We Love It's Guide to…
Trapped in a game master's wooden board game, command a captain's crew through tactical battles and puzzles on a quest for the abyss.
Released 14 Aug 2025
Command Wooden Crew
Fight On Hex Boards
Upgrade Your Pieces
Inkshade is a turn-based tactics game carved out of strange wooden miniatures, wrapped in a web of locked rooms, and orchestrated by an otherworldly game master. Victory is not guaranteed, and the only constant is the cruel black ink that flows within the pieces.
Developed by Studio Vezelle · Published by Studio Vezelle
A creature at a desk compels you to play as a captain seeking the mysterious abyss. Build a crew and send its wooden figures to conquer a continent, obtain an airship, and sail into cursed skies.
Battles are turn-based tactics played on board-game maps. Move crew pieces, position them against enemy units, and use their differing movement, attack, health, and defense to survive encounters.
Runs vary, and defeat can leave you with currency to upgrade pieces for future attempts. Explore locked rooms and corridors to solve puzzles, find new piece classes, and recruit fallen foes into your collection.
Many supplied reviewers enjoy Inkshade's eerie presentation, particularly its art, music, sound design, and mysterious game master. Exploration and room puzzles are a draw, as are tense tactical battles and the sense of strengthening a crew over repeated attempts. Others find combat shallow or repetitive and the upgrade loop grindy, so the strategic experience does not work equally well for everyone.
The creature behind the desk insists that you play their wooden board game. And in this game, you are a captain looking for the mysterious realm known only as the abyss. To reach such a place, you’ll need to conquer a continent, acquire an airship, and sail into cursed skies. Or rather, assemble a crew and have them do it for you.
It will take more than one attempt to defeat the game master and achieve victory, and every run will be different from the last. However, with strategy, tactics, and tenacity, you will be destined to reach your goal.
Refine and upgrade a collection of distinct pieces and deploy them in a turn-based strategy board game. These pieces are your crew, and they will do as you say.
Find new classes of pieces as you solve puzzles and explore the murky chambers beyond the desk. Please ignore the dark stains on the carpet.
Add new pieces to your collection in the middle of each run by recruiting fallen foes. Whether or not they joined voluntarily is irrelevant, since they will bleed for you all the same.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 25 |
| Age ratings |
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| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 1 listed on Steam |
| DRM / EULA |
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