Inscryption - Real Life 2 Player Board Game

Just launched a shop! Buy this at crypticcrafter.com also selling the scale and cards separately!
I've been working on a modified physical version of Inscryption for the better part of the last 4 months.
This version of the game had to be modified quite significantly to work as a two player game, and to be balanced. Instead of one player acting as the game master and one as the player, both players are fully involved.
I also modified and laser cut the scale, to work as a back and forth linear scale, rather than a weight based scale. This saves space, requires many less parts and feels incredibly satisfying to touch as it has integrated magnets.
Here's a PDF copy of the rulebook:
crypticcrafter.gumroad.com/l/...
The game box is a vintage wooden box I picked up from an antique store, and added a few custom wooden inserts to hold the pieces.
The playmat is custom printed and has a side tray for additional cards such as upgrades or special cards.
The cards themselves were all printed professionally by boardgamesmaker.com
I used the 2.2"×3.43" (56×87mm) US game cards
And the card designs are from the website generator.cards
The rulebook was initially inspired by huligan37 on reddit. But has been heavily modified after countless play sessions testing the rules and balance of the game for new players.
Many custom parts of vinyl were cut on a Cricut machine.
The bell was found on amazon, but there are many duplicates across ebay & etsy. The prices seem to fluctuate all the time.
The bones, heart tokens & candles I picked up from ebay and aliexpress.
Thank you for watching!

[@Feshman117]

The health counter is probably the best alternative to the scales ive ever seen

[@NathanHockridge]

Thank you! Spent a while trying to think of way to do it that fit with the rest of it!

[@scrybe_of_technology]

agreed

[@TavoPassos]

This is amazing! Devolver should definitely do something about an official board version

[@Numba-3]

True?!

[@juanandrealvarezmeza6179]

The little space on the board to place the health of the card is really clever

[@NightAbyssArt]

Honestly I would love a full diy tutorial or process of making this. I would love to make one for myself for my friends and I to play!!

[@NathanHockridge]

I'll work on one!

[@glimmerofhope3074]

Same, ❤

[@Insharai]

@@NathanHockridge frfr it looks simple, but it also looks like it takes the elements of a deckbuilding game and translates it to monsters. Sounds like it could be super fun

[@andreagrennan4800]

@@Insharai this is an irl version of a digital card game called I inscryption. The game is really good and has a brilliant story. You should try it Also you are wrong. This game is hella difficult and complicated

[@Insharai]

@Andrea Grennan best type of game then! I'll have to give it a look ty.

[@TheSlugLover]

Simply Amazing. I can even hear the card Talking.

[@vladde]

oh wow this looks amazing! the scale just blew my mind 🤯 really good work on the set, and this video showcasing it!

[@NathanHockridge]

Thank you! Appreciate the kind words :)

[@ghoulbuster1]

Even John inscription likes it

[@montyblunt]

I think you guys should work together to improve the game and make it perfect 😌

[@benji-menji]

Really goes to show how much of an happy accident the part one theme ended up being. Exploring the wilderness fight the wild life and bring them to your side to reach the cabin in the end after fighting against the forest crazy people, there is no beating that. I still have a lot of respect for the other card masters and their ideas of games, such as restoring robots to reclaim the wasteland, plundering from the dead in graveyards, or even becoming the strongest mage master. Hope we get some love for those one day.

[@quishzhu]

insane quality. beyond kick starter level trailer

[@lowellperkins5600]

This is the most solid ruleset I've seen for 2 players. I would love to see the many cards from act II integrated into this game

[@Nylspider]

Just from this video, it is abundantly clear that you spent a LOT of time and effort on these pieces. This is amazing!

[@jeck0_0.]

Wow! This is definitely one of the best I've seen so far!

[@Maryeet]

Genuinely wonderful work! I love Inscryption, and it's so lovely to see the cool things fans have made because of it! As others have said, the scale is SUCH a clever idea! Thank you for sharing this creation with us :)!

[@aaandrew_]

This is the best IRL Inscryption set I've seen... All the items look amazing, and the box that stores all of them is also very clean and impressive 🙏

[@mattbill5565]

The amount of money I would pay to have this as a physical board game is crazy. Amazing job!!!

[@aneeq2858]

I'm still shocked how there isn't an official board game, it's a bit depressing

[@NathanHockridge]

Just released them for sale!! www.crypticcrafter.com/ very exciting stuff if I do say so myself

[@slamduncan6685]

I just want to say thank you for making the full way to create it yourself possible, I will still be purchasing the scale from you when it’s in stock but I will happy I was able to put this together.

