Despite a tumultuous year of delays, rocky launches, and more, 2021 will no doubt be remembered as a year when innovation in games became the selling point for many of its biggest success stories. Screen Rant's 2021 Game of the Year is a reflection of that notion, with developer Daniel Mullins Games producing Inscryption, one of the most unexpectedly subversive entries into the card game genre ever created.
Inscryption is, at its core, a tabletop card game simulation that tells a narrative both inside and outside the board's restrictions. It's difficult to describe Inscryption in detail without giving away some of what makes the game so great, as from the mid-game onwards, twists and turns begin to unravel an entire meta structure; essentially, the second half of Inscryption is basically an entirely different experience.
Many titles this year were innovative - The Game Awards' Game of the Year 2021, It Takes Two, is another example of this - but few played with expectations quite the same as Inscryption. Its release flew under the radar and, as a result, many people experienced Inscryption in the perfect setting, believing they'd be participating in a new variant of the card game genre rather than a broad strokes experiment marrying multiple storytelling styles into one structure. Inscryption's relevance will only grow as time goes on, too, with it hopefully serving as inspiration for more digressions in game design.
Beyond its compelling twists, however, Inscryption is also a fully functional and exciting card game, designed with all the trappings of a night of thought-provoking tabletop gaming. Even here, however, there are plenty of secrets to be discovered. Some cards in Inscryption are, on their surface, rather mediocre - but playing them in specific ways, or often, reveals hidden, game-changing powers. Inscryption's gameplay varies, but as a unifying theme, it prioritizes experimentation and exploration above all else, and the more time players spend with the title, the more they'll find reasons to love it.
Inscryption's aesthetic also lends itself well to its design, with plenty of shadows melting into the background and creating visual cues or unsettling imagery. Exploration of the cabin that houses the card game and its Game Master is encouraged and features plenty of creepy, grim elements that create an atmosphere of horror, though Inscryption doesn't lean on anything resembling a jump scare.
There were other contenders for Screen Rant's Game of the Year 2021, and it's worth mentioning them, too. Resident Evil Village took the best parts of Resident Evil 4 and iterated on them in compelling, fun ways. Psychonauts 2 made good on the promise of its predecessor, delivering more mind-bending, colorful journeys into the human psyche - all the while handling some sensitive subject matter deftly. Lost Judgment delivered a Yakuza-style detective story that begs for more exploration in future sequels, while Metroid Dread proved that Samus Aran's adventures are as good as timeless, with the old-school approach as accessible in 2021 as it was decades ago. Life is Strange: True Colors made empathy both a game mechanic and a narrative crux, with heavy thematic concerns that felt necessary for its release year.
Among all of these stellar 2021 games, however, Inscryption stands above the rest as a title that really challenged every element of the genre it finds itself in. It's not just one or two innovations; it really does feel like Inscryption took every convention and expectation in card games and worked to circumvent or warp them in meaningful ways. As a roguelite card game, it's already fun. As a blend of several genres, titles, and inspirations working together to create something provocatively new - and Screen Rant's Game of the Year 2021 - Inscryption is an incredible effort that is a must-play for anyone, regardless of their preferences.
Inscryption is available now on PC.