent-free in my head -the moment you realise you’re not just in the game — you are the game anyway, incredible experience. don’t google anything. don’t trust anything. do trust the squirrel. also someone’s knocking on my door. if i disappear, tell leshy he still owes me a gold pelt.

What a game! Don’t look up trailers, don’t read reviews, don’t even scroll down this page. Just play it. It starts as one thing… and becomes something else entirely. Creepy, clever, and completely unforgettable.

Chapter 1 of this game is great, and it took me 8 hours to beat, but the next chapter takes away everything that's good about this game... I know there is another chapter which is better, but Chapter 2 artstyle is a mistake.

This is such a fun game. I really enjoyed the story, which I can't say much about because of spoilers. It does drag a bit in some places, but it's easily worth the price.

A not-so-great deckbuilding roguelite got in the way of a pretty good [spoiler]metanarrative[/spoiler]. Inscryption starts off really strong, but then it rambles a bit before reaching its climax. I can't help but think it would have hit harder if it had kept me engaged throughout the experience. It might just be my Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain talking, but I feel like this would’ve been twice the game at half the length. The deckbuilding and battles were just sooo slooow and tedious after the first few times. Nevertheless, if you like [spoiler]metanarratives like Pony Island, Doki Doki Literature Club, and Undertale[/spoiler], and don’t dread deckbuilders, there’s certainly at least half a great game here. Also: going in blind is absolutely recommended.

What can I say except—wow! After finishing The Operator, I was searching for another game that could deliver a similar emotional and gameplay experience, and I stumbled upon Inscryption. I'm so glad I did. This game truly has it all: music, gameplay, art style, and story all come together to create something special. While I haven't yet completed the Kaycee’s Mod section, the main game itself is incredibly fun and engaging. One of my favorite aspects of Inscryption is how it incorporates failure as a learning mechanic. Losing isn’t just part of the game—it helps you get better, both by improving your understanding of the mechanics and by strengthening your deck. Although it initially appears to be a deck-building roguelike, Inscryption also features elements of puzzle-solving and psychological horror, which add significant depth to the experience. I especially appreciated how the game rewards exploration and curiosity. Solving puzzles and uncovering secrets isn’t just for show—it directly benefits your gameplay and deck-building. Pros: Super fun and unique gameplay Mysterious and creepy storyline Deep mechanics and rewarding exploration Cons: I wish the game had been even longer Overall, Inscryption is a clever, immersive, and unforgettable game. Highly recommended for fans of strategy, mystery and horror!

Just play it 10/10 Absolute Masterpiece cool characters, nice aesthetic. overall great game

This is one of the best games I have ever played and it was one hell of a ride. Do not look up anything on the internet; no gameplays, no spoilers, let the game blow your mind.

Extremely fun and tricky, each death and restart brings about a new strategy to gameplay. It's also very cool to figure out the lore as you play. Endless possibilities, would highly recommend.

好玩，最喜欢的还是野兽模组，衔尾蛇yyds。故事在我意料之外的地方结束了，但玩得很满足

Inscryption is a really good game, probably one of the reasons why I mostly play indie games nowadays. Don't want to give spoilers, but you might be a bit disappointed when you reach Act 2, but give it a chance, Act 3 more than makes up for it and Act 2 is not so bad at all. After finishing the main campaign, you can replay Act 1 with additional challenges and new cards, which I really enjoyed. Also, there are custom mods available to be downloaded, and some of them are impressively high-quality.

Honestly one of the best steam games out there, its long and good gameplay, lore/backstore is deep and good, and takes skill and luck to beat

Overall, a good game. The ending is incredibly weak as opposed to the rest of the game, but the unique experience the game offers makes it worth it regardless. The opening scene has some of the best atmosphere I have seen in a horror game, and before it arrives at its rather flat conclusion, I was completely hooked. I would give it a 7/10.

overall pretty good game. Go in blind, don't look anything up until you've finished.

One of my fav games, like ever. It's super fun with amazing gmaeplay, lore, and sound design.

One of the best games I have ever played. Every story game I play I can only play an hour at a time due to boredom. Not this game, long sessions to beat this game and cant wait for Kaycee's mod. This was better made than any game I have played. Absolutely amazing and so well made.

One of the best deck building "roguelite" on the market. Great characters, quite interesting story and visuals that leaves you with an uneasy feeling for the entire game and after you completed it. One of the strong suit of Inscryption is that it's constantly adding new mechanics, but doesn't overwhelm you with them. Game also makes you constatly upgrading your deck, even between runs, so if you are stuck at one point, you just have to play it a bit more and you will eventually beat it. Puzzles are also great. Some of them are REALLY hard to find, so don't be so harsh about not looking stuff online (especially act 3 - i really didnt notice the skull and bones, when using photographer for so long, because it's so small).

This was the most unique game I've ever played. If you can handle some horror and like card games, this is a must play. Go in blind and don't look anything up; enjoy.

