Inscryption is The New Game From The Creator of Pony Island

Daniel Mullins, creator of such genre-bending games like Pony Island and The Hex, has announced his new project. It’s called Inscryption, and it’s coming out at some point next year. It’s going to feature 3D art from David Hagemann and Tamara Orlova, as well as music by Jonah Senzel. But what is it? Well, if Mullins’ previous work is any indication, there’s no way of knowing until we have our grubby mitts on it. He describes it as “a narrative focused, card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror”.

That’s kind of a mouthful, so we’ll just call the new genre NFCBOtBtDBRLERsPPH. There. Much better. And if we’re being honest, it doesn’t sound any more idiotic than MMORPG. Anyways, you can get a glimpse of, if not the game itself, then at least the seed it grew from. It’s a jam game Mullins made for Ludum Dare 48, called Sacrifices Must Be Made. It’s a 10-15 minute experience, and it’s better if you just dive in and have a look, because I will spoil it for you further down.

Back so soon? So who did you eat, the hungry kid or the emaciated adult? Not really a question you’d expect after playing a card game prototype, but that’s par for the course with this particular developer. The rules are quite interesting – the fact that it doesn’t count total damage, but just the difference in health between you and your opponent, for starters. Then there’s the fact that cards can block attacks. Or the one where you can gouge out your eyeball or cut off your hand to gain immediate advantage at a cost to be paid further down the line.

Of course, none of this is guaranteed to end up in the final version of the game. There’s a lot of time between now and 2021, but if you haven’t played Pony Island or The Hex, this should give you a broad idea of what to expect.