Drink the ink of your enemies in Dead Ink

Even without the gothic backdrop, derelict ruins and architectural decay, games described as soulslike tend to conjure scenes of punishing, precise battles that need to be executed in an exact tempo. Dead Ink is a self-described indie soulslike created in this vein, where intense battles are carried out from a top-down perspective against waves of enemies.

The twist, however, is an additional resource you’ll have to manage: ink. It’s a precious commodity in this dystopian universe, where light-speed travel means being able to travel vast distances by printing out–and replicating–your very essence in ink, which allows you to rematerialise with ease anywhere. Turns out, however, that this singular type of ink is in tight supply, which means that survival is dependent on how much ink you can collect, hoard and siphon from other living beings. Finding yourself in a hostile, labyrinthine environment where everyone is bent on eviscerating you, you’re here to hack and slash in self-defense towards survival–while quenching your blood thirst with all the ink from their drying husks. 

In addition, there’s also an element of resource management to Dead Ink. This ink, too, is also how you generate the weapons, upgrades and even blueprints needed to defend yourself against the game’s variety of foes and bosses. 

Accentuating this is Dead Ink’s handcrafted black-and-white environments, which look like they are meticulously created through black ink. Enemies, too, spurt yellow ink that leave messy but artful residues on the ground, contrasting with the universe’s monochromatic aesthetic. In other words, Dead Ink looks like a darn pretty indie soulslike.

Dead Ink will be released next year in 2022.