[@EmojiFan]

I'm making my brother a whole inscryption game irl for Christmas, and I can't thank you enough for this video, this helps me so much and saves me so much time (I'm on a 2 month time limit to make this), you're a life saver!

[@tayla4808]

Dude this is insane! So well done!!

[@Uhhhrandomna]

Wow… randomly recommended this. Amazing stuff. I’d easily drop a LOT of $$ on this

[@michaeldaniel1480]

Got goosebumps watching

[@rischirobider1.746]

This looks amazing, good job

[@krisv7410]

God this is awesome!! I loved the sigil info card on the side, a great idea. Please keep updating on this, or open your own Etsy. I'd buy parts of this in a heartbeat.

[@NathanHockridge]

Just released a store! Parts available as well as a full set! www.crypticcrafter.com/

[@Gamingboss15282]

I could imagine this becoming like dnd with custom encounters, bosses, coop (maybe) and possibly cards

[@Allizack.]

This is so supercalifragilisticexpialidocious wow I’m trying to make a real life Inscryption and it’s not NEARLY as good as this

[@lachieslan3970]

Incredible work! Looking forward to a time when this is more widely available :D best of luck with the diy tutorial/ figuring out how or if you can sell this

[@NathanHockridge]

@lachieslan3970 Just worked out how to sell it! Haha - Check it out here www.crypticcrafter.com/

[@NathanHockridge]

⚠ After a long time coming, I've adapted the box into a commercial version! ⚠ Now available for Pre-Order! ▶ www.crypticcrafter.com/shop ◀ Full box set, scale, play mat, cards and more!

[@munt368]

This is so cool, and of course works of art like this never get the recognition they deserve these days. Subbed

[@munt368]

If you could find some way to produce and sell this set I would buy it in a heart beat and pay very well for it

[@d1mw1t]

This is so amazing. There's gotta be some way to buy this! I know its not official...but I want a real life board game version of Inscryption to play with my family and friends or even with myself. Even if I can't get my hands on it, its still cool to see, I love it!

[@NathanHockridge]

I’ve got something in the works! In the final few stages now

[@minecraftcat4623]

Leshy would be thrilled

[@timeolgs]

so nice i would love to play this in a dark room

[@jenesdude]

Astonishing work 🤩

[@Caffi_UK]

Damn the sheer effort here….

[@zooted4lyfe]

All we are missing is the stoat becoming a TV who plays strategically (Ooh, foreshadowing)

[@ResidentOrigin]

oh wow. this looks amazing!

[@ixams]

So gorgeous I could cry

[@Envy_May]

oh this is gorgeous wtf

[@lucasnievas4890]

This version looks absolutely Gorgeous. The attention to detail is incredible.

[@BeratCapoglu]

Now this is seriously dope

[@wiiblewobble]

Absolutely gorgeous

[@luowastaken_]

that is actually so sick

[@jocosesonata]

This is honestly the most practical version of an IRL Inscryption game. I hope you get in touch with the dev to try and get this out as an actual game. It would be really cool.

[@NathanHockridge]

Actually just got in touch with him recently! Working out some logistics now 😉

[@jocosesonata]

@@NathanHockridge That's great news! Hopefully this takes off, cause you've made a really good IRL version of Inscryption. Like I said, it's the most practical looking one I've seen so far. It's sleek and simple, as in it doesn't seem too complicated to mass produce, Like I could see this on a shelf in a toy store. Well, good luck on your endeavor! Looking forward to it.

[@NathanHockridge]

@@jocosesonata thank you, don’t expect a full commercial scale set. There’s a few things stopping that. But it’ll likely be available in small batch runs.

[@jocosesonata]

@@NathanHockridge Fair enough, I suppose. Still, it'd be neat regardless. My only request is a video of this being played out, just to see it in action.

[@NathanHockridge]

@@jocosesonata just released the set for sale! www.crypticcrafter.com/

[@Fangria]

i think inscryption as a ttrpg format would fit the feel of act 1 a lot

[@AmberAngelle]

this is the coolest thing i've seen in my life

[@codenamexelda]

No matter how good this is, were never gonna get a tutoriel as to how it was made.

[@xXqueenOFheartsXx]

So cool!! I made my own version to propose to my partner last year but had no idea how to do custom cards.

[@NathanHockridge]

Definitely checkout my rulebook for the details! But a blank card and a card sleeve is the way to go in my opinion!

