Inscryption is a fascinating story-driven card game with roguelike elements developed by Daniel Mullins Games and published by Devolver Digital. During the game's first act, players face off with an opponent shrouded in shadows in a high-stakes card game with gameplay reminiscent of Yu-Gi-Oh or Hearthstone.

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The mysterious opponent lays out a series of encounters on a map atop the table, including encounters with regular enemies, opportunities to collect new cards and enhance existing ones, and encounters with special bosses that have additional quirks to their card battles. Players will need to choose the cards that make up their deck with care in order to handle the many dangers these encounters can pose. Players can find out some of the best cards available during Act 1 of Inscryption, along with some tips and tricks for getting the most out of them.

10 Stinkbug

Stink Bug Card From Inscryption

The Stinkbug is one of a handful of cards that are mandatory to complete Act 1, so its inclusion on this list might be cheating, but it's undeniable that Stinkbug's special ability makes it an incredibly valuable addition to the deck. The "Stinky" sigil the Stinkbug bears causes the card directly opposing it to lose 1 power until they are no longer directly opposing it. This is incredibly valuable for neutralizing weak cards entirely or rendering stronger cards more vulnerable. It is especially effective against flying cards, which will not attack the Stinkbug itself, making it difficult for them to undo its effect.

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It is also greatly useful against the final boss of Act 1, where it can completely neutralize their final, and most powerful, card. This even triggers special dialog from the shadowy opponent. Finding the Stinkbug is also how players unlock access to cards that cost bones to play, with Stinkbug itself being one such card. Costing only two bones while having 1 power and 2 health makes it a very efficient and effective play against many types of foe.

9 Alpha

Alpha Card From Inscryption

Another card that costs bones is the Alpha and, despite its high cost, it can be very useful for strengthening your board during the match. While its own stats are awful for its cost (1 attack and 2 health) it makes up for it with its "Leader" sigil. The "Leader" sigil grants the creatures to its left and right 1 additional power, which can be astonishingly effective when combined with cards like fliers to bypass the opponent's creatures.

The Alpha is useful for players who favor weaker creatures with beneficial sigils, as it allows them to easily strengthen those creatures to offset their low stats.

8 Cat

Cat Card From Inscryption

An unassuming card with a very useful effect, the Cat has the "Many Lives" sigil, 0 power, and 1 health. This powerful and rare sigil allows the cat to be sacrificed multiple times, making it an excellent investment for maintaining board presence while still making the necessary sacrifices for more powerful creatures. Players wanting to trade it for something more powerful later into the game can make the effort to sacrifice it nine times, which replaces it with the Undead Cat.

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The Undead Cat has 3 power and 6 health, while still costing only 1 blood to play, making for a dangerous and deadly ally in combat. It loses the "Many Lives" Sigil in the process though, making it less effective as sacrifice fodder.

7 Rat King

inscryption squirrel card

An excellent card for decks whose cards have high bone costs is the Rat King, with 2 Power, 1 Health, and the "Bone King" sigil. This sigil grants 4 bones when the Rat King dies, making it an excellent means of building up the bones to play powerful cards like the Long Elk and the Turkey Vulture. It has good enough stats to serve as a reasonable attacker until it dies too.

6 Wolf & Friends

Inscryption-Third-Talking-Card-3

One of the basic cards that appear in every player's deck from the start, the Wolf is a very useful card that costs 2 blood to play. It has 3 Power and 2 Health, making it an excellent heavy-hitting creature throughout the game. Obtaining the wolf totem head and the "Flying" sigil totem makes them far stronger, allowing a single wolf to deal 3 direct damage to the opponent every turn.

A variant of this card, the Wolf Cub can be found randomly during gameplay. While only having 1 power and 1 health, it costs only 1 blood and transforms into a normal wolf the next turn because of its "Fledgling" sigil. This can be extremely handy when lacking in sacrifices, as long as it is placed somewhere where it won't die that turn.

Other Variants

Yet another variant of this card can be found through similar means to the Wolf Cub. The Caged Wolf has 0 Power and 6 Health, making it most useful as a blocker when placed in front of a powerful opposing creature. When it reaches 0 health, however, it is permanently replaced by a normal wolf.

