Intriguing medieval tactics ’em up Inkulinati launches Jan 31st

I can’t think of a better place for turn-based fights than in the margins of medieval manuscripts. There’s a wealth of weirdness to draw on, and Inkulinati seems admirably willing to dip its quill into messed-up cats and donkeys playing double-ended trumpets. We’ve been waiting a while for it, but we’ll only have to wait a little longer, as developers Yaza Games have just announced they’ll be launching on Steam Early Access on January 31st.

They’ve also sketched out a new demo to tide us over, and I’ve enjoyed my little poke at it.

Inkulinati’s combat sees you defend a drawing of your character by inking in various beasts inspired by actual monstrosities you’ll find in medieval manuscripts. When I say monstrosities, think less Lovecraftian tentacle horrors and more ‘rabbits jousting atop human-headed snails‘.

There’s a campaign where you traipse through different encounters, sometimes fending off wild animals and sometimes going quill to quill with rival Inkulinati who have the same magical marginalia powers that you do. I’m not sure how many encounters the new demo lets you play through, but I had a satisfying time splatting wild dogs in the first one. Your character can join the fight too, you see, wading in with a surprisingly violent swat from their massive hand.

Ed also enjoyed his Inkulinati preview two years back, coming out giddy with triumph and proud of his molluscs.

Yaza say they plan to spend one year in early access, during which they’ll add an online multiplayer mode along with “more Beasts, Inkulinati Masters, Battlefields, and other content”.

The demo will be available until January 1st, and you can download it onSteam.