[@ghiplet]

I think that's the perfect moment to say one very important thing SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY

[@ghiplet]

A yeah.... To late

[@Chaotic_Soul_]

*insert that one meme of the guy slamming his credit card on the table*

[@ramengirl2047]

bro that's amazing

[@barthvader4316]

If you started making these I’ll would buy them the instant they came out, this is some impressive shit. It looks very well made, you should make a guide on how to make them

[@NathanHockridge]

Just launched them! www.crypticcrafter.com/

[@The_SUR]

@@NathanHockridge YOOO this looks SICK. Super excited to see what comes of it. Can't wait for the experienced player guide to come out.

[@ghoulbuster1]

Beautiful!

[@3NastoK9]

As others have mentioned, I'd love to see a diy guide to make this (though, granted, unless you documented the process I'm not sure how feasible that is), as well as the rules pdf. Wonderful work.

[@NathanHockridge]

Just added the rules PDF and other files to the description!

[@AidanClutter]

@@NathanHockridgethe site were you said u got the card doesn’t exist apparently/anymore, I can’t find it.

[@NathanHockridge]

@@AidanClutterthe cards were generated here: generator.cards still seems to work!

[@AidanClutter]

@@NathanHockridge thank you! Wen I searched up card.Generator it said it not found, then when I searched for it it showed credit card generators.

[@jabl7548]

Buying today

[@melgamon]

depending on how hard it is to make, I would definitely consider buying it if it was for sale!

[@willropa4226]

Only addition to this might be attack tokens (Like the health tokens) to account for cards that can manipulate attack strength, like Ants, Tentacles, Ouroboros, Alpha, Stinkbug, and Skunk. Otherwise, it's perfect!

[@NathanHockridge]

I'll definitely have to experiment with that more, so far I've found that the attack strength is actually quite easy to calculate on the fly (eg count how many ants are on the board) so it almost feels like adding a third token type is just another physical thing to pick up and remove every turn. Only exception is the Ouroboros, which I don't play with for this exact reason, as I have no way to track it. I think I'll have to do some play testing with tokens to see if it helps out or just makes it more of a chore to place down every turn.

[@willropa4226]

​@@NathanHockridge You do you bossman, just my weigh in on what could be added, it'd save some time instead of having to account for every criteria of every card. If not tokens, then using dice can solve it. D6s for everything and a D100 for Ouroboros itself because that's how we all played Ouroboros when we learned of how broken it can be 😆.

[@Mjgaming54321]

imagine trying to play this and your opponent just pulls out a 100/100 Ouroboros on turn 1. when questioned about it your opponent’s only explanation is just “I did a little bit of prematch preparation”

[@Mjgaming54321]

Also it looks very good

[@egg3255]

how beautiful

[@rojakishibe7113]

So cool!!

[@cherry414]

I-IT'S BEAUTIFUL

[@vega-mk5eh]

I wish i could but this it looks amazing

[@rubenssilveira5765]

this is so underrated

[@Tenhii]

i would buy this instantly

[@NathanHockridge]

Just made it available for sale! www.crypticcrafter.com/

[@KaibaKid_]

I think a cool alternative to the magnetic scale would be to add a curve to the bottom of the scale and have the tooth act as a weight, so the more damage you take, the closer your side gets to the table. Still, that's a great solution for the scales, as that'd be the biggest issue to solve!

[@TheAwkwardSeven]

THIS IS SO COOL WOW

[@Makushiimu]

Your work is INSANE. This is beautiful, well done mate ! Would love to know where you found the cards artworks in HQ ? Thanks !

[@NathanHockridge]

Thank you! I used the website generator.cards for most of them!

[@OlleWtn]

Woah I want to watch a game like this with a map

[@luanmagioli]

could you record an entire session? I would love to watch someone playing with this awesome setup!!!

[@Uhhhrandomna]

If you put out a tutorial or guide on how to make this (or just sold it for like $500 ) that would be amazing

[@NathanHockridge]

There’s probably some legal issues with me actually selling anything. But I could do a more detailed breakdown of how I did everything 👍

[@NathanHockridge]

Just added the rules PDF and other files to the description!

[@Uhhhrandomna]

I’d love a detailed breakdown! As for legal, being a commission, I’d doubt there’d be. I could tweet Daniel to confirm XD But man I love it. People at the riot office would have a blast

[@NathanHockridge]

@@Uhhhrandomnaha! Feel free to confirm and let me know, maybe we could work something out

[@Uhhhrandomna]

@@NathanHockridge I will!!

