Muhit Rahman lives off two things: gaming marathons and endless cups of tea. He writes guides, reviews, and occasionally forgets that real life doesn’t come with checkpoints. His favorite genres are Soulslike and Metroidvania, with Dark Souls III, Hollow Knight, and Dota 2 forever holding top spots on his all-time list.
Welcome to our beginner tips and tricks for Inkshade, a turn-based tactical strategy game where puzzles are just as important as your battle plan. Developed and published by Studio Vezelle, the game puts you in command of an army of wooden miniatures on a hex-grid board.
The early hours of Inkshade can be pretty unforgiving, especially when you’re new to the genre. To help you find your footing, here are 7 essential tips and tricks to guide you through your first runs.
For more information about Inkshade, check out their official website here.
Table of contents
Fail Runs Are Important
Inkshade isn’t the kind of game where you’ll roll over every battle on your first try. On the contrary, the game expects you to stumble, learn, and come back stronger. While the Wretches (troops) you pick up during a run don’t carry over, the Scrips (gold) you earn do. You can spend the Scrips you earned on your run to permanently upgrade your troops to make them more effective on the future runs. These upgrades also apply to the new troops you get during your run.
Save Your Scrips Early
On that same note, it’s not always worth spending Scrips on temporary, in-run upgrades when you know you’re not prepared for the boss. In the early game, it’s smarter to save your Scrip and invest it later in permanent troop upgrades. Even a single point boost to attack or health can turn a weak unit into a powerful piece in your army.
Choosing the Right Path
Not every node you encounter in a run will lead to combat. Some paths offer temporary troop upgrades, story moments from the Game Master, opportunities to trade troops, or other surprises. Having a strategy in mind before choosing your route can make a huge difference.
Battles are useful because they reward you with an extra unit for your squad, while treasure nodes provide a stash of Scrips for later upgrades. Think ahead about what your current run needs most and plan accordingly. Once you’ve mapped out your ideal path, try to stick with it. Consistency pays off more than chasing every shiny option you see along the way.
Upgrade Key Units
Scrips are scarce in Inkshade and while you can find some for free while exploring the mansion, you’ll still want to use them wisely. When you land a solid haul, resist the urge to spread upgrades across every new troop you unlock. Instead, focus on your key characters that consistently fit your playstyle and strategy. As you progress, you’ll unlock many new units, but it’s always better to have a few well-upgraded troops than a wide roster of underpowered ones.
Invest in Deployment Tiles
At the start of Inkshade, you can only place three units on the board. Meanwhile, the enemy has no such restriction, which puts you at a major disadvantage early on. One of the best long-term upgrades to balance this out is Deployment Tiles. You’ll find this option in the fourth tab of the Parlour, where you manage troop upgrades.
While this upgrade is expensive, investing in Deployment Tiles pays off in the long run. At maximum level, you can deploy up to six units at once, doubling your initial capacity. This makes your runs far more stable and gives you room to experiment with different strategies without feeling outnumbered all the time.
Look Out for New Troops
The mansion is full of puzzles and secrets, and every time you unlock a new zone, you should take the time to explore it thoroughly. Many of the strongest troops in the game are hidden behind tricky puzzles, along with extra Scrips to help upgrade your pieces.
More often than not, the solution to these puzzles comes from looking at things from a new perspective rather than brute-forcing it. Every troop you uncover this way gives you more options in battle and makes your army stronger for the long run.
Think About Your Starter Units
At the beginning of each run, you’ll be able to select a few units to take with you. These starting choices should always reflect your overall strategy. A balanced team usually works best, with at least one tank to soak up damage, a ranged unit for consistent hits from afar, and a high mobility unit to cover long distances.
That said, balance isn’t always the only answer. Your options will depend on what troops you’ve unlocked and how you prefer to play. Some might want to lean into heavy offense with multiple damage dealers, while others might prefer a more defensive approach with all high HP units. Experiment with different combinations, but always make sure your core units set you up for the kind of run you want to go with.
Inkshade is a game that rewards patience, strategy, and willingness to learn from your mistakes. With these tips in mind, experiment with your troop combinations and don’t be afraid to take risks. Every failed run will teach you something new and get you one step closer to mastering your miniature wooden army.
For more interesting articles related to indie games, check out the following links.
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- Tiny Bookshop: 8 Beginner Tips & Tricks
- Discounty Walkthrough
- OFF (2025) Complete Walkthrough & Guides
- Lost Twins 2 Review
Muhit Rahman lives off two things: gaming marathons and endless cups of tea. He writes guides, reviews, and occasionally forgets that real life doesn’t come with checkpoints. His favorite genres are Soulslike and Metroidvania, with Dark Souls III, Hollow Knight, and Dota 2 forever holding top spots on his all-time list.
