INK, is a simple yet hardcore puzzle platformer in which your every action reveals your surroundings, be it jumping, bumping into objects, killing enemies or even dying. Starting off a level you will notice that there is nothing to see but your little square friend. Jumping shoots out splotches of paint which reveal previously invisible walls. Jump towards the newly created wall & out comes another splash of paint revealing more of your surroundings. If you jump & miss it by an inch, all is not lost as your death splatter reveals even more for the next go & thus begins your platforming adventure.
The goal is simple, just reach the door. This can be as simple as just platforming there, having to kill enemies to open it, getting keys or a mix of both. There is not much in the way of enemies other than a simple square thing that goes back & forth in its platform as well as environmental hazards. The hazards are your standard affair of homing rockets, moving platforms & spikes. Some levels will also feature boss battles.
There is not much in the way of graphics, just simple squares & circles with brilliant neon colors. As such there are no graphical options & the game is locked to 30FPS though I did not find it to be a detriment. Music is pretty lovely & helps calm the inevitable rage that will occur as you die over & over again. The controls are nice & responsive though you do have a bit more momentum to your jumps than you may expect which might end up with unintended deaths.
Sadly, there is little of the way of replayability outside of collecting hidden ‘hearts’ which are revealed in much the same way one reveals levels. This task is made a bit annoying as the devs opted for the level select screen to be a linear thing rather than a simple square formation or the like.
All in all, INK is a decent platformer, with charming music & an interesting mechanic yet it is barebones in the amount of content, relatively short & there is not much to hook you. At its regular price, some might find it unappealing but it is a game that can frequently be found in bundles. Regardless of the price paid, it is an ok game to play in downtimes as long as you don’t expect too much out of it.
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