9/10, a little weird, but the gameplay is strong

This is a rogue-lite deckbuilding game that offers fun and unique iterations on the genre. But that isn't what makes Inscryption stand out. The deckbuilding is merely a medium through which a psychological horror story is told. Cannot recommend enough - it's a short game and is a must play for anyone who's a fan of horror and deck builders.

A rouge-like game, and once you finish the game, you get a mod to make the game more challenging

9/10, Amazing game. Loved the creativity, art styles, and the unique puzzles. I see why the ouroboros has its own spot on the tier list.

Honestly amazed that it only took me 12 hours. - Gets randomly hard as fuck - Gameplay changes like 4 times - AMAZING story - roguelite at it's finest. not a downside but I won't play it again, it's one of those games.

Damn, what an experience... Has to go into my top 5 games of all time. You can tell this game was made by an extremely cohesive team. The idea of using the same underlying card game in a number of different presentations is genius. It feels like they were sitting around brainstorming ideas and they ended up saying "how can we do all of these ideas?" - a risky approach to designing a game for most developers, but they pulled it off expertly. In terms of the actual underlying card game, I don't think this beats the top games in the genre (i.e. Slay The Spire or Balatro) but your first playthrough of Inscryption will dwarf any run you've experienced in those other games. To not spoil anything, Inscryption goes beyond just the card game and the way the game teaches you its mechanics over the first few hours is very special. The story is quite cool conceptually and I was definitely hooked throughout, but I feel the ending was a little anticlimactic. With a few hours left to play, I had pretty good idea how it was going to end and I think they really could've taken it to another level by subverting that expectation at the end and taking the story to a different close. Aesthetics are impeccable. To nitpick, the only things I'd criticise is that I wasn't a fan of the board aesthetics in Act III and I thought the darkness in the board rooms was a bit much in places (I understand they've done this to ensure your focus is drawn to what it should be drawn to). Particularly loved all of Act I (everything is just perfect), and the card designs in Act III. This game should be on everyone's gaming bucket lists.

Take everyone's advice, don't watch the reviews, just play it. Great card game with a great story.

this game is plot twist after plot twist and it s only mainly a card game !!!!! more engaging story than most games tbh

This game is so fun! You never know what will happen next. One of the few games that actually surpriced me a lot!

One of the coolest games ive ever played. A very dark and gritty but mechanically deep deckbuilder with cool music, design and athmosphere. Do not look up any spoilers and just play it, trust me. 10/10

I really do like this game, I do. The only issue is that the second act is such a slog-fest... The first and third (especially the first) are really good!!! It's just the second one is not at the same level graphics or gameplay wise. Despite that, I think the other two acts are completely worth a playthrough to experience them; peak gaming right there.

very good game amazing art wonderful characters and an arg ntod oslve ti

lore filled, content filled, and art filled game. highly recommend. great game stunning ending

This game is nuts. The card play is similar enough to MTG that you'll enjoy it if you like that kind of thing - but Inscryption is so much more than that. It also does a good job of on-ramping if you are not familiar with that style of card game.

The main game is fun, while you don't need to really pay attention to the story to enjoy the game, there are some issues. Number 1 if you want to repeat the acts you can, but when you do there isn't much more progression that can really be made as a card game. Number 2 the story is good and they did a good job with the card game presentation itself along side the main story which is part of an ARG/bigger game world but there are problems with accidentally beating certain parts and problems with certain functions in game play mechanics. Number 3 there are major problems with the rouge-like system, progress from run attempts is not made in any meaningful way even if you complete a challenges. You can repeat the challenges over a hundred times and unless you manage to get an event order very close to the original story you are not going to complete the challenge even if you play perfectly. The game also classifies certain things strangely. For example if you don't take a recommended card that is a miss play, you can change the card lineup in your deck removing certain things but instead of them actually being removed they will still show up. Next you can create an infinite loop and create a situation where you will almost always win first or second turn but the game will prevent it from working by doing things like adding cards to your deck that you never picked up. My fav example was when through some goofy RNG I had 3 ororobus and two of them put copies of themselves into my hand when played in addition to always providing the amount of needed blood/bones to play anything in the game in one way or another. I was one shotting every dual most of the run until I get to the final cabin. I have zero pelts of any kind in my deck and suddenly I have nothing but golden pelts for 30 turns, I only had 10 cards in the deck. The RNG ACT 1 replay part of the game needs fixing for it to be fun for most people.

A very wonderful tale with so many game play mechanics and segments of the game that are all equally great It could be hard at first, but stay with it, you will not be disappointed

This is legitimately one of the best games I have ever played, and I do not give it that title lightly. Play this game. You will not regret it.

Best storytelling and interesting gameplay.

Love the aesthetic, dig the kinda gritty rustic beginning and the whole shift in the twists. just the overall vibe pulled me in and I gladly invested in this lil gem :D Solid A.

Great deckbuilder with unexpected interesting story and unusual game system that was refreshing. Highly recommend.

This is one of the most unique and creative games I have ever played. It's so satisfying, and each twist and turn keeps me hooked. I've never been so consistently surprised by a story. I really recommend sticking with the game and prepare to... think outside the box. ;)