Where I Found Humanity Inside Inscryption

I’ve been pretty open about this recently, but a few years ago, there was a time when I was feeling overwhelmingly lonely. I spent most of my days working alone, in a darkened projection booth located above the corporate auditorium. To spice up my evenings and force some human interaction on myself, I started playing Magic: The Gathering at a local game shop. I spent multiple days a week there, learning how to draft, build decks, and catch onto the lingo and language of the game. Slowly, I incorporated myself into the small group of regulars, and day by day, I felt less alone.

As I was shuffle decks and cast spells at these people, I observed common mannerisms among them and the social archetypes they adopted within their Magic circle. Let me tell you how pleasantly surprised I was finding similar traits engrained within Inscryption’s pantheon of four Scrybes. Inscryption developer Daniel Mullins clearly knows card games, their culture, and is a skilled coder. That knowledge is coded in every aspect of his game, and it’s that care and attention to detail I’m most fond of. Before I get into more details, Please be aware that there will be spoilers in the Inscryption story.. I’d encourage you to come back after finishing the game or stay if you don’t mind knowing.

In my initial weeks grinding out games in sealed and draft tournaments, I was always happy to meet a player like Inscryption’s initial Scrybe, Leshy. He’s an intimidating veteran who’s welcoming enough to show new players the ropes but won’t hold back from using his advanced knowledge of the game against you. He’s quiet and patient while waiting for a play to be made, sometimes with some finger taps on the table akin to someone killing time as many real-world players would. If the lighting was adequate, I can imagine him flipping and shuffling his cards. Leshy, a veteran player, is quick to spot the gold teeth that are rewarded for excessive damage. He already calculates the required amount before the fatal strike. No matter how bad players like Leshy may trounce newcomers, there’s always knowledge to be shared or nuanced strategies to teach after a match.

The player next to P03 will tell anyone within earshot what he believes is wrong about the game. Although you would not be expected to give feedback or make comments about your plays, sitting next to P03 could result in him making remarks. We see this trait in the robotic fiend’s card form, introduced early on, trapped within the lowly Stoat card. P03 will make sure to let you know on any given turn whether he’s used correctly, often chiming in to provide verbal jabs at your decisions. Whether he’s right or wrong is irrelevant, but he does make you second guess good moves from time to time.

When P03 gains control of Inscryption and inserts you into his Dark Souls-like cyber adventure, he’s constantly pushing and insisting this version of the game is more impressive than those you’ve experienced before. But this know-it all attitude can be found more online than in any card shop. While he’s annoying and somewhat aggressive in his plight to show you the idyllic version of Inscryption, P03 does have good, valid ideas on how the game can mechanically improve. As many of his fellow players (including myself), he needs to figure out a better method to communicate these thoughts and ideas to others so they can be heard and engaged in meaningful ways.

After the climactic events of Inscryption are triggered, you’re provided some final moments with three of the Scrybes, sitting across from you to enjoy their last turns of the game they love to play. Magnificus and Grimora continue to play the game while bits of it dissolve, insisting that they keep going, even after the scale-keeping score disappears. Winning doesn’t matter at this point. The act of even attempting to play the game at all is enough. Each Scrybe extends their hand in respect to the other Scrybes as a gesture of sportsmanship.

Like them, nearly every card game player I’ve met in person has shown similar respect not just for the game but for the person willing to join them at the table to play. It’s one of the reasons I still enjoy making it to my preferred store and playing in person. It’s not the same experience as having to duel with a digital avatar online. But it is comparable in terms of the mutual fun I enjoy with the person who sits next to me. I’ve sincerely missed those opportunities over the past 18 months. I did get to enjoy paper Magic, however those occasions are now rare. We hope to be able to gather again soon and enjoy one another’s company as well as the memories of playing these games together.