Inkbound, from Monster Train's developers, is in early access now

Inkbound is a co-op turn-based roguelike, a jumble of genres I've seen so many times in the past decade they no longer conjure any feelings for me. It's also from the developers of Monster Train, however, the uncommonly good card game about stopping an onslaught aboard a multi-storey train to hell. That pedigree means it's worth noting that Inkbound is now in early access.

While the bare facts of its genres sounds derivative, there is something unusual about Inkbound's combat. For one, it's turn-based, but you're not moving on a grid. You can wander around freely during battles within an enclosed space, in order to choose which of your enemies to better with your next attack. You then have a more-than-typical amount of juice - mana, action points, whatever - with which to deliver several blows to your enemy before it's their turn.

Ed has played it twice in the past six months, first finding it had the snappiest turn-based combat he'd ever seen and next finding it hard to collaborate in co-op. It really is Monster Train that has me interested though, given that we found that the best deckbuilder since Slay The Spire.

Inkbound is available on Steam now for £16.75/$20 and will remain in early access for "one to two years".