5/5 ★ – the90sfirst's review of Inscryption.

**SPOILER FREE** Card games have always been a part of my life. Born in 1992, I can imagine that most people of that same era dabbled in Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and for the more seasoned gamer, Magic the Gathering. When I got to my teenage years, card games were a thing of the past, but by the time I was in college and had some friend introduce me to Settlers of Catan, I was back into the board/card game scene. One genre of game grabbed my attention more than others, that being deck building games. Games like Dominion and Legendary: Marvel are examples of my favorite games of all time. With deck building games becoming integral to my hobby, I was introduced to a video game that perfectly blended the roguelike genre with deck building. Slay the Spire is the perfect game! Its level of difficulty meshed with the players ability to build a powerful deck created an addicting premise. Two of my favorite hobbies became one. Since Slay the Spire, there hasn’t been a game in the genre that quite captured my attention. I played Monster Train for some time but its appeal never lassoed me in. There are others for sure, but I just went back to play Slay the Spire. What Slay the Spire lacks though is a truly engrossing story. The gameplay loop is addictive, but there isn’t too much of an incentive outside of that. At the end of 2021 a brilliant Indie game release that had most of the gaming industry buzzing about its story and gameplay mechanics. A mystery/thriller card game which utilized deck building to tell a story that I couldn’t step away from. I had to know the outcome, and I had to know it fast. What is brilliant is that getting to the outcome was so easy because at the core of the game was a tight, perfectly balanced deck builder, and in the middle, a collectable card game, that made for an enjoyable and unforgettable experience. Of course, I am speaking about Inscryption. THIS ISN'T A DREAM, IT'S A NIGHTMARE When I go to sleep, I expect to wake up in my bed. Not the case with Inscryption. The player wakes up trapped in a wood cabin with a shadowy figure sitting across the table from you. This same shadowy figure invites you to play a game. It’s a deck building game that he has designed for his victims. The player is tasked with defeating each level of a deck builder that is similar in vain to Slay the Spire. You start with a basic set of cards and the gameplay harkens back to that of Yu-gi-oh. The deck plays as a sacrificial deck. If you want bigger and better monsters, you have to sacrifice lower level monsters you have played before. All the while, the shadowy figure is playing cards to combat you. Thankfully the antagonist is kind enough to provide a rulebook so the player can understand the different mechanics of the game. There are sigils which give a monster a special ability. Building your deck to work with each other is pivotal to the experience. Good synergy in a deck will bring you further along. Each level played, there is a story to tell, a story in which I will not be going over here. And in fact, I hate to cut this review short, but there isn’t much more to tell that doesn’t pertain to spoilers. I will say however that the second chapter of the game changes the game completely, and it's a welcome change as the first chapter gets to be extremely easy. My biggest complaint about the game is the second chapter and only in the sense of deck building. Simply put, if you as the player don’t know how to construct a deck that is streamlined and synergized, the second chapter might not be fun for you. The story however, is so enthralling and addictive that the players inability to construct a deck that works, still might push them past the second chapter. Inscryption is brilliant. It melds together a fantastic story with phenomenal deck building mechanics. This is a story that needs to be played and experienced by many. Although I believe that a game like Slay the Spire is much tighter in its design as a deck builder, Inscryption is another perfect game because of how well it balances the deck building, puzzles, and story. Verdict: 5/5 --------------- This review was written by Mike of The ‘90s First Podcasting Network. Each and every week join Mike and others on our video game debate show Test Your Might, airing every Tuesday @ 5pm CST on YouTube and all podcasting platforms.