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Critical Analysis:
Physics and Metaphysics of Spatial Design in INSCRYPTION
INSCRYPTION
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...
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RELEASE DATE: Oct 19, 2021
DEVELOPER: Daniel Mullins Games
PUBLISHER: Devolver Digital
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Game Link:
Game Spatial Design:
Five main scenes are shown below, which add a layer of horror + meta atomsphere to the gameplay.
1. Leshy's Cabin:
Normal Level
Boss Battle
After Moon Level
2. Riverbank Map:
World Map
Scrybes' Cabin
3. P03's Factory
Factory Maze
Card Table
4. You Tuber Studio
Video Clipping
First Person Experience
5. White Inscription Space
Critical Analysis
INSCRYPTION, as its name implies, is a card-based odyssey, blending the deck-building roguelike, escape-room puzzles, and horror theme into the "encrypted inscription." Apart from being the epitome of all excellent card games, embodying the rogue-like map of "Slay the Spire" and the art representation of "Hand of Fate," its meta elements are nonnegligible: the protagonist is not only the player who is actually playing the game, but also the role of a traveler in the card game, and the human character Luke Carder, the YouTuber who is introducing the game.
Consequently, the physics and metaphysics of spatial design in INSCRYPTION are of great significance for the player's identity transformation, implication, and confirmation. As an architectural student, I am impressed by the frequency of switching between five scenes during the gaming (as shown in Chart 1. Scene List) and breaking the fourth wall several times to start a conversation with the player, which inspires me to dive into research on the Meta-game genre.
Spatial Design of Physics:
INSCRYPTION offers a rich visual and spatial experience within a limited space scale. Through transitions and connections between scenes, this game constructs five main game spaces appropriately matched with game art. During the gaming in Leshy's Cabin, even if the player only faces a card table, the game text, sheepskin map, and the decoration of the narrow cabin serve as three media to show the high-level design and simulate an epic adventure. The game also confirms the role of architectural style in driving the plot. In detail, Leshy's Cabin is an example of log cabins in America during 17th to 18th centuries. With Beast Cards game emphasizing the Sacrificing Theme, the logs, sloping roofs, and wooden totems provide players with a more mystical experience. In Technology Cards game in P03’s factory, the design of the scene emphasizes a sense of technology and futurism, which indicates the motif of meta with city landmarks and machine engines. In the White Inscription Space, the pure materials such as marbles and Roman columns advance the divinity of super-spirits and transcendentalism as well as suggest that the game is about to enter the ending.
Spatial Design of Metaphysics:
The metaphysical aspect goes far beyond the physical aspects such as the building and the hall, reflecting the game itself as an object of existence through information and technical construction. INSCRYPTION applies different presentations for the same space based on conveying an ever-increasing mass of information. For instance, in Leshy's Cabin, there is only diegetic UI at the beginning of the game: a weighing scale to display the health of both sides. The player needs to tap the bell to end each turn. While in the next chapter, this cabin appears on the big map and is presented in the top-down pixel style to convey a larger worldview with total non-diegetic UI, increasing the player's "outsider" impression to imply the existence of meta space. In P03's factory, the game utilizes a similar scale card playroom as Leshy's Cabin but is located in a more complex maze to offer new puzzle gameplay mechanics in addition. The meta elements are also reflected in the game's conscious reflection on its own technical construction. Friend lists on the Steam platform fetched to create game cards, and the plot to get access to computer files indicate that there is also an interactive metaphysical space in the game in addition to physical space.
Conclusion:
INSCRYPTION is an exemplary indie game that breaks the immersion and allows players to discover a new world outside the game's usual boundaries. Unlike prevailing games with continuous and immersive scenes, spatial design in Meta-game has its particular narrative fascination. Only when spatial design serves the story subject in the game and consciously highlights its existence can the game become a perceptible Meta-game.
Chart 1. Scene List
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