Inscryption

Isn't it annoying when people review a game like Dark Souls and give it a thumbs down because "it was too hard"? My review of Inscryption is similarly annoying. :) But the bottom line is this: if you're not into card deck games, please listen to me and skip Inscryption. I know a lot of reviewers will tell you that you might love it anyway because it's a lot more than a card deck game, but I'm here for you with the real talk. Inscryption is at its heart of hearts a grindy, random-luck-based, repetitive, frustrating card deck game. It's practically a love letter to the genre. Does that sound awful to you? It does to me. I wish I had somebody like me to tell me this before I bought it.

There are some very redeeming qualities to the game! Like everybody says, the meta-story will "blow your mind" and there's a whole lot of delightful and clever detail therein. But, to put it in perspective, I play a lot of indie games, and am used to such cleverness. Inscryption does this very well indeed, but it's not as if other games don't do this very well, too. Inscryption deserves the praise it gets for its narrative genius. HOWEVER, it is still a game of a very, very specific type.

The thing is, these delightful interventions are a very small portion of the game. I would say that 95% of the game is card deck gaming. Is it good card deck gaming? I don't know, not my thing, can't compare. But I can report that you can get royally screwed by a randomly bad draw. And that if you keep pounding at it you can get better cards and increase your chances of winning. Also, there are multiple rule systems and you need to figure them out on your own, so losing often is intrinsic to the game design. All that makes me want to rage quit, but it seems to be the wet dream of many a gamer.

Is it fair for me to give a negative review for a game that would never have appealed to me in the first place? I think so! Because maybe I can save other people like me from buying this and either refunding or also leaving a negative review. Not into card deck games? Just play something else. There are a lot of great games out there and there are a lot of people who will buy and really enjoy Inscryption. Let's all be best friends together forever.