Meta on Meta on Meta, What is Inscryption Trying to Say?
As one of the Game of the Year candidates last year, Inscryption is definitely the weirdest game on the list. It is an escape room, card game, and collection game all-in-one with a fake youtuber, Luke Carder, collecting secret cards which enravel the youtuber in a “real” world conspiracy. There are a lot of hidden secrets and information you have to collect from the world in order to navigate the three acts of Inscryption.
In this entry, I want to talk about the use of meta-narratives to express truths about the world and how cryptic language is used to guide people to truth albeit slowly. Symbolic language can guide people past abusive relationships and build slow paths toward escape. Literal Truth is one kind of truth but is often manufactured, but symbolism can lead to truths which drive people deeper than literal truth and is a tool of resistance against oppression and truth-telling. Whether it is through fake eyes and hidden sigils or cut clips to a Youtuber opening Inscryption cards, symbols can help us see past what is touted as real.
Screenshot taken from my PS5. I found a box of creepy eyes to read the sigils.
Secret Messages and Solving Puzzles
How do we tell people something is wrong if we cannot say what is wrong because of an overlord with immense power?
Here’s the AI overlord from Act 3, creepy robot…
Plenty of people have to deal with abusive relationships and tyrannical rule. To highlight what is happening, in each Act, you have an overlord who is imprisoning you and you have to escape through playing through several bosses and eventually face off against the Overlord. Pictured above is the robot overlord in Act 3. Throughout the game, you have symbols to look in specific places to get specific encounters (either through talking cards or connecting with other characters) which help you advance to be ready to escape. Talking to find one specific weakness you can exploit in specific circumstances is what allows you to escape in each Act. For example, to advance in Act 1, you have to complete a run-through and then steal the Overlord’s camera to end the Act and advance to Act 2.
In high pressure political situations, there is often one shot to make major change and pressure happen. This is where end-to-end encrypted messaging and email has been vital for people to communicate plans for mass protests and union building efforts. Communication is challenging because timing is vital to have the best effect for the common good. Too early and there isn’t enough grassroots support to overcome the resistance tyrannical organizations will put forth to keep the status quo, too late and exploitable weaknesses get corrected. In Inscryption, the Overlord gets angry progressively as you gain more pieces to solve the puzzle as well, especially in act 1 as you get more of the talking cards in your starting deck.
The rest of this article will contain spoilers for Inscryption endgame.
No one can know about these cards or anything about this game.
Conspiracy in Inscryption
Purging information is a sad part of the ending of Inscryption as the card game itself in all of its acts is rather fascinating. The random clips of Luke Carder collecting Inscryption cards are found as you progress through the story. Carder collects these cards at garage sales as they are no longer in retail stores. He opens them via Youtube. Over time he starts to get strange emails and door knocks as he learns more about Inscryption. Carder eventually uncovers a murder for one of the game’s creators, Kaycee Hobbes and is approached by the game company and a mysterious woman asking for the disk he is creating of the Inscryption game back. As he unravels more of the mystery, Carder is executed in his home by an agent seemingly working for the game company, but that is not fully revealed.
The price of truth sadly can be death if people are revealing large secrets. No matter how good you speak in code, one misstep can be fatal.
The key lesson from Inscryption is that major organizations often go to great lengths to preserve their own narrative and reputation. Uncovering truth is not for the faint of heart, but there is a certain rush which comes from advancing knowledge. As society becomes more centralized and societies find ways to tie cultural narratives to people’s wellbeing through digital currency, we will have to know how to share truth. Inscryption shows a great example of how to speak through escape room codes to get people to realize something other than what they are told. Inscryption also shows the consequences of fighting for truth. At the end of the day, for me I stand against empire and want to search for what is deeper. If this resonates with you, I want you to join my community and let’s work together to make positive change for our world.
