Inkblot: The Art Restorer
A living ink blot stole the figures from 128 paintings. The museum opens in seven hours.
A painterly puzzle about restoring masterpieces. A living ink blot has stolen the figures from 128 famous paintings and heaped their shadows on your workbench. Untangle the overlapping silhouettes, paint each one whole and send it home before the museum opens.
What is Inkblot: The Art Restorer
Three in the morning in the restorer’s workshop of the Nocturne Gallery. An inkwell nobody has opened for a hundred years starts to tremble, and a living blot of ink crawls out. It goes through every hall spitting at the canvases: the figures drown in ink, and their shadows slide off the paintings and land in a tangled heap on your workbench.
The silhouettes lie on top of one another and cut each other into dozens of pieces. Pick a paint and colour every piece of one figure, including the parts other figures cover. Once a figure is whole in a single colour used nowhere else, it lifts off the bench and flies back into the painting.
Seven hours until the museum opens. Every shadow has to be recognised and returned to its frame.
Inkblot grew out of a simple idea: the silhouette of a figure from a famous painting can be recognised by its outline alone, if you look closely. The catch is that the shadows on the bench lie in a heap. One character’s arm runs through another’s cloak, a hat cuts through someone’s skirt, and every figure falls apart into dozens of pieces. You have to paint every piece of one figure, even those hidden under its neighbours.
The paintings are real — from van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait to Repin’s Barge Haulers on the Volga and The Creation of Adam. Each one comes with a short story: who is in it, why it is famous and what people usually miss. Read it and you earn a free hint.
Every hall adds a trick of its own. Shadows can be mirrored or upside down, the palette can be meagre, the lamp lights only where your hand is, and in the later halls the silhouettes are wrapped around a turntable, a carousel and a spinning top. There are no penalties and no countdown: this is a game for a quiet evening.
Inkblot: The Art Restorer key features
Read the outlines
The whole puzzle is recognising a figure by its silhouette: whose arm is this, whose hat, whose skirt? The shadows overlap and cut their neighbours into pieces.
Paint a shadow whole
A figure painted in a single colour used nowhere else flies back into its painting, and the borders it drew through its neighbours disappear.
A museum of real masterpieces
128 famous paintings, from van Eyck and Caravaggio to Repin, Degas and Van Gogh. Each comes with a short story, and reading it earns a free hint.
Diptychs and triptychs
111 levels in 17 halls, from a quiet entrance hall to the Grand Hall. In the later halls the shadows of two or three paintings land on the bench at once.
The blot plays dirty
Every hall has its own trick: mirrored and upside-down shadows, a meagre palette, ink stains, a lamp that lights only the spot under your hand, a turntable and a spinning top.
Made for a quiet evening
No penalties and no rush: the clock only counts. A hand-painted workshop, thick oil paint, gilded frames and hints that show what the figure still lacks.
- 128 famous paintings and a short story about each
- 111 levels in 17 halls, diptychs and triptychs
- A trick of its own in every hall: mirrors, a meagre palette, a lamp, a turntable, a spinning top
- No penalties and no rush, with hints
- Fully in English and Russian
Inkblot: The Art Restorer trailer
Inkblot: The Art Restorer screenshots
Arrows to navigate, Esc to close
Inkblot: The Art Restorer system requirements
Minimum
Recommended
Requirements are the ones listed by the developer on the Steam page and may change before release.
Inkblot: The Art Restorer FAQ
What is Inkblot: The Art Restorer?
A calm logic colouring puzzle. A living ink blot has stolen the figures from 128 famous paintings and heaped their shadows on the restorer’s bench. You untangle the overlapping silhouettes, paint each one whole and send it back into its frame.
When does Inkblot come out?
Soon. The Steam page is already live: wishlist it and the store will notify you on release day and when a discount starts.
How do you play?
Pick a paint and colour every piece of one figure, including the parts covered by other silhouettes. Once a figure is whole in a single colour used nowhere else, it flies back into its painting and the extra borders disappear.
Which paintings are in the game?
128 famous paintings, from van Eyck and Caravaggio to Repin, Degas and Van Gogh — 111 levels in 17 halls. Each painting comes with a short story, and reading it earns you a free hint.
Is it hard?
It starts very simple and ramps up gradually: in the later halls the shadows of two or three paintings share one heap, and the blot adds tricks. There are no penalties, the clock only counts, and hints show what a figure still lacks.
