INKtentions Card Game Review

INKtentions

WBG Score: 8

Player Count: 2-4

You’ll like this if you like: Action Queue games with an Octopus theme

Published by: MaKa Games, LLC

Designed by: Matthew Kambic

This is a review copy. See our review policy here

Eight arms, zero trust

INKtentions wastes no time telling you what kind of game it is. This is bluffing, pure and simple, wrapped in a playful ocean theme and delivered at a pace that keeps everyone leaning forward. You are not here to optimise quietly. You are here to mislead, second-guess, and occasionally ruin someone’s round with a perfectly timed shark. It feels light, but there is just enough bite in the decisions to keep it interesting.

Quick, colourful, and slightly chaotic

There is an immediate charm to INKtentions. The theme is fun and works perfectly with the mechanics. The idea of octopuses outmanoeuvring each other for food lands instantly. More importantly, the game signals its tone early. This is not a serious, heads-down strategy experience. It is interactive, a little unpredictable, and designed to create moments where everyone reacts at once.

Setup: familiar with a twist

Setup is refreshingly straightforward. Each player gets the same deck of eight cards in the colour of their choice, representing their “arms”, and you will play seven of them each round. Food tiles are laid out into separate scoring piles, each with its own scoring rules. Depending on player count, each pile has a cap on how many cards can be played to it. These are placed around the five Arm Head cards.

There is a small amount of variety introduced through food types and the Octobility tiles. Take five food types from the seven available, or four for a two player game. Place one Minnow tile under each pile of tiles. Take one Octobility tile per player. Within a few minutes, you are ready to go. It is the kind of setup you can explain the rules while doing it, which always helps get a game moving quickly.

How to play: simple actions, sneaky outcomes

On your turn, you play one card. Cards are placed as an extension of one of the Octopus's arms, building out from each food pile. That is it. The twist is that most cards are placed face down next to a food pile, meaning nobody knows exactly what is building there until the end of the round.

Over the course of the round, players are quietly shaping multiple piles at once. You might be genuinely chasing a food type, or you might be baiting others into overcommitting. Some cards help you score, like hunt cards. Others disrupt, like sharks removing nearby hunts. A few add tactical spice, such as punch cards that move cards around.

Once everyone has played their cards, the reveal happens. Cards are flipped and resolved in order. This is where the game shines. Plans succeed, backfire, or collapse entirely in a way that feels dramatic but still understandable. Any Hunts not next to Sharks gain the player that placed that card one Food tile from that row. Any Sharks present next to any Hunts, it could be your own, remove those Hunt cards for the round. And cards could have moved about during the round with Punch cards and various Octobility cards affecting the layout and card placement. So the above may turn to something like the below.

You can see there was a lot of successful hunting in the row running horizontally to the right of the Octopus, but in the row running down the Sharks reigned supreme. But the Hide & Hunt card is immune to Sharks, so it gains one food token.

The game continues until a Minnow tile is revealed. Play one final round, and then players total their food based on a variety of scoring systems. Some reward sets like the Krill and the Lobster. Some depend on what everyone else collected like the Shellfish. Each bring their own unique scoring mechanic. It keeps priorities shifting throughout the game and each game feeling a little differnet to the last.

Where it works: tension in every tiny decision

The best thing INKtentions does is make small decisions feel meaningful. You are constantly asking yourself whether to commit, bluff, or interfere. Even placing a single card can swing a pile from safe to disastrous. For all players!

Everyone has access to the same tools, which means the game is less about luck of the draw and more about how you use what you have. Reading the table becomes just as important as playing your own cards.

There is also a nice rhythm to it. Turns are quick, reveals are exciting, and rounds reset cleanly. It keeps the energy high without overstaying its welcome.

Where it creaks: chaos cuts both ways

The same hidden information that makes the game fun can also make it feel swingy. Sometimes your plan falls apart not because you misplayed, but because someone else made a move you could not reasonably predict. You need to find those moments funny and entertaining. Not annoying.

There is also limited long-term planning. You can aim for certain food types, but the evolving board state means you are often reacting rather than executing a clear strategy. For some players, that is the appeal. For others, it may feel a bit too loose.

Who should play it

This is ideal for groups that enjoy interaction, bluffing, and a bit of playful conflict. It works best at three or four players, where the mind games have room to develop.

It is less suited to players who prefer control, deep planning, or minimal randomness. If you want to map out a perfect strategy five turns ahead, this is not that game.

It's worth noting that this is the base game. The expansion takes out one SHARK card and adds one EEL and one INK. The EEL only targets HIDE & HUNT; so nothing is safe. The HUNT are safe to EEL and still vulnerable to SHARKS. The INK upgrades any touching HUNT into a HIDE & HUNT. Therefore, it becomes more complex! The designer explained that is why it is not included in the base game. 

Pros

• Fast, interactive gameplay with constant engagement

• Identical deck keeps things fair and skill-focused.

• Varied scoring adds interesting decisions each round

  
  

Cons

• Can feel unpredictable or swingy at times

• Limited ability to plan long-term strategies

• Some outcomes depend heavily on opponents’ hidden plays

  
  

Final word

INKtentions succeeds by knowing exactly what it is. It is not trying to be the deepest game on your shelf. It is trying to create moments, laughs, and just enough tension to keep everyone guessing. And it does that well. You will bluff, you will get caught out, and you will immediately want another round to prove you saw it coming all along. Turns out, eight arms are great for chaos, but not so great for keeping secrets under wraps.