Ink Knight
A knight on an ink rampart fights giant ink creatures, one wave after another, with weapons that fall from the sky.
- Developer
- GAMEFREEX
- Released
- Updated
- Game engine
- HTML5
- Platforms
- Browser (desktop, mobile, tablet), installable app (PWA)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Controls
- Keyboard, Mouse, Touch, Controller
- Multiplayer
- Yes, with friends: score race, up to 4 players
- Offline play
- Yes, once opened or saved with Download games for offline
- Price
- Free, no download, no sign-up
- Arcade23
- Portrait45
- Keyboard33
- Mouse47
- Multiplayer44
Controls
Computer
- Arrow keys, A and D to walk
- Or move the mouse over the game: the knight follows it
Phone or tablet
- Drag left and right: the knight follows your finger
- Let go and he patrols on his own
Controller
- Left stick or D-pad: walk left and right
- Your knight strikes on his own
- Start: pause
Ink Knight: how to play, tips and FAQ
Written by the GAMEFREEX team.
Ink Knight is a vertical shooter drawn like a brush painting: black ink, white paper, a grey castle landscape and nothing else. Your knight stands on a rampart at the bottom of the screen and strikes on his own, several times a second. The only thing you control is where he stands.
Above him floats one creature at a time, and none of them is drawn twice. Each one gets its own body, one to six eyes, ears or horns, arms or wings, a tail, a mouth, and an attack pattern that changes with the wave. The first creature has 125 health, and every wave adds 55. There is no last wave: the run lasts as long as your three hearts do.
- Dodging
- Positioning
- Pattern reading
At a glance
- Hearts
- 3, up to 5
- Creature health
- 125, then 55 more per wave
- Creature beaten
- 1,000 + 200 x wave
- Weapons
- 15, one at a time
- Orbs
- One every 5 to 9 s
- Freex Coins
- 5 per trophy
How to play Ink Knight
- Walk the knight with the Left and Right arrow keys (or A and D), or move the mouse over the game and he follows it. On a phone, drag a finger left and right.
- He attacks without any input. Stand under the creature to hit it, and step aside when its ink comes down.
- Catch the orbs that drift down on the left and right of the screen. A letter means a new weapon for 14 seconds, a picture means a bonus.
- Beat the creature to earn a trophy and 1,000 points plus 200 per wave. The next creature arrives at once.
- Each hit costs one heart and leaves you untouchable for 2 seconds. The run ends when the last heart goes.
Controls, action by action
| Action | Computer | Phone or tablet |
|---|---|---|
| Walk | Left and Right arrows, A and D | Drag left and right |
| Walk to a spot | Move the mouse over the game | Hold a finger there |
| Attack | Automatic | Automatic |
| Pick up an orb | Walk under it | Walk under it |
The 15 weapons
Every run starts with the Arrow: one dart every 0.18 seconds for 4 damage. A weapon orb shows the first letter of its weapon and swaps it in for 14 seconds, then the Arrow comes back. Fan, Star and Bolt spread three to five shots, Barrage and Spiral fire small pellets very fast, Twin fires two parallel shots and Rain throws five drops that arc down again.
Comet and Missiles home in on the creature, so they work from anywhere on the rampart. Spear (11 damage), Slash (a wide crescent) and Chakram pass through the creature instead of stopping on it, and keep hitting while they cross it, which makes them stronger than their numbers suggest.
A-Bomb and H-Bomb fire one slow bomb that explodes at the creature's height. The A-Bomb takes half the creature's health plus 60 and scores 250, the H-Bomb takes 80 percent plus 100 and scores 400, and both erase every ink shot on the screen. Two bombs finish any creature, whatever the wave.
Bonus orbs
Orbs fall every 5 to 9 seconds, alternately on the left and the right of the screen. About 3 in 10 carry a weapon. The others are a heart (one more, up to five), a shield (4 seconds untouchable), a star (500 points), an arrow (nearly double damage for 10 seconds), chevrons (twice the fire rate for 10 seconds), a wavy line (enemy shots at 45 percent speed for 8 seconds) or a bomb (30 percent of the creature's health and no more shots on screen).
Three kinds of orb bring a companion that circles the knight for 24 seconds, up to four at once: a drone that fires its own darts, and a bat or a small shield that catch the ink shots they touch.
How the creatures attack
The attack depends on the wave and comes back every six waves. Wave 1 throws three crescents in a fan, wave 2 a fan of eight blobs (more each time it comes back), wave 3 four needles at random places, wave 4 a wall of ink with one gap, wave 5 three spinning stars along a sweeping arc and wave 6 a single orb aimed at you. A ring of ink around the creature shows each volley as it fires.
The first creature fires about every 1.4 seconds, and each wave takes 0.09 seconds off, down to 0.55 seconds from about wave 11. Its shots get a little faster every wave too. Its body never hurts you, only the ink it fires.
Tips to score higher
- Let go and the knight patrols the rampart on his own. That is fine between attacks, but he walks into shots, so keep steering when the ink is falling.
- The wall of ink balls (waves 4, 10, 16...) always leaves one gap, at a new place every volley. Look for it as soon as the wall appears, not when it reaches you.
- Heart orbs restore one heart, up to five. Picking one up at full health does nothing, so do not leave a weapon orb to chase it.
Common mistakes
- Standing still under the creature. Waves 6, 12 and 18 aim straight at you, and every other attack covers the middle of the screen, so a small step after each volley is safer than a big dash later.
- Letting the knight patrol on his own during an attack. He walks into shots without looking. Steer him, or hold your finger where you want him.
- Running across the screen for a heart at full health. Five is the maximum, so the orb is wasted.
- Chasing every orb. They fall at the sides of the screen while most volleys come down the middle, so take the ones on your way and let a far one go when the ink ring flashes.
Ink Knight FAQ
Does the game ever end?+
Not by itself. Creatures keep coming, each with 55 more health than the last, and they fire faster until wave 11 or so, when they reach one volley every 0.55 seconds. The run ends when you lose your last heart.
How do I earn Freex Coins?+
From your score at the end of the run, like every game, plus 5 Freex Coins for each trophy. Once per run you can watch a short ad to continue with one heart after the last one is gone.
Can I play it with a controller?+
Yes. The left stick or the D-pad walks the knight, and Start pauses. There is no button to press during a run: he attacks on his own.