Inscryption: Complete Guide

A guide to Inscryption's card mechanics, deckbuilding strategy, and each act, with light spoiler warnings, plus Kaycee's Mod for when you want endless runs.

Researched September 2026 — current as of version 1.10 (Mac/Linux release, June 2022) with Kaycee's Mod. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Spoiler note: Inscryption's biggest pleasure is not knowing what happens next. The Quick Start and Core Mechanics sections are spoiler-light. Act sections below go progressively deeper, with warnings.

Quick Start

Squirrels are your fuel. In Leshy's game, you pay for most creatures by sacrificing other cards on the board. Squirrels come from a separate side deck and exist mainly to be sacrificed.
Draw from the side deck when your hand is weak. Each turn you choose to draw from your main deck or take a squirrel. Early on, the squirrel is often right.
The scale decides the game. Damage tips a scale using teeth. Tip it five teeth your way and you win.
Keep your deck lean. A tight deck draws your best cards more often. Remove weak cards when the game offers.
Sigils are the whole game. Sigils are card abilities. The sacrifice altar lets you move a sigil from one card to another, which is where broken combos come from.
Explore the cabin. Between battles, you can get up and look around Leshy's cabin. There are puzzles, hidden cards, and more than one secret.
Death isn't the end. Lose a run and you create a "death card" from three of your cards' traits, which can appear in future runs.
Read everything. Talking cards, the old photos, the odd noises. The game rewards curiosity.

Core Mechanics

The board

Cards fight in lanes. Your creatures attack whatever is directly across from them. If the lane is empty, damage goes to the opponent (onto the scale). The opponent also has a queue row showing what they'll play next.

In Act 3, the board expands by an extra lane.

Costs by Scrybe

Resource	Scrybe	How it works
Blood	Leshy (Beasts)	Sacrifice creatures on the board. The cost is shown in drops of blood
Bones	Grimora (Undead)	You gain bones whenever your creatures die; spend bones to play cards
Energy	P03 (Technology)	An energy pool refills each turn and grows by one each turn up to a cap
Gems	Magnificus (Magicks)	Cards need specific colored gems (Mox) on your board

In Act 1, cards can use blood or bones. In Act 2 and Act 3, you mix other types.

Common sigils

Sigil	Effect
Airborne	Attacks the opponent directly, ignoring the creature in front
Touch of Death	Kills any creature it damages
Many Lives	Survives being sacrificed
Worthy Sacrifice	Counts as three blood when sacrificed
Bifurcated Strike	Attacks the two lanes diagonal to it
Trifurcated Strike	Attacks the lane in front and both diagonals
Mighty Leap	Blocks Airborne creatures
Sharp Quills	Damages whatever attacks it
Unkillable	Returns to your hand when it dies
Fledgling	Grows into a stronger form after one turn
Fecundity	Adds a copy to your hand when played
Bone King	Gives extra bones when it dies

Act 1: Leshy's Cabin (spoiler-light)

You play against Leshy across a series of maps, choosing paths through nodes. Each map ends with a boss.

Map nodes

Node	What it does	Tip
Card choice	Pick one card from a selection	Favor cards with strong sigils over plain stats
Card battle	Standard fight	Most of your runs are decided here
Totem battle	A harder battle	Worth it for the rewards
Campfire (survivors)	Buff attack or health on a card	Pushing your luck can backfire, as the survivors may eat your card
Sacrifice altar (stones)	Transfer a sigil from one card to another	The key to combos
Mycologists	Merge two copies of the same card into a stronger version	Duplicate-heavy decks benefit
Woodcarver	Build a totem that gives a sigil to one tribe	Very strong with a tribe-heavy deck
Trapper	Buy pelts	Trade pelts later for rare cards
Trader	Trade pelts for cards	Golden pelts give the best picks
Items	Pick up consumables	Keep one "emergency" item

Items

Items are one-use consumables stored in your backpack. Examples include Squirrel in a bottle, Pliers (pull a tooth to add 1 damage), Scissors (cut up an opponent's card), Hourglass (skip the opponent's next turn), Fan (grants Airborne), Boulder in a Bottle, Black Goat in a Bottle, Frozen Opossum, Hoggy Bank, and Magpie's Lens.

Act 1 bosses

The Prospector — turns your creatures into gold nuggets. Don't overcommit strong cards when he's about to use his pickaxe.
The Angler — hooks your cards and pulls them to his side. Keep a cheap card to bait the hook.
The Trapper and Trader — sets traps, then trades cards with you. Play around the traps in their lanes.
Leshy — the final boss has multiple phases, including one that uses your past death cards against you.

