Inscryption - about this Jumanji with collectible cards it is better not to know anything, but to assess for yourself... 

You didn't listen to me. Why did you keep reading if the advice in the title was good? Well, let's count on your honesty. You're not going to blurt out any interesting information if I whisper it in your ear, are you? I thought so, I'd have to start from afar...

Inscryption diligently pretends to be a collectible card game. The only comparison is "SuperHot" - that game also tried to look like something that is not what it is. To this day there are disputes about the true plot and double bottom of this unusual shooter in forums and on YouTube there's even a video with conspiracy theory parsing...

...With Inscryption the situation is about the same. And some of the brainwashing plot devices of these two games are as similar as two drops of water...

Come in - don't be afraid, go out - don't cry.

Inscryption is devoid of introductory parts and immediately throws the player into the thick of mystical events. The protagonist - a certain nameless (or not really?...) aspirant languishes in the captivity of Leshy... at least, so introduced the mysterious man on the other side of the gambling table.

A frightening stranger explains the rules of a game he made up. But these board games make your blood run cold. It's not like a bunch of geeks fanning out over dragon fantasies. Inscryption is a bizarre mixture of Creepypasta, the movie "Saw" and Jumanji, only instead of a board game we have playing cards, and instead of John Kramer and gallons of blood - the woodsman, glaring at his prey. Like in "Saw," the protagonist dies for losing, and a new one will take his place. Everything starts over, as it should in any roguelike game. It would seem to be an ordinary card roguelike, there are dozens of such games...

...But the first impression is deceptive. Once you lose a couple of times, the anomalies begin: the faces of the cards begin to flicker, or even change their drawings. Behind the scenes one can hear the hitherto unknown voice of the narrator, which hadn't existed before, and the dark hut turns out to be not so abandoned. The talking cards in the initial deck now and then give the player advice on how to get out, and complain about being stuck in this game. As it turns out, the cards aren't thrilled to be in Inscryption either, now and then trying to direct the player to those secluded corners where Leshy has hidden their friends. With each new run, the shroud of mysticism only thickens. There will always be more questions than answers.

It turns out that everything that happens on the screen is a kind of retelling, while another, true story unfolds in the background. It turns out that Inscryption supposedly exists in the real world, and that the nameless applicant is not nameless at all. It turns out that the plot revolves not around Leshiy, a hut and a collectible card game, but around the misadventures of the blogger Luke Carder.

The blogger collects cards, filming on camera unpacking boosters. It's around this kind of content that he has built his audience. But one day he got his hands on a very unusual vintage set of Inscryption cards. While unpacking the booster, Luke notices that the set has been opened by someone before him, but the cards remain intact. Someone left coordinates on one of the cards. Whether it's a coincidence or not, the coordinates took Luke into the woods. Of course, the blogger was eager to satisfy his curiosity and went in search of who knows what. In the woods Luke finds a floppy disk with a digital version of Inscryption, which he didn't even know existed. Remember how I compared Inscryption to the 1995 film Jumanji? Further events echo the ideas of that movie, but Inscryption tells a much more complex story. And trust me, if you thought "Oh, so this Luke is stuck in the game and is trying to get out of it by talking to the player through the screen", I'll have to disappoint you - the Inscryption scenario is much more complex and more than once will mislead you by blowing dust in your eyes.

By the way, I intentionally wrote "into the woods" in bold italics to send you down the wrong logical path, Inscryption does this all the time.

How to overcome a fear of collectible card games

If you haven't dealt with collectible card games before, Inscryption is a chance to join the genre. The subtleties are slowly introduced to the player, and the accompanying characteristics of the cards will be understood even by a complete beginner.

The entire balance is based on the value of cards: to draw a creature, you must sacrifice your weaker creature on the table. There will be other ways to draw cards later, but not before the player has mastered the previous mechanics. Inscryption is not a game where you have to spend hours assembling a deck; not a game where every card has to synergize with the other cards in the deck; not a game where you have to worry about card value. Inscryption doesn't force you to think too much, and sometimes it allows you to break the balance. For example: after a couple or three runs, you can create cards like the one in the screenshot below. You can assemble the deck so cleverly that the opponent has no chance to win.

But you can't go through the game with just one deck. Different decks are effective against different opponents and bosses. But don't be intimidated by the complexity. It's enough to focus on one mechanic, and your deck is ready to go. For example: "I'll play through Insects" - you draw more ants, cockroaches, and mantises into the deck. That's the trick.

Almost all creatures in Inscryption have special skills: some ignore enemy cards on the table and hit the enemy character "in the face", some become invulnerable during the enemy's turn. Cards can and should be combined, their abilities combined. You can go very far in this business and create a truly invincible card. The role of the player's personal skill goes into the background.

The whole point of the game is like a tug-of-war: each unit of damage equals 1 point, if we hit, we deal 1 point of damage to the enemy. We control the table or hit "in the face". The game ends at the moment when the damage advantage to one of the players is equal to 5 points or more. In battles against bosses you have to defeat the enemy twice, the bosses change their combat tactics after their first defeat. 

On paper it sounds a bit complicated, but in fact you won't find anything easier in the genre: Inscryption has no classes and their abilities, there's no extra reason to fuss over a deck; Inscryption doesn't force you to make a deck from the Internet guide. Inscryption, you don't have to save up resources for months in the ghostly hope of snagging a legendary card for your deck. 

But the ease of mastering and accessibility is not what this game was loved for...

Everything is not what it seems…

...And loved Inscryption in the first place for its originality. The game is divided into three acts. We already told you about the first one in passing. The second and third acts change the rules of the game and are full of small, but important plot details and hints.

Inscryption does not hesitate to lead the player on a false trail, destroying the fourth wall. Sooner or later the question will be born: what if everything that happens is unreal? Some scenes and messages flirt with urban legends and campfire tales about "death files. 

Every now and then the devil is going on, and the author is in no hurry to give clear explanations for what is happening. Once the player gets used to one picture of the world, Inscryption rolls out the second layer, then the third. Only closer to the finale do we realize that the wrapping of a gloomy collectible card game is just a screen behind which lies...

Is Inscryption worth buying?

Inscryption is probably one of the best indie games in the history of game development: it combines atmospheric, deep, double-bottom story with accessibility for beginners. The game's author, not little-known in narrow circles Daniel Mullins, hasn't lost his cool and continues to develop some of the strangest games in the industry. Inscryption could be dubbed an art-house masterpiece. There aren't many games in the world whose storyline never fades from our memories.