It is important to note that, once found, the Stunted Wolf will replace one of the starting wolves in the player's deck. Stunted Wolf is mostly identical to a normal wolf, though it has only 2 power and costs 1 less blood to play. Stinkbug will also replace one of the starting wolves when found. As both of those cards are needed to complete Act 1, the number of wolves in the deck by default will decrease by 2 as the game progresses.

5 Urayuli

Urayuli Card From Inscryption

This card is simple but effective. Urayuli costs 4 blood to play, making it a late-game play in most circumstances, but its 7 power and health make it a formidable threat once it is played. Further strengthening it with sigils via sacrifice can turn it into an utter nightmare for your opponent, especially if paired with flying sigils to avoid engaging opposing creatures.

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Achieving the number of sacrifices necessary can be easier if making use of cards like the Cat, or death cards that share the "Many Lives" sigil, to reduce loss of field presence.

4 Strange Larva

Mothman Card From Inscryption

The Strange Larva is, at first glance, a very ineffectual card. Costing 1 blood, with 0 power and 3 health, it is easy to overlook, but its "Fledgling" sigil allows it to transform after a turn, becoming the Strange Pupa. Similarly, the Strange Pupa is nothing impressive at first glance, with 0 power and 3 health, but it retains the "Fledgling" sigil.

After another turn has passed, it becomes the tremendously powerful Mothman, wielding 7 power, 3 health, and the "Flying" sigil. This allows it to deal astonishing damage directly to the opponent each turn, and few cards can strike it in the air. Players should aim to keep the Strange Larva alive for a couple of turns so it can transform and wreak havoc on their opponent.

3 Pack Rat

Pack Rat Card From Inscryption

The Pack Rat is another card whose usefulness lies not in power but in effect. With 2 Power and 2 Health at a cost of 2 Blood, it is the Pack Rat's Trinket Bearer Sigil that makes it a powerful addition to the deck. This sigil grants the player a random item when played, excluding the Angler's Hook and the Dagger. These can range from the Boulder in a Bottle (providing an emergency defensive wall card) to the Hourglass (allowing the player to force their opponent to miss a turn), and any of them can come in handy in a tight spot.

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Other useful items to keep an eye out for are the "Black Goat in a Bottle" (providing a card that sacrifices for 3 blood instead of 1), the "Hoggy Bank" (which instantly provides four bones), and the "Harpies Boneleg Fan" (which allows all the player's creatures currently on the board to attack as if they had the "flier" sigil until the end of the turn).

2 Long Elk

Long Elk Card From Inscryption

The Long Elk is a powerful card for any deck, especially one which has cards like the Rat King to supply the necessary bones. With 1 Power, 2 Health, the "Sprinter" sigil, and the "Touch of Death" sigil, the Long Elk can decimate the opponent's entire field in a couple of turns. "Touch of Death" ensures that anything it attacks dies, while "Sprinter" allows it to move to the space to its left at the end of each turn. This combination allows the Long Elk to keep killing a creature and moving on to the next turn.

Alongside this excellent array of effects, it's worth noting that the Long Elk can also be used to make the campfires encountered while traveling between battles much safer, at a cost. The campfire is surrounded by hungry survivors, eager to have you "warm a creature by the fire."

While doing this will boost a creature's health or power and can be repeated up to four times per campfire, this comes with the risk of the Survivors eating the creature, which grows more likely with each repetition. If a savvy player offers a creature who naturally has the "Touch of Death" sigil, however, it will poison the survivors when they eat it, causing them to no longer appear at campfires for the rest of the run.

1 Ouroboros

Ouroboros Card From Inscryption

The Ouroboros is easily one of the most powerful cards in the game, as long as the player knows its secret. While it begins with 1 power and 1 health and costs 2 blood, it has the "Unkillable" sigil, allowing it to return to the hand on death with +1 Power and +1 Health. These stat increases are permanent, persisting from one battle to the next and even between the game's acts.

This means that the Ouroboros can grow into a terrifyingly strong ally throughout the game. As it always costs 2 blood regardless of how much its power has grown, it becomes an increasingly cost-effective card as the game progresses.

Inscryption is available now for PC.

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