Deckbuilding in Act 1

Blood is king. Worthy Sacrifice (e.g., the Black Goat) makes big cards cheap. Many Lives (the Cat) lets you sacrifice the same card repeatedly.
Put strong sigils on strong bodies. Use the sacrifice altar to move Airborne or Touch of Death onto high-attack cards.
Rare cards such as Ouroboros, Mantis God, Amalgam, and Urayuli change runs. Grab them when offered.
Death cards carry across runs. Make them count by combining high attack, low cost, and a good sigil.

Cabin secrets (light spoilers)

The cabin has puzzles: a clock, a safe, a painting, and more. Solving them rewards cards and special items. There's a talking Stoat in your first deck and other talking cards you'll meet later who have more to say than you'd think.

Act 2: The Pixel World (spoilers)

After defeating Leshy, the game shifts to a top-down pixel-art adventure. You explore a small world ruled by four Scrybes, each with their own temple and card type:

Scrybe	Theme	Resource
Leshy	Beasts	Blood
Grimora	Undead	Bones
P03	Technology	Energy
Magnificus	Magicks	Gems

You collect card packs and build a deck by mixing types.
Losing in Act 2 has no penalty beyond having to try again.
Beat all four Scrybes to progress. Each temple has its own puzzles.
Mix resources carefully. A deck that needs blood, bones, energy, and gems will be inconsistent. Lean on one or two.

Act 3: P03's Factory (spoilers)

P03 takes over and the game becomes a sci-fi roguelike on a grid of rooms.

Checkpoints. Losing a battle returns you to the last checkpoint tower instead of ending the run.
Robobucks buy upgrades and cards.
Card modification nodes let you add sigils, gemify, overclock, or build new cards.
Bosses: The Photographer, The Archivist, The Unfinished Boss, and G0lly!, then P03 himself.
Holo Pelts and the build-a-card machine let you create very strong custom cards.
Energy management. Energy refills each turn and grows over time. Plan big plays for later turns.

Kaycee's Mod

A free expansion (released March 17, 2022) that turns Act 1's card game into an endless roguelike without the story interruptions.

Starter decks to choose from, unlocked over time.
Challenges (skulls) make runs harder; completing runs at higher challenge levels unlocks more.
Unlockable cards and starting abilities.
The Trapper's Skinning Knife in Kaycee's Mod should only be bought from the Trapper; a bug that made it a random drop was fixed in version 1.10.
Best place to master sigil combos and build strategies.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Bloated decks. Every card you add dilutes your best ones.
Forgetting the side deck. Squirrels are free sacrifices; you'll often want one early.
Burning items early. Save the Hourglass or Scissors for a turn when you'd otherwise lose.
Ignoring the cabin. You miss cards and story.
Greed at the campfire. Pushing your luck risks losing the card.
Mixing too many resource types in Act 2 and 3.

Advanced Tips

Cat plus Worthy Sacrifice effects. Sacrificing a Many Lives card repeatedly powers big plays cheaply.
Airborne on high attack ends fights fast, but watch out for Mighty Leap blockers.
Totems. Choose a tribe your deck already leans on for the most value.
Damage overflow. Extra damage past five teeth is paid out to you as teeth, which the Trapper accepts for pelts. Finishing a fight with a big overkill turn is worth it.
Death card design. Take the cost from a cheap card, the stats from a big one, and the sigil from the best card.
Replay Kaycee's Mod to learn how strong each sigil is under pressure.

FAQ

How long is Inscryption? The story is typically completed in around 10 to 15 hours, depending on how thoroughly you explore. Kaycee's Mod adds endless replay.

Is Kaycee's Mod free? Yes, it was a free update in March 2022.

Do I need to beat Act 1 more than once? You'll likely die multiple times; that's part of the design. Death cards carry over.

Is Inscryption scary? It's psychological horror with occasional jump scares and body horror. Not relentless, but not light either.

Is there a sequel? Daniel Mullins' next game, Pony Island 2: Panda Circus, has a release date announced as of August 2026. It shares Inscryption's style but is its own game.

Can I play on Mac, Linux, or Steam Deck? Mac and Linux versions launched in June 2022 (version 1.10). It also runs on Steam Deck. Console versions followed on PlayStation 4/5 (August 2022), Switch (December 2022), and Xbox (April 2023).