Indie game studio Shiny Shoe has unveiled the latest update for their game, Inkbound, titled Starship of Terrors. This free expansion introduces a new science fiction theme to the game's existing worlds which currently span a host of magical and natural worlds. This past week we were invited to see the new update in action and were introduced to the newest class - the Star Captain. The team delved into the new book, the Derelict Starship, and teased some of the changes that are now available. Let’s dive into what’s new.
CEO Mark Cooke and Creative Director Andrew Krausnick of Shiny Shoe took us through the basics of the Derelict Starship in a quick co-op run. One of the major things that stood out for me when watching them jump into the roguelike battle portion of combat, was the change they’ve made to movement. As the team pointed out, previously you would be able to base your movement off of the amount of Mana that you had. That meant that you could cash in on Mana in order to move out of harms way, but in some cases, you had to make some difficult choices about whether you should attack, or whether you should move out of the enemy’s telegraphs. Now players have a separate movement resource, and as you move, you’ll see the limits of expand and contract so you’re always aware of exactly how much farther you have to move.
The gameplay mechanics introduced with the Star Captain class were also well rounded and are meant to revolutionize Inkbound's grou-based gameplay. The Star Captain is equipped with Sentinel Drones and lasers, and has a retro-futuristic aesthetic. The Star Captain utilizes a lot of frostbite abilities, including a chain-lightning like laser with ice effects, and an ability called the Cryoclasm, which is an orbital strike that deals significant damage and applies frostbite to nearby enemies while it leaves a huge snowflake on the ground. The team states that they wanted a more versatile class, that can work well in both solo situations but can support teammates in co-op.
If you’ve played Inkbound before, and disliked the time commitment required for storybook runs, Shiny Shoe has addressed that in the latest update as well. They’ve removed the labels of “ranked” and “unranked” modes, and completely shifted the time commitment needed for a full roguelike run. Now you can jump into the game with a quickplay mode, which will get you into the action much faster, and will allow you to take on some of the quests without spending nearly as much time as before. The team has also changed the experience gain for characters, ensuring that players will make some headway each time they login.
Inkbound's Starship of Terrors update also brings a slew of additional features to enhance the gaming experience, such as new trinkets and enemies. There are no new Villains (end-run bosses) in this expansion, but players will be introduced to a new mini-boss. As you play through the game an increase your Season Tier Rank, the new shape-shifting mini-boss will start popping up in other books, amping up the difficulty. Players will also notice a revamped Season Pass system, which has now shifted its focus and is called the Leveling Pass, which is not to be confused with the Season Rank system. The focus of the Leveling Pass will shift from a “season” to a new reward track that will allow you to play the game at your own pace without any time constraints, ensuring that you don’t lose out on any rewards if you don’t make it to the end of the pass on time.
Shiny Shoe also introduced a new feature that I didn’t expect, which is that they will now allow for a completely offline mode. Of course, there are some downsides when you play offline, most specifically the lack of being able to play co-op with others, and you won’t be able to complete weekly quests until you reconnect – but you can still complete your daily quests while offline. This is huge if you’re gaming on the go and have a spotty connection. The first thing it made me think of was how perfect Inkbound would be on a mobile platform. Shiny Shoe stated that, while the game does run on Steam Deck with controller support, it is not optimized for alternative control modes, and they aren’t planning on a cross-platform release anytime soon. Inkbound is still in Early Access and when the game gets closer to their full release, they’ll be more comfortable talking about alternative platforms, but so far, Steam will be their main focal point for testing and support.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with the progress Inkbound has made since it released into Early Access back in May. Shiny Shoe believes the game has a lot more room to grow before it releases. Until then, you can jump into the game during Early Access and help Inkbound evolve by lending them your opinion on their official Discord. Inkbound’s Starship of Terror expansion is available now, and there’s no better time than now to suit up and blast off into your own storybook adventure.
