Inkbound is officially moving out of Early Access! This means that players will get to enjoy the full game along with some major changes the team has made to the design, balance, and content of Inkbound.
Continue reading for details of Inkbound’s 1.0 launch date and a list of what’s to come!
INKBOUND 1.0 DATE REVEAL!
Since first launching Inkbound in Early Access back in 2023, we’ve been focused on creating tons of new content, polishing gameplay, and incorporating player feedback for the 1.0 launch. Thanks to all your suggestions and bug reports, we’ve been able to include your most asked for features and find solutions to even the most challenging issues!
From new vestiges, combat balance, new tutorials, cutscenes, and new cosmetic sets. We’re also adding controller support and improving the game on Steam Deck. Inkbound will also be available in multiple languages, including Chinese, Japanese, and more!
For the lore lovers out there, you’ll also get to experience the last chapter to the Inkbound story we’ve been building throughout Early Access. Players will learn the secrets of the Atheneum and battle the true final boss!
And speaking of the launch…
The release date is…
*drumroll*
Inkbound 1.0 is coming out on APRIL 10TH, 2024!
That’s right, the wait is almost over! And trust me, it’s worth it. Until then, we’ll be busy testing, re-testing, and testing again to make sure everything is as perfect as can be.
LAST EARLY ACCESS SALE & LAUNCH PRICE
Before Inkbound 1.0’s launch, we’ll be having another sale! Starting on February 28th and running until March 6th, Inkbound will be available for 20% off!
This will also be the last Inkbound sale before we increase the price of Inkbound to the full release price. On March 6th, the new price will be $29.99 with standard regional pricing in other currencies.
Why March 6th if the game does not come out until April 10th? That is a great question! The reason is that Valve does not allow developers to change their prices at the same time that they run a sale. So, in order to offer an additional 1.0 launch sale, we’ll be raising the price slightly earlier.
THE ROAD FROM EARLY ACCESS
Throughout Early Access, Inkbound has changed a lot since its release last year, including:
Whole new Aspects like the Star Captain, Godkeeper, and Chainbreaker
A new book complete with new quests and the tricky Mimic boss
Trinkets!
Vestiges and their sets!
Offline mode (which we’re working on making even better with a ‘true offline’ mode)
Daily Challenges
Based on feedback updated business model and game structure
Run stats
And there is a lot to come! Such as…
Heavily reduced RNG from quests.
The new true final boss
New quests! Including a new secret area of the Atheneum you can visit and full english VO.
Master vestiges used to win a run and reveal their lore.
And all the changes mentioned in the updated roadmap like controller support, Steam deck support, and localization.
And that is the tip of the iceberg! Stay tuned for content reveals coming soon!
Finally, thank you so much for your help during our Early Access journey. Join us on Discord,, subscribe to the Inkbound newsletter, or join one of our weekly streams to discuss any questions you might have with the team.
See you in the Atheneum! Cami
Surprise Inkbound Sale!
Hi, Inklings!
Did the Steam Winter Sale pass you by like a snowflake in a storm? Do not fret for you have another chance to buy Inkbound!
Starting right now, Inkbound is now on sale for 20% off! From January 22nd to the 29th at 10:00 AM PT, you can enjoy the game for this lower price.
Want to learn a little more about Inkbound before you commit? Check out a few of these cool new features! (See what I did there?🤣)
❄️A revamped End Run that shows off your top achievements in the run. ❄️Trading Cards, Badges, and Emotes! ❄️New Records section that tracks your best performance over time in various categories.
And that’s not including eight player classes and three bosses you can test your mettle against!
Of those eight Inkbound player aspects, you can enjoy smashing your way through the hordes of enemies as a Magma Miner or spring from spear to spear across the combat arena as the Godkeeper. If you would like to learn more about the player aspects, we occasionally publish deep dives like this one about the Chainbreaker and Godkeeper.
Want to know more about what’s to come in Inkbound? Be sure to check out theupdated roadmap that details all the cool new changes that are yet to come.
Be sure to get Inkbound for 20% OFF before January 29th!
And finally, thank you so much for all your support of Inkbound and of the Shiny Shoe team. We are deeply appreciative of your passion for our game and hope to see you hanging around the social hub!
