Shiny Shoe, the indie studio behind Monster Train, is reaching a significant milestone in April for Inkbound, the team’s highly acclaimed co-op tactical roguelite. Inkbound will be leaving Early Access with the release of its 1.0 update. Players will experience an all-new narrative questline – complete with an epic showdown against a world-ending threat – whether they’re jumping into Inkbound’s magical world for the first time or have been playing since the beginning.
“We’ve improved Inkbound tremendously from our initial Early Access release,” says Shiny Shoe Founder and CEO Mark Cooke. “From major new features like additional character classes and worlds to explore to the numerous small incremental quality of life changes that add up to a much more polished experience. I’m excited to get 1.0 into players’ hands!”
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Inkbound’s 1.0 release includes a host of new features and enhancements to its ever-expanding world. Here are some of the highlights:
- Epic New Questline, Complete with a Final Boss: Inkbound 1.0 includes the latest content drop, Rise of the Unbound, featuring new challenges and unlocks. This new narrative culminates with an epic showdown against the villain behind Inkbound’s unraveling world.
- Full Controller Support: The fans have spoken! Inkbound’s 1.0 launch includes complete controller support – perfect for on-the-couch play.
- Improved Steam Deck Experience: Inkbound supports online co-op play, but full offline play is also supported – perfect for Steam Deck players when they’re out on the road.
- Localization: We’re adding localization to the game for the first time. The 1.0 release includes full localization in Chinese, Japanese, German, and French.
- Narrative Enhancements: Inkbound 1.0 highlights the game’s story with all-new cutscenes and a reworked narrative throughline. Progression is faster and more impactful, telling an immersive tale like never before with a full English voiceover.
- Big Under-the-Hood Tweaks: A variety of improvements and enhancements are being added to Inkbound to fully mark its graduation from Early Access. These include a deep editing pass to ensure that that text is consistent throughout, quality-of-life updates, and player-requested balancing adjustments designed to keep Inkbound challenging over the long haul.
“Throughout Early Access, we’ve iterated on how to create the best narrative experience in Inkbound, and I’m excited for players to experience this version,” says Andrew Krausnick, creative director at Shiny Shoe. “We’ve focused the experience around the core storylines, eliminated randomness, and made sure all characters are fully voiced. If you’ve tried Inkbound before or are here for the first time, this is the definitive version.”
Inkbound launched in Steam Early Access in May 2023, and the team at Shiny Shoe has regularly released new updates and new content drops based on community feedback, including the massive Starship of Terrors launch. Check out the official Inkbound website and Steam blog for regular updates, and be sure to join the Discord server. It’s a great place to meet fellow adventurers, party up, and share your feedback and suggestions directly with the development team.
