Developer Daniel Mullins Games

Publisher Devolver Digital

Format PC

Release Out now

Two bright white eyes stare out from the darkness, their owner shrouded in shadow. Inside a claustrophobically gloomy cabin, a mysterious host beckons you to play a tabletop game with card-based battles. This hidden GM dons the occasional mask to inhabit different characters along your journey, lurching forward so you can glimpse these sinister visages, with grasping hands occasionally reaching out from the murk. But whatever else lies beyond that dimly lit playfield and the clutter around it remains a mystery. It is as unsettling as it is thrilling, creating an intoxicating feeling of dark secrets being jealously guarded. And it’s the gravitational pull of the unknown – in some cases, the unknowable – that drags you back to the table whenever fortune fails you.

Since that drip feed of discoveries is Inscryption’s most precious asset, we’ll endeavour to tread carefully. Suffice it to say that this is not simply a virtual D&D campaign, nor a horror-tinged Roguelike with deckbuilding elements, nor an escape-room puzzler; it is those things combined and more. The game, as is made clear from the start screen, extends beyond the table: when the map is unrolled, before you choose the next stop for your hand-carved playing piece, you can stand up and walk around. The cabin’s lighting remains low, again hinting at strange things lurking out of sight. But against the walls you can find a rule book, various furniture and a host of decorative objects, just about all of which can be interacted with in some way. One of your first jobs is to figure out how.