See you in the Atheneum! Cami Community Manager at Shiny Shoe
Gods & Relics Hot Fix #7
Letter from the Team
This update focuses on quest bug fixes, a victory board bug, and a clarification message. Thanks for the bug reports, we will continue to try to fix as many issues as we can.
Release Timing
This patch will be released at approximately 10 am PST (UTC-8) on January 18th, 2024.
Fixes
Fixed bug where the Underborn disappeared prematurely.
Fixed bug where Eat Fish daily stops incrementing if you eat too many fish.
Fixed a couple hard battles that would incorrectly show up in normal battles. This will also fix a bug with the victory board quest to win a run with only normal battles.
Added a message on the End Run screen that clarifies Daily Challenges do not count for logging new Personal Records.
Bug Reports
If you would like to submit a bug report, you can do so by pressing the 'F8' key on your keyboard. Please then fill out the form that pops up and click submit.
We read all the feedback that comes in and appreciate everyone who submits reports to help improve the game.
Thank you!
Early Access Patch 0.3.6
The update will be released approximately on January 9, 2024, at 10:00 AM PT (GMT-8).
Changes
Unlocked Wellpeople quests much earlier in the game.
Resolved issue with Trinket set bonuses being lost upon respawn.
Brought down scaling on enemies in 3 player notably more, and brought it down on 4 player slightly.
Top Moments of 2023
Hi, Inklings!
Happy New Year! As we kick off 2024, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on the previous year and share a few of my favorite moments.
Launch day!
Well before Inkbound’s Early Access launch on May 22, 2023, we got a taste of your excitement with our free demo, which we launched on January 26th! Since this was going to be the most players playing Inkbound at one time we had ever experienced, we just hoped that the servers wouldn’t crash.
So imagine our surprise when not only were things chugging along, but some of our favorite streamers like Retromation and FightinCowboy were playing! The entire team was so excited when we saw them the Atheneum!
For an indie game studio working on just our second game, the response from players near and far were absolutely amazing. We went into the demo weekend hoping to test our servers and find any major bugs, but the fact that we got attention from media outlets like PC Gamer and content creators so early in the game’s development was more than we could have hoped for.
GDC
As indie game developers, we’re not invited to the big parties thrown during GDC but that doesn’t mean we don’t have fun! This year, we had a small booth at the live showcase by Media Indie Exchange. It was so much fun getting to talk to players who love indie games like ours! If you come to GDC next year, I hope to see you there!
Early Access Launch
A few months later (and after some tweaks to the game’s balance), we officially launched Inkbound in Early Access on May 22, 2023! 🎉🎉🎉
Launch day was amazing, hectic, and just a little bit crazy. To celebrate, we had a full day streaming marathon.
Soon after our Early Access release, we started to receive my favorite part of being a community manager: getting fanart!
This are just a few of the amazing fanart pieces we've seen since our Early Access launch. If you would like to see more, please check out the #inkbound-fanart channel in Discord!
We were so flattered that they noticed Inkbound and continued to support us through to our Early Access launch. We knew we had to do something as a thank you. So, the art team came together and made these amazing custom helmets for them and their fans.
Custom Retromation Inkbound helmet.
Custom Wanderbot Inkbound helmet.
Custom FightinCowbow Inkbound helmet.
The helmets were a hit! I love seeing players running around in the Atheneum with these equipped. Did you get one from one of these three streamers? Do you have a streamer you think would love a custom helmet? Leave a comment below!
Cult of the Scribbles
We also introduced the world to the cutest purple cat in the world: Scribbles! This Inkbound emote is available only through giveaways during our weekly streams. I also have given some Scribbles codes to content creators so, if you want to get your hands on one, go check out their videos or streams!
Scribbles the Purple Inkbound cat.
A player even made some Scribbles fanart! This Scribbles fanart by ThouArtPotato.
Reddit
It was also so cool to see players start to come together and answer each others questions on the Inkbound subreddit. It’s run by an amazing volunteer, The Chesire Mouse. They are really nice and happy to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you to the Chesire Mouse for your amazing work! Without you, Inkbound’s Reddit community would not be what it is today.
Other sites
And speaking of fan run sites, where would we be without this site for easy lookups for all things Inkbound.
