Inkulinati is a tremendously fun game that encourages multiple playstyles and exploration. That is until players actually try to beat the game. What starts as a fun romp can become a slog, with the final boss representing a nearly insurmountable challenge that most gamers can't beat.
However, gamers often love a good challenge, taking even more pride in getting those close-to-impossible achievements. Inkulinati delivers one of these. Those who can beat the campaign absolutely have something to be proud of and should brag about this accomplishment to all their friends.
Farm Prestige First
Inkulinati is not technically a roguelike game, but it should be treated that way. Prestige doesn't actually help out in the fights themselves, but more prestige gives players better options when it comes to getting new beasts, talents, and hand actions.
Farm up prestige until hitting the maximum score. After unlocking everything (a message will appear on the screen when this is done), then players don't have to choose between better rewards or prestige points. Start with prestige, then go for the win on future runs.
Use The Devil Army
The devils are the best beasts in the game with immunity to Hell's Maws and fire sparks. Early on, this has average effectiveness, but in the later stages, these effects are plentiful. Being able to win duels without worrying about these two major elements is a huge step up.
Of course, players will unlock beasts as they go to help out. Try to acquire the Bellow-Wielding Devil in elite fights. Having multiple archers ready to go for when the stacks of boredom need to be reduced is always a smart move, too.
Begin With The Swat Hand Action
Although players will eventually unlock more, the starting hand action, Swat, is the only one that can be considered one of the best hand actions in the game. There may come a time when players replace this hand action if they get particularly lucky, but it remains strong from start to finish.
This will most often be used every other turn to kill an opponent's beast. Yet don't underestimate its power against the Tiny Inkulinati themselves. In a duel, opponents can only handle one or two pokes plus a beast attack before they lose.
Select The Inky Business Talent
What makes Inky Business one of the best talents in the game is that it doesn't force players to do anything special. The extra living ink is automatically given at the start of every new chapter, giving players more firepower as the game progresses.
Talents are permanent and stack directly, so anything else that helps players out with living ink is welcome. With just a couple of these talents, players can get to their maximum army size of five within two chapters and replace any creatures that die with pricy, effective units.
Use The Best Beasts For Beast Battles
In a beast battle, players will get five beasts and they get them for free; no Tiny Inkulinati is around so there is no need to draw anything. Therefore, ignore the usual economical choices. Select the biggest and most expensive units for these encounters.
The best part of all is that every creature's boredom will go down by one after winning these fights, even if they were on the battlefield, a drastic change to how boredom usually works. These battles are essentially freebies once players have accumulated five strong beasts.
Target Elite Battles
It might seem counter-intuitive to participate in tougher battles when trying to win, but the rewards for these elite battles are extra beasts. That kind of reward cannot be discounted as players will be forced to rotate their favorite combatants every round.
There is nothing worse than running out of ranged units without boredom stacks for a run. Have at least three kinds of each unit ready to go before finding other fights. Keep in mind players will want to rest their devils up for the final encounter.
Trade Away Gold, Prestige, & Quills For Ink & Health
Once at maximum prestige, don't be afraid to give up on prestige rewards. Gold doesn't carry over between runs, so cash it in at every given opportunity. And while having a few quills around is fine, players should not be dying regularly enough to need them.
Trade these resources in for living ink and health at every turn. More living ink at the start of every fight can give players all five members of their army ready to go at the beginning of the fight, creating an immediate advantage. The benefits of extra health are obvious, allowing the Tiny Inkulinati to absorb more damage before needing to heal or move away from the heat of combat.
Get Ready For Death
Every strategy here is focused on one, single objective: defeating Death. It's not that other battles aren't important or challenging, but the fight against Death is so difficult that the rest of the game barely registers as a bump in the road compared to him.
With every new beast selected and reward opportunity, the only question should be, "Does this help in the fight against Death?" There are great beasts and talents out there that can help with the rest, but getting to the final boss only to lose is not a fun experience and it has become quite common.
Inkulinati is available now for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.