Inkbound is a game that’s easier to critique than it is to review. We could sit here and talk about its terrible WoW-esque quest system for content unlocks, or its relatively uninteresting variety of worlds and enemies, or its ink-and-stories motif that it does too little with. But I keep coming back because it’s meaty. Its Monster Train-esque build complexity and its Teamfight Tactics-esque item synergies. Its Transistor-esque asynchronous combat system, which is really quite unique for the genre. And I keep coming back for the fact that it is one of the few roguelike deckbuilders (even though there are no cards, it is definitely a deckbuilder) that I can play online, with friends. I don’t think this game is going to be taking any awards, and it probably won’t keep a permanent place in my heart. But then, most roguelike deckbuilders don’t. It tries some new things, more successfully than not, and I’ll take that over another polished but derivative slog any day.