Or the Inkbound wiki?? Which, although it has not been updated in a little bit, is still greatly appreciated!
The Starship of Terrors and Gods & Relics
A few months the Early Access launch, we released the Starship of Terrors and revealed the Star Captain. Considered mayyyyybe the most popular player aspect of them all (and if it’s not, let me know in the comments!), the Star Captain zapped their way into the hearts of players.
We also introduced the first instance of TRINKETS to Inkbound and the DAILY CHALLENGES. Did you know that there is an entire channel dedicated to the Daily Challenges in our Discord? Every day, I visit the channel and learn from you on how you got your top scores.
A few months later, we released our next big update: Gods & Relics! With this new update, we added two new player aspects: the Godkeeper and the Chainbreaker.
Removal of In-game monetization
This was maybe on of the biggest moments in the year and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the removal of in-game monetization from Inkbound.
After months of receiving feedback, the Shiny Shoe team’s leadership decided to move ahead and do this. The resulting positive messages from players was, in a word, amazing.
Thank you so much to those who supported us before and after this major change to Inkbound!
Finally, I can't finish this post without mentioning our amazing playtester who have been there for us since the very beginning. We started onboarding playtesters as early as summer 2022 and have been some of our best supporters. They’ve set the tone for the Inkbound community with their generosity, kindness, and respect for everyone and I am so glad to have them as part of the community. So, to the playtesters, I say thank you.
And to everyone I say thank you for playing Inkbound and Happy New Year! ~ Cami Community Manager at Shiny Shoe
Gods & Relics Hot Fix #6
Fixes
Fixed Villain music not playing correctly.
Fixed Detonate tagged as Physical instead of Magical.
Fixed daily challenge score breakdown values that displays on end run screen.
Slightly reduced scaling at 4 players to bring it in line with 3 players. Will keep an ongoing eye on results for additional hotfix tuning.
Inkbound's Winter Sale!
Hi, Inklings!
INKBOUND IS NOW ON SALE! As part of Steam’s Winter Sale, Inkbound is now 20% OFF from December 21st to January 4th, 2024. This is a great chance to get a last minute gift for a friend or to ring in the new year with a daily challenge run!
Not convinced Inkbound will keep you entertained during the cold nights of winter? Check out all a few new features we added to Inkbound in our Mid-Season Update!
✨ New and improved matchmaking system. ✨ End Run screen with run stats. ✨ New 'Records' section that tracks your best performance over time in various categories. ✨ Steam Community items including TRADING CARDS, BADGES, AND EMOTES.
That’s just a taste of what awaits you in Inkbound. So, trust me, I think you’ll be well occupied when it’s too cold to go outside.
Want to know more about what to expect in Inkbound’s future? You can now check out our updated roadmap that details new upcoming features like Chinese and Japanese localization, controller support, and more!
Have more questions? Need some tips from our Inkbound experts? Come say ‘Hi’ in Discord! I or one of our amazing mods would be happy to help.
Be sure to get Inkbound before the sale ends on January 4th! Check out the sale on Steam here! [[insert link]]
Finally, from everyone on the Shiny Shoe team, thank you so much for your support.
See you in the Atheneum! Cami ~Community Manager at Shiny Shoe
Gods & Relics Hotfix #5
Fixes
Fixed bug with Rose of Rubies where enemy deaths were counting more than once and often causing damage preview to be wrong.
Show the daily challenge scoring tooltip on the end run screen when mousing over the score.
Gods & Relics - Mid-Season Update #2
Letter from the Team
We’re excited to announce a variety of new features that we’re launching in our 2nd Gods & Relics Mid-Season Update (0.3.5). We hope you’ll enjoy them and look forward to hearing your feedback.
In addition to this update we continue to work toward 1.0 with new content and features. We will talk more about the details of 1.0 in future community posts.
Release Timing
This patch will be released at approximately 10 am PT (UTC-8) on December 20th, 2023.
New Features
Records
We added a new feature called Records that tracks your best performance over time in various categories. You can review your records in a new tab in the Logbook.
Additionally, we revamped the End Run screen to expose various Records, including allowing for fun comparisons between party member performance in multiplayer.
