Inkwell, designed by Jasper Beatrix, Lewis Graye, and Joey Palluconi, and published by DVC Games, is a beautiful object. There are a handful of games centered around illuminated manuscripts, an aesthetic for which I will always be a sucker, and this is far and away the most pleasing. The title, in gold foil over a detailed illumination, is a feast for the eyes. The components in the box are no less filling, though I wish I could extend the compliment beyond the aesthetics. Inkwell is, I think, three games all at once, and it doesn’t quite succeed as any of them.

The most obvious reference point, the one I’ve seen repeated the most in BGG reviews and on social media, is Azul. While I understand the point of comparison, the games don’t really have much in common at all. You choose your bits from a public central board and put them in matching slots within your own private sphere, but that’s about it. The specifics are so different that they undermine any meaningful commonality. You could describe the games as similar, but you’d be doing both Inkwell and Azul a disservice.

When choosing ink from an inkwell, you take all the cubes, regardless of color, and add them to accommodating spots on your board. Your choices change what’s…

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