[@jeffystreet]

This is just perfect... But what about the version of Inscryption we see in act 2? Energy, Mox, Bones and Blood together. Every adaptation I've seen to real life is based on act 1, which is great! But realistically since act 2 would be the "original" state of the game.. I'd probably use that as the base.

[@NathanHockridge]

I personally felt that Act 1 was the most engaging and had the most replay value. Along with having my favourite asthetics. Also I found the IRL game was already complicated enough for new players, so the extra complexity of energy, mox and bones would be a bit overwhelming.

[@jeffystreet]

@@NathanHockridge True, that does make sense. Though if I had to teach someone how it all works, I'd probably have them choose one of the 4 initially, then work them through the rest one at a time. Sorta like how at first you only use blood, then bones in act 1 after you die once. Then later you understand energy and mox in act 2.

[@nothingbutvibes6747]

I believe somebody is using this exact video on Etsy for a product

[@NathanHockridge]

UPDATE: I am selling these myself now at www.crypticcrafter.com/ Wow, just found it. Thanks for letting me know, I appreciate it. For anyone else reading, While the files are available for use, my images / video are not. And I cant imagine they would be a very accurate representation of their product

[@andrewmroch1920]

All there is now is to wait for the lady to gun him down

[@angeldp2309]

Beautyfull...i want this soo bad

[@arzelleblanc9557]

It's magistral

[@aneanderthalscout37]

Man I would definitely buy this, although I'm not sure who I'd play it with hahaha

[@mawillix2018]

Mainly interested in the rules, but great quality on the rest.

[@NathanHockridge]

Just added the rules PDF and other files to the description!

[@judahmoar2533]

Would you make a video showing how 2 player inscription would work?

[@Riishu_]

Hi, this look amazing! I've a question, what size of cards do you used for printing them bc when I tried the cards were always crop.

[@NathanHockridge]

I printed at US Game Cards size which is 2.2"×3.43" (56×87mm). Making sure I had a generous extra border around the cards to avoid any cropping / cutting problems

[@Widarzad]

ok but THIS COSTS LIKE AN OLED SWITCH ITS INSANELY EXPENSIVE

[@wantedshadow5932]

Wow! You've done an amazing job! If I may ask a couple questions regarding the rule book: in the "3-card double pick" setup, should you you mesh the 2 copies of each card into a shared deck and draw those initial 20 cards from that shared deck? Isn't the intent of printing 2 copies of each card to give an equal chance to each player to draw those cards? Or is there no issue in a player drawing duplicate cards (neglecting that card to the other player)? Genuinely curious about the impact of this in the game and would love to hear your opinion on this. Again, amazing job on this real life adaptation of Inscryption! I'm mind blown.

[@NathanHockridge]

Thank you! Honestly, I didn't put that much thought into it. I just felt like 1 of each card didn't seem like enough cards. You're right though, occasionally people will pick a duplicate card, either because it's a great card, or becasue they don't want the other player to get it. I've only ever played with the duplicates all mixed in, and I haven't ever really felt like it was unfair or particularily bad if someone had a duplicate. That being said, I'll definitely have to experiment with taking out the duplicates and seeing if that has an effect on how it plays! Thanks for pointing it out. I'll update you if I find anything worth mentioning!

[@wantedshadow5932]

@@NathanHockridge Thanks for the reply! I'll be looking forward to that updated insight :) I will, in time, try to print everything out and try to recreate this IRL board (in a much less refined version than yours of course) and if I also find out anything useful regarding this, I'll be sure to post it here.

[@Biker_Gaming]

Fuck everything, because I fucking know I won’t get my hands on this ever.

[@cm7522]

Neat.

[@locked3178]

TAKE MY MONEY! I need it!!!

[@THVLPLYR]

the play mat could be later used as a mousepad XD

[@ahmetbulutguner1198]

coolest shit ever

[@trinitywendt-xq9vs]

Did you make the box? I would love a tutorial!! Ive been wanting to make my own inscryption irl game to play with my sisters. This is amazing!!

[@NathanHockridge]

Found the box at a local vintage store! Slowly working on a tutorial video too :)

[@trinitywendt-xq9vs]

Nice find!! And eeee bettt😍❤️ I'll be the first to watch it😊if you have any tips for making the game irl I would love and appreciate to hear them!!

[@alixx_legenddark_xx2819]

How did you make the cards? What material are they made out of?

[@AidanClutter]

How did you make the back of the cards different? I am trying to make the cards have organized backs like yours, but I can’t figure out high

[@NathanHockridge]

I manually designed them using some of the game assets in photoshop 👍

[@AidanClutter]

@@NathanHockridge that is painful. Is there a way you could upload the photoshoped card backs to the google drive so we can use them?

