Inked (also Inked: A Tale of Love) is a puzzle-platform game developed by Somnium Games and published by Starbreeze Publishing for Microsoft Windows.[1][2] It was first demoed at the 2016 Reboot Infogamer convention in Zagreb[3] and released on 26 April 2018 via Steam.[4][5] Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One published by Pixmain were later released on 27 August 2021.
The story follows two protagonists; a rogue samurai called Nameless Hero, who is on a quest for his love Aiko, and Adam, a comic book artist.[6] The game uses an art style similar to papercraft visuals, but using a ballpoint pen[7] on a grid textbook for outlining.[8]
Upon release, its aesthetic was praised by game journalists,[9] but the game received mixed reviews. It has an aggregated score of 67 on Metacritic, based on 15 reviews for the PC version.[10] It holds 78 for the Nintendo Switch version, based on 4 reviews.[11] Nintendo Life in its review criticized its length, but praised its visuals, soundtrack, story and puzzles.[12] Pocket Gamer also praised the visuals, but found the puzzles tiring after a while.[13] GameZebo complimented the unique look and puzzles, but complained that the camera could use more movement.[14] Destructoid stated it had high potential, but ultimately found the movement awkward.[15]