Ink: Review
Information:
Player Age: 12+
Player Count: 1 - 4 Players
BGG Weight: 1.33
Time to Play: 30 - 45 Minutes
Year Published: 2025
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the VR Distribution
Introduction:
Ink is an abstract game of creating your objectives in pursuit of deploying all of your ink bottles. This is done by clever tile placement and selective drafting. In the game, players are slowly building a group of colours, placing as many white spots as they can, while creating certain-sized coloured groups to meet the objective value they place.
Game Anatomy:
Ink:
Each player will have 24 ink tokens to place during the game. These tokens will be separated into two piles. One for the palette card and one joker pile (this ink can go on any colour). Palette cards will come in various two-colour combinations.
If possible, players will try and place for their pallete first as it can be costly to use all the joker ink early in the game.
Bonus Action:
There is a bonus action board containing blank spaces for objectives (completed groups) valued at 4, 5, 6, and 7. The bonus actions will be randomised at the start of every game. Two with a blue backing and two with a red backing. Various bonus elements in the game will be used for certain bonus actions, such as single coloured tiles that can be used to cover tiles, white spots that can create more scoring possibilities and even objective numbers that can be used to change the objectives value. These bonus actions add a good abundance of variability.
Quill Wheel and x/xx Tokens:
Throughout the game, there will be six tiles (set up along the quill wheel) that players can select from when drafting. This quill wheel will work as a rondel, which requires the players to keep drafting clockwise. Whenever a player returns to the start of the board, they will randomly draw one x/xx token. These tokens require the player to cover two adjacent squares on the board. This will need to be either one or two colours shown on the token. If any ink is covered by this token, then the ink will be returned to the player's joker pile.
Tile:
Each player will have a starting tile with a white backing. Every other piece will be drafted throughout the game. Each piece contains four sections showing 2-4 colours. The back of each piece is the same pattern but flipped, allowing for optimal placement. On the tiles, there may either be a blank white circle or a white circle containing a value of 3-7. These circles are where ink bottles are placed if the 3-7 objective is met by having that number of squares in that colour grouping.
Setup:
- Each player receives a random starting tile and a palette card. Each player will then place 12 inks on the palette card and 12 inks on the table beside that card. The remaining 1 will be placed on the x position of the quill wheel.
- Sort out the single x and xx tokens into individual piles, then place three per player of each in the bag and place the rest in the game box.
- Randomly select two blue and two red bonus actions. Then place each one on the bonus action board in ascending order using the number on the right-hand side.
How to Play:
Ink is a tile placement game that continues until one player has reduced their ink pile to zero. The round will then be finished, and the player with no ink left or the most black ink placed (counting as the extra ink necessary in the case of a tie). Players will play in turn order. On a turn, a player will move their ink pot on the quill wheel to gain a tile, place that tile, and score any objectives they meet. Rather than this, a player may pass, moving two of their ink from their palette into the joker pile, this is a costly move though, so it is best for players to try and prioritise their palette colours first.
Moving the Ink:
The active player will select which tile they are drafting from any on the quill wheel. When a player reaches the top of the board (the x), they have to stop and gain an x/xx token from the bag. Placing the x/xx token onto their placement blocking and losing potential groups, the player will then select a tile to draft as normal.
Placing a Tile:
There are only two restrictions when placing tiles; the tile cannot go on top of another tile, and one square has to connect orthogonally to another tile's square (this does not have to match colours).
Scoring Objectives:
If the active player places a numbered objective into a group of colours to meet or exceed that value, or they add to an existing un-scored group, they can score that objective. This is done by adding an ink lid-down on the number value and placing ink bottles on all empty white spots in that group. These ink bottles will come from the palette first if possible. Otherwise, they will come from the joker (wild) pile of ink bottles. The bottles on the tiles will block the paths of certain tiles separating the colour group.
If the objective is completed from 4-7 squares, then a bonus action shown on the action board will be activated.
Final Thoughts:
- Good mix of bonus actions.
- Interesting element of going slow around the roundel to not acquire too many x/xx tokens, which therefore remove placement options.
Ink is a good mix between abstract tile laying and player competition. The objective is simple, players want to play all of their ink tokens before their opponent. This is done by carefully creating both groups of one colour and groups with multiple white spots, making that colour group score. Allowing players to create their own scoring objects by filling certain groups with white spots and then adding objective values to score the entire group at once. The two elements that make the game shine for me beyond the tile placement are the unique mix of bonus actions and the x/xx tokens that destroy what the player is building if they advance too fast around the rondel. This is a great game that any abstract art lover will enjoy.
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