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Inked

Short, undemanding and nicely constructed, Inked: A Tale of Love is a couple of hours well worth exploring.
Inked Game Cover
85%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
stability, replayability
87% User Score Based on 124 reviews
Critic Score 75%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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Inked Game Cover

About

Inked is a single player casual platformer game. It was developed by Somnium Games d.o.o. and was released on August 27, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

Inked is a tale of love and vengeance told in ink on paper. You play as the Nameless Hero who sets out on a journey in a vast landscape filled with puzzles for you to solve. Each puzzle takes you closer to your lost love, unraveling a story that will forever change you. - A Challenge Ahead Simple geometrical shapes aid you in your journey. Solve puzzles by using something as simple as a sphere or…

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+14
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87%
Audience ScoreBased on 124 reviews
story48 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions
  • Beautiful and unique hand-drawn art style that resembles ballpoint pen sketches, creating a relaxing and immersive atmosphere.
  • Enjoyable and thoughtfully crafted puzzles that are mostly easy to moderate in difficulty, offering a satisfying puzzle-solving experience without being overwhelming.
  • Emotionally resonant and meaningful story dealing with themes of love, grief, loss, and healing, enhanced by a calming soundtrack and subtle sound design.
  • The gameplay can be hindered by clunky controls, camera angle issues, and occasional glitches, especially frustrating during certain puzzle and platforming sections.
  • The narrative is sometimes confusing, inconsistent, or overly metaphorical, with some players finding the storyteller/narrator intrusive and the story lacking clarity or depth.
  • The game is quite short with limited replay value; requiring a complete second playthrough for some achievements feels tedious due to repetitive puzzles and no new endings.
  • story
    95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Inked: A Tale of Love" is widely praised for its emotional depth, unique narrative style, and exploration of themes like love, loss, and grief, often enhanced by its hand-drawn art and music. However, some find the plot convoluted or overly reliant on narration, with certain story elements feeling heavy-handed or lacking clarity. Overall, it is considered a touching, memorable narrative well-suited to the game's short, puzzle-driven format.

    • “Inked is a story about love, grief, and the slow, stubborn process of moving on.”
    • “His story begins lightly, giving us little elements and tips, but over time it turns out to be a heavy, delicate and attention-grabbing story.”
    • “Overall, it is a beautifully emotional and somewhat meta story set in a stunning hand-drawn world that provides the perfect backdrop.”
    • “On the negative side, the overarching message and story is a bit of a mess, with the hero and Aiko initially trying to discover and remedy what has gone wrong with the world created by the artist, before everything turns dark (spoiler: the artist sadistically abducts Aiko and forces the hero to further harm the world in his attempt to reach and free his wife; bizarrely, the blame seems to eventually fall on the victims rather than on the perpetrator).”
    • “Story is horrible and is built around a narrator with a big ego, who takes his anger out on his own characters due to his incompetence and grief.”
    • “Between nonsensical actions taken by the 'artist' behind the story (spoiler: at one point he punishes the hero by killing the hero's love), poor controls, and having to do the same puzzle about 17 times in a row with barely any variation, I just can't recommend this to anyone.”
  • graphics
    70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a stunning and unique hand-drawn art style that mimics ballpoint pen sketches on paper, creating a calming and immersive "living sketchbook" atmosphere. Its minimalist yet expressive visuals effectively convey emotion and storytelling, making the artwork a standout aspect praised by many, though some note clunky camera mechanics that limit visual appreciation. Overall, the graphics are widely regarded as beautiful, charming, and integral to the game's emotional and narrative impact.

    • “Set in a stunning hand-drawn world that mimics the appearance of ballpoint pen sketches on paper, the game immediately sets itself apart with a bold art style that isn’t just aesthetic window dressing—it’s a core part of the storytelling and atmosphere.”
    • “The color palette is mostly monochrome with splashes of red, blue, and other hues that highlight key objects and emotional moments, underscoring the minimalist but impactful aesthetic.”
    • “The game has a beautiful, amazing and fairly unique art style!”
    • “It would have been nice to have just a pen done in the same art style instead of the hands.”
    • “Very clunky, fun though, love the art style and music.”
    • “There's nothing to like about it apart from the art style.”
  • music
    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its calming, gentle, and ambient qualities that beautifully complement the art style and emotional storytelling. It creates a relaxing atmosphere without overpowering the scenes, enhancing immersion and the overall experience. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, often describing it as mesmerizing, peaceful, and integral to the game's charm.