Matchmaking Improvements
By popular demand we updated matchmaking to allow for choosing your desired party size. With this change, you'll be able to find parties of 3 and 4 players via matchmaking if you wish. Of course, depending on how many people are in the matchmaking pool at any one time, there may be a longer wait to find a party.
In addition, we now make an attempt to group players of similar Rank. This is to avoid the situation of a new player matching with a player near the highest ranks. While waiting in matchmaking the acceptable rank difference will expand over time, so it's still possible that someone at Rank 1 will match with someone at Rank 20 if those are the only two people looking for a match, but it's less likely to happen.
Option to Partially Delete Player Data
We added the ability to do a partial deletion of your character save data from the settings menu. Data deleted: quest progress, Victory Board progress, Aspect unlocks, Vestige unlocks, Trinket unlocks, and Trinket keys. Data kept: cosmetics, Vault Dust, Season Level, Solo/Group Ranks, and your character name. In the future we plan to provide a way to change your character name.
The goal with deleting certain data and keeping other data is to allow you to restart quest progression and gameplay unlocks without losing your cosmetics, Dust, Season Level, or Rank.
This option can be found in the "Other" tab of Settings and is only usable from the main menu.
Many new Binding Ascension VFX
Our goal is for every Binding Ascension to have unique visuals to both make them feel exciting to use and be clearly differentiated. This update adds over 30 new Binding Ascension VFX. For one example, an electric Godkeeper spear:
Trading Cards, Badges, and Emotes
Along with this update we are launching a pack of Steam Community items including trading cards, badges, and emotes. Here's a few samples of the available emotes:
Other Changes
General & Quests
With our changes to no longer having season specific quests we are continuing to do work to roll quests out with logical progression. With this update new players won't have access to the Starship book until they hit a certain point in quest progression, and other elements of quest progression have been updated to make this clear and smooth.
Added missing NPCs to Raven villain chunk for quests.
Improved communication about where to find the Opal Slab.
Fixed group rank achievements to utilize the run difficulty rank instead of the individual player rank.
Fixed bug where Chainbreaker abilities counted towards Bonk quest progress.
Increased healing fountain heal from 10 HP >>> 15 HP.
Fixed Trinket Rose of Rubies occasionally causing incorrect damage previews.
Locked Starship book behind quest progression.
Crimson Kwillfish and Brain Tuna now correctly show on the status effect the amount of stat increase.
Renamed Rank 20 Villain Challenge Buff "Bombbastic" >>> "Blastback" due to existing Daily Challenge mutator with same name.
Fixed certain Sea Breaches not working with Chart of Stars trinket.
Fixed bug where Poison Dash quest wasn't progressing if you had an ascension.
Locked Star Captain unlock quest behind unlocking the Derelict Starship book.
Various quest fixes to misnamed Victory Board quests.
Changed shared objectives from Bromeo and Julius quest to solo.
Vestiges, Sets, and Trinkets
We had two goals with our Trinket updates in this patch.
First off, we wanted to raise the power level of a few underperforming trinkets by bumping up their numbers.
Secondly, we modified how the four core status effect Trinkets function. Aside from giving +1 to their respective set they will now force Binding drafts to show the connected Binding (e.g. Talons of Cyn will cause Poison Vapor to appear in the Binding draft) but to balance it out these Trinkets no longer increase damage done by their respective status effects. This decision was made to give a more straightforward and consistently useful bonus.
Updated Uncommon vestige Verdant Sprout to grant Max HP and then heal, instead of healing then granting Max HP.
Fixed Trinket Union of the Needless granting revived player 3 Omni Damage instead of 30 Omni Damage.
Fixed Pincushion inflicting 2 stacks of Punctured instead of 1.
Fixed Rare vestige Inkley Map not updating stacks when picking up an orb. Fixed Inkley Map occasionally granting extra stacks with multiple of the vestige.
Twin Fangs now correctly has the text on its status effect match the effect of the Vestige.
Emblem of Enterprise: Increase the chance of Kwillings dropping by 30 >>> 35%.
Dial of Fate: only can select between Burn, Poison, or Bleed damage making it a more consistent damage dealing status effect choice.
Stone of Scholars: Magic power increased from 10 >>> 15.
Marker of the Unbound: Reduced the amount of Binding uses required from 6 >>> 5.