[@petarh.6998]

One question, since it says that all the cards were created by the card generator and that you made some balancing changed in the document, have you changed any of the stats of the cards? Also, what specific backs were used for misc, swap and item cards?

[@NathanHockridge]

Good question! I didn’t change any stats of any card. Just adjustments of how the game is played. I also don’t use the grizzly, great white, and mothman cards as they were too powerful. And no ouroboros, too complicated to keep track of its stats. The backs I used for those extra cards was the “death” back found on cards generator. All of them use that same back design, so when they get mixed up I just have to remember where they’re supposed to be. If I was printing it again from scratch I’d design a slightly different back design for each category to make it easier. Probably just swap out the skull in the middle for a different symbol

[@petarh.6998]

@@NathanHockridge Alright, thanks! Also, one last thing, which mat format/size did you pick on the board game maker website?

[@NathanHockridge]

@@petarh.6998 they play mat I got made from a local company which is unfortunately out of business now. But it was 60cm x 35cm

[@gulayalakel4925]

leshy whoud be proud

[@jacksonnutt2087]

Hey, I’m curious how you got the image of the Act 1 board from a top down view. Please let me know.

[@NathanHockridge]

A lot of photoshopping! Warping and scaling screenshots to get them to be the right perspective and relighting them haha Since then I’ve found some of the game files and put together a version using the real assets instead of just screenshots. There’s a google drive link in the description with a copy of this play mat file

[@jacksonnutt2087]

@@NathanHockridge Well, can’t wait to learn how to use photoshop. Thank you!

[@jacksonnutt2087]

​@@NathanHockridge After numerous attempts, I've yet to achieve a scaled image that truly satisfies me. Could you do me the immense favor of sharing that image with me? I wholeheartedly pledge to safeguard its confidentiality if you decide to share it with me. Your consideration would be greatly appreciated.

[@NathanHockridge]

@@jacksonnutt2087 yep! As I mentioned before, there’s a google drive link in the description of this video which has the image in it! Great that you tried, always good to learn new skills 🙂

[@jacksonnutt2087]

@@NathanHockridgeI’m most certainly dumb (: thank you so much

[@slamduncan6685]

What card size did you use on board games maker? I am using vladdes files for the images and the cards keep getting cut off in their preview

[@NathanHockridge]

I used the 2.2"×3.43" (56×87mm) US game cards

[@slamduncan6685]

@@NathanHockridge thanks! I already ordered mine but maybe you could add it to the description for another person

[@scrybe_of_technology]

the health system is pretty clever, I’m not gonna nitpick anything because it seems like you spent a lot of time on this

[@raynebridgemen7331]

I need it

[@Reginald_Ritmo]

Inscryption fans on their way to build an entire board game:

[@8edhead]

if you make these for purchase soon, i'd love to be able to buy just the linear scale!! i've made our own inscryption set for my boyfriend and i'd love to be able to get him one :)

[@NathanHockridge]

That’s part of the plan! I’ll let you know :)

[@NathanHockridge]

Just made the scale available for purchase! www.crypticcrafter.com/shop/p/wooden-scale-magnetic

[@8edhead]

@@NathanHockridge hell yeah!! just preordered, thank you so much ^^

[@NathanHockridge]

@@8edhead amazing! Thank you so much :)

[@frogus5548]

when restock??

[@andreagrennan4800]

I'll take your entire stock

[@YelpyBeastMode]

Were can you get this

[@goosegooserton690]

Is there anyway you could make a video on how you made the health scale?

[@NathanHockridge]

Currently working on a few videos!

[@_MAREX_]

@@NathanHockridge So where are these vids:(?

[@NathanHockridge]

@@_MAREX_ life gets in the way! So it’s been slow progress. Can’t give you a timeframe unfortunately

[@_MAREX_]

@@NathanHockridge Oh😕, okay🙁...

[@shadekage3432]

Also, I know it may be a bit late to say this but The Stoat cards icon isnt correct, the PO3 stoat, and normal stoat have different icons, as seen in Kaceys mod

[@NathanHockridge]

Good spot! Although all the cards I’m using are actually from act 1, not Kaycee’s mod.

[@shadekage3432]

@@NathanHockridge Yea I guessed as much, and I knew i spelt Kacyee wrong the first time lol, i just didnt bother to check

[@GemJamZ]

Um. Yes. I want it.

[@williamgrendel9814]

A how to would be so appreciated