    • “The soundtrack features soft piano and ambient strings that gently reinforce the emotional beats of the story without ever overpowering the scene.”
    • “The music and sound design really get you immersed in this lovely adventure.”
    • “All that plus breathtaking musical score with really exciting story... well done, Somnium Games, well done!”
    • “I don't know the full story about this game or why it seemed to get a full relaunch many years later after Starbreeze published it, but I genuinely wish the staff the best as I think there is very clearly a lot of skill on display here in this title, especially with the art and music, but it was frankly used ineffectively here.”
    • “What surprised me is the music; you don't hear much of it.”
    • “[*] Decent soundtracks (except credit song, sorry).”
  • gameplay
    34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is characterized by enjoyable, creatively designed environmental puzzles that emphasize manipulating geometric objects, offering a balanced challenge without overwhelming players. While generally engaging and well-integrated with the narrative and art style, some puzzles can feel repetitive or underdeveloped, particularly mid-game. Overall, it provides a unique, visually appealing, and satisfying puzzle experience, though relatively short in duration.

    • “The game’s mechanics revolve around environmental puzzles, which often involve moving and manipulating geometric objects—cubes, spheres, levers, and platforms—to open pathways, bridge gaps, or trigger switches.”
    • “The game avoids overwhelming players with mechanics, instead refining and recombining its core concepts to keep challenges engaging without becoming repetitive.”
    • “It has a lot to offer in terms of both the satisfying puzzle-based gameplay and the narrative design, and I wholeheartedly recommend this game to fans of multiple genres!”
    • “Some puzzles are actually fun and interesting, but then the chapter ends and most of the mechanics you just learned are thrown away, returning to dead simple gameplay.”
    • “While the puzzles are generally well-designed, a few can feel repetitive or underwhelming, particularly in the mid-game where the mechanics don’t evolve quite as rapidly.”
    • “Puzzles and mechanics could have been more developed, but ultimately it was not a bad use of 2-3 hours.”
  • emotional
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Inked: A Tale of Love offers a visually striking and emotionally resonant experience, blending minimalist art and puzzle mechanics with a heartfelt, somewhat abstract narrative about love and loss. Although relatively short, its tight pacing and evocative soundtrack enhance the emotional impact, which has moved many players to tears or heartfelt reflection. While some find the metaphor-heavy storytelling slightly elusive, the game's artistic and emotional depth makes it a touching and memorable experience.

    • “This is a short but great puzzle game with a heartwrenching story!”
    • “The relationship between the nameless hero and the artist becomes a central emotional and philosophical thread, turning what might have been a simple romantic tale into something more reflective and existential.”
    • “As each puzzle is solved, the emotional narrative is slowly unravelled and the protagonist becomes one step closer to their lost love.”
  • atmosphere
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game’s atmosphere is defined by its unique hand-drawn, ballpoint pen sketch art style that deeply enhances storytelling and immersion. Coupled with a tranquil, well-timed soundtrack, it creates a gentle, calming, and magical ambiance perfect for relaxation and thoughtful exploration. Reviewers consistently praise its beautiful visuals and soothing music as core strengths that elevate the overall experience.

    • “Set in a stunning hand-drawn world that mimics the appearance of ballpoint pen sketches on paper, the game immediately sets itself apart with a bold art style that isn’t just aesthetic window dressing—it’s a core part of the storytelling and atmosphere.”
    • “It knows when to give you silence and when to swell, letting you sit with the atmosphere the game so meticulously creates.”
    • “The whole game has a gentle, calm ambience and the gorgeous artwork just created a magical atmosphere.”
  • stability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Stability is generally good with smooth physics and controls, though some players encountered occasional glitches like the hero getting stuck or missing platforms that required level restarts. However, some visual "glitches" appear to be intentional stylistic choices rather than actual stability issues.

    • “There were a few glitches where the hero got stuck but these were easily overcome by backtracking slightly; more seriously, twice in the void level the hero materialized but without the platform that he should have been standing on, so he could not move - I had to restart the whole level in both cases.”
    • “Because it's set to look 'comic-ish', the glitches occur as part of their style.”
    • “Graphics are amazing: people have posted asking if they are glitches but in reality, I actually think it's part of the game.”
  • replayability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers limited replayability, primarily tied to collectibles and unlocking different endings, but once the story is fully experienced, there is little incentive for additional playthroughs.

    • “A different ending on the second playthrough would have been a welcome incentive, but without that, replay value is limited.”
    • “It will take around 3-4 hours to complete, has little replayability in the collectibles.”
    • “The only downside that the game has is the limited replayability once you have unlocked the different endings and know all about the story.”
  • optimization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features short load times, stable performance, and maintains strong visual quality across multiple resolutions, indicating excellent optimization.

    • “Load times are short, performance is stable, and the visual presentation holds up well across various resolutions.”
  • grinding
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding is viewed as tedious and unrewarding, particularly when requiring full game replays for achievements.

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75%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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12h Median play time
9h Average play time
2-15h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Inked is a casual platformer game.

Inked is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, iPhone and others.

On average players spend around 9 hours playing Inked.

Inked was released on August 27, 2021.

Inked was developed by Somnium Games d.o.o..

Inked has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Inked for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Inked is a single player game.

Similar games include Hue, Shady Part of Me, RiME, The Last Campfire, Candle and others.