Heart of Hero: Fixed a typo in the Trinket stating it only gives 2 sets instead of 3.
Talons of Cyn, Blaze of Brigid, Everfrost of Arcturia, and Essence of Quillion no longer apply their related status effects. They now will force their related Binding to show up in Binding drafts.
Draftable Bindings
Fixed Smoke Bomb ascension Cluster Bomb inflicting Shatter while having Shrapnel Smoke Bomb Uncommon upgrade instead of Shattering Smoke Bomb Rare upgrade.
Updated Chain Lightning Uncommon augment Empowering Lightning "+20 ability power until a Binding is uesed." >>> "+20 ability power until an Attack Binding is used."
Updated wording of Poison Vapor Uncommon augment Widespread Vapor for clarity. "Ascensions that affect a single target now affect all targets." >>> "...affect all targets in the area."
Fixed Grasp ascension Harpoon not properly granting +100 crit damage.
Blast, the Blink Ascension, is now correctly tagged as an Attack Binding.
Enemies
Overall as we head towards 1.0 we're working hard on game balance, with many bigger changes coming in that update. In the meantime we wanted to increase the challenge just a little in a few areas where enemies were underpowered. To that end we increased the health slightly on very low hp enemies and also have increased the health across the board of enemies in multiplayer, especially at high player counts.
Scaled up enemy health more in multiplayer. Slightly in 2 player, and progressively more in 3 and 4 player.
Increased the health of many low HP enemies by a small amount.
Fixed Inkula not spawning consistently during Villain Argolath fight in Rank 20.
Magma Miner
Fixed Smash Uncommon augment Wrecking Smash not stacking.
Star Captain
Fixed Chillazer ascension Big Game Hunter not inflicting Shocked with Epic augment Shocking Chillazer.
Chainbreaker
Updated Chainbreaker Binding icons to be more visually differentiated from each other to read better.
Godkeeper
Updated Whirlwind Epic augment Elusive Whirlwind to not consume Velocity granted if you already have stacks of Velocity.
UI
Fixed nodraft tag visible in ability upgrade tooltip.
Changed the "fell behind server" error message to suggest players try offline mode if they are having problems.
The delay between floating messages in combat has been slightly reduced.
Visuals
Added VFX for Spiked Status and Shocked Status.
Added VFX to show what mode Mission Leader is in (Star Captain only).
Fixed Radiant Market book select portal VFX.
Audio
Added partial Scribe VO.
Added partial Tinkerer VO.
Engine & Other Bug Fixes
When playing in Steam Big Picture mode force the game into full-screen.
Updated Roadmap!
Hi, everyone!
As a lead up to Inkbound 1.0’s launch, we’re releasing an updated roadmap! You might see some familiar bullet points on the list like “steam deck support” or “controller support.” But have you seen some of the newest additions? Such as . . .
Localization - We know many of you have wanted to play Inkbound in more languages than English. Soon, you will! We’re working on bringing Chinese, Japanese, and more! Be on the lookout for future posts announcing the other languages soon.
Trading Cards & Badges - Love collecting cards on Steam as you play your favorite games? You soon will be able to do that for Inkbound as well!
Records Tracking and End Screen Stats - Just won an epic run? Want to dig deeper into your awesome build? You can in Inkbound 1.0!
These are just a few of the changes going live with Inkbound 1.0! The full list of updates can be found below:
Click the above image for a larger version.
A text version of the same information follows.
Inkbound 1.0 Updates
Steam Deck Support
Controller Support
Full Story Reveal
Trading Cards & Badges
Localization
Win Streak Tracking
Records Tracking
End Screen Stats
Vestige Mastery
Prologue Cutscenes
Reorder Vestiges
Improved Matchmaking
New Vestiges
Reset Character Data Option
New Vestige Sets
Boss Variety
More Cosmetics
And a new, Ultimate Final Boss!
We’ve also got a few more surprises, but we’re keeping those for a later date. :3
Finally, although we’re not ready to disclose a date for Inkbound’s 1.0 launch, be on the lookout for an official announcement soon!
And, as always, thank you so much for your support of Shiny Shoe and Inkbound!
See you in the Atheneum! ~Cami Community Manager at Shiny Shoe
