INKWAVE

INKWAVE is a third-person ink shooter where the ground is your team's territory, your route forward, and your refill station. Spray your color across a harbor arena, turn into a squid to move through friendly ink, and keep reclaiming space as the opposing team paints over it. You can play Turf War with bots or take an eight-member squad into the Public Beta Boss Battle.

Win ground in Turf War

Turf War puts two teams of four on the same map. When the timer ends, the team covering more ground wins. Shooting opponents can interrupt their advance, but painting the arena is the objective that decides the result.

The tested build offers 90-second and three-minute rounds, with three stages listed: Tidewater Plaza, Kelpline Terminal, and Halyard Marina. Tidewater Plaza mixes open lanes with ramps, crates, and low walls. A route that looks safely covered can become contested again before the final countdown, so watching the changing ink matters throughout the round.

Being splatted sends you back to spawn rather than ending the match. After the final coverage comparison, the results screen shows individual contributions and awards XP. A Rematch option lets you start another round.

Shoot, refill, and return to the fight

Firing uses your ink tank. Hold Shift while standing in your team's ink to become a squid and refill, then return to shooting. This creates a steady rhythm: paint a route, use it to recover, and push into another patch of unpainted or enemy-colored ground.

The Spritzer is a rapid-fire weapon with a Splat Bomb and the Tidal Slam special. The bomb consumes a large part of the tank, making a nearby patch of friendly ink useful after a throw. Painting also builds the special gauge; when it is ready, Tidal Slam launches a leap and an ink shockwave. Seven weapons appear in the loadout menu, each with a sub weapon and special; the playtest used the Spritzer kit.

Face HULLBREAKER in Boss Battle

Boss Battle changes the goal from territory control to bringing down HULLBREAKER before time runs out. The giant crab carries a shipping container, spreads hostile ink, and displays attack warnings such as Slam, Sweep, and Charge. Everyone on your eight-member squad shares the same side; the solo test filled the remaining places with bots.

Its health bar has phase markers, and the fight eventually reaches an Enraged stage. Keeping a usable patch of friendly ink still matters because you need to refill between attacks. Watch the warning labels while moving and firing, rather than focusing only on the health bar.

This mode is marked Public Beta. In the tested three-minute match on Kelpline Terminal, the squad reached the Enraged stage but ran out of time with HULLBREAKER at 28% health. The defeat screen recorded its escape and offered a rematch.

Getting started

Start by aiming at the ground ahead to make a connected route of your own color. Refill when the low-ink warning appears, and check your tank before throwing a bomb. During Turf War, covering nearby enemy ink can contribute even when you are not winning direct fights. Match results include turf XP, so a defeat can still advance your level.

For more games built around movement and combat, browse the Action games category.