![]() ![]() I think it makes it easier to see and latch onto,” Krausnick tells Digital Trends. We actually had cards in it at some point, but it’s always been this combo MOBA/action RPG/tactics/character builder. “This game started as a lot of what you see. When I asked about how the studio pieced the game together, creative director Andrew Krausnick explained that it wasn’t so far off from the way Monster Train was developed. That detail begins to explain the studio’s chimera approach to game design, which gets taken to the next level in Inkbound. Shiny Shoe, a small studio, notes that several members on its team come from an MMO background. But then also think of an MMO, where attacks are mapped to number keys and colorful circles line the ground to denote attack radius and buff fields. If you’re trying to picture what battles look like, think something like Gears Tactics, where the action is more fast-paced despite technically being turn-based. While there’s no deck-building, you can feel a little bit of the studio’s card roots there. During the journey, both characters could “draft” abilities that can augment an attack or provide a party buff. His teammate was a Weaver, a more ranged-based class who could sit back and fling off spells from afar while the Maga Miner got in close. He could slam it down, hitting multiple enemies in an area if positioned right. In the demo slice I saw, a developer controlled a barbarian-like Magma Miner who wields a big hammer. Image used with permission by copyright holder Moving or executing moves will cost different amounts, so turns consist of trying to find a way to optimize attacks. However, they have a mana bar with 10 ticks to spend (an interface that’s reminiscent of Hearthstone). As enemies sit in place, players can run around the arena freely and unleash attacks. When bumping into enemies, players enter a unique tactics experience. In true Shiny Shoe fashion, the game gets more creative in combat. By hopping into the “inkwell,” they enter roguelike runs where they’ll collect upgrades, fight monsters, and choose a path through the world using their “quills.” Simple enough so far, right? It’s a class-based game where up to four players team up and jump into a fantasy world where stories become reality. Inkbound looks familiar, but it’s complicated to explain. Like Monster Train, Inkbound is the child of a heavily iterative process that sees Shiny Shoe borrowing from the games its team members love to make something that feels entirely new. Each little synergy you discover is a joy, and then putting multiple concepts together to tackle a high-difficulty run is incredibly satisfying, stacking many layers of strategy on top of each other.In a hands-off demo showcasing the game’s multiplayer, Shiny Shoe explained how the studio’s hybrid games came to be. Combining your cards with artifacts that have persistent global effects can make or break a run, like an object that randomizes the play cost of all your cards, potentially letting use your high-cost options for free. You can weed out unwanted cards from your deck as well as add and modify new ones. From the candle-creatures that boast incredible power but burn out over time, to the umbral race that feeds upon little morsel-monsters that look like they escaped the forges of Spirited Away, the choices are distinct and a blast to concoct curious alchemy with. ![]() These synergies lead to a ton of fun experiments, and each faction feels unique on its own as well. Each faction plays quite differently, and you combine two different factions in each run to determine your spell, monster, and artifact pools. While you can liken some of them at the base level to mage, healer, or aggressive melee archetypes, there's a lot more going on here. Different selectable factions form the basis for your decks and champion each run, consisting of core cards and an upgradeable leader. ![]()
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