Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts Review

Premise

Simulation game Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts offers a cozy, relaxing illuminated manuscript workshop where we can use various tools and a wide range of drag-and-drop artworks to create illustrations in a medieval style.

Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts has two game modes: Story and Sandbox. In Story Mode, we create our own characters and take commissions from prestigious patrons in a kingdom full of intrigue and gossip. Our tasks range from illustrating battles and romances to decorating love letters and blackmail notes, designing maps and invitations, and creating some very bizarre and niche artworks. How we create our commissions will affect the story. In Sandbox mode, we have a blank canvas and the entire library of medieval elements, all unlocked and ready to use. We have no clients and no commissions, just pure creativity.

The artwork will be somewhat familiar if you’ve played the developer’s other game, Inkulinati, a turn-based strategy game inspired by medieval manuscripts. It’s medieval-inspired, but modernly cheeky. The game has a rich library of over 1000 pictures, based on real medieval art – from beasts and bugs, to princes and paupers, faces and other body parts, clothing, expressions, fauna, buildings, and decorative elements. We can add text, using medieval fonts, adorned with ornate uppercase letters, and export and save any artwork we make. The export option means that Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts easily transcends its gaming origins and is, in fact, a medieval-themed design tool. You can create letters, invitations, illustrated quotes, stickers, coloring pages, desktop wallpapers, fantasy maps, handouts for tabletop RPG games, and so on.

The creative options are wide – we have different colors, we can combine, rotate, and merge elements to create new artwork. And while what’s happening on the canvas is cartoonish in the best illuminated-manuscript way, the rest of the workspace is almost photorealistic. That way, the game feels truly immersive – you are in your manuscript studio, creating illustrations. One thing I didn’t see, but wish there were an option for, is that if I create something unique by merging and rotating elements, I can save it and reuse it in another artwork instead of just recreating it again and again.

We also have some elements of RPG- we start the Story mode of the game by creating our character. The options aren’t as many as in other games, but still more than enough, and in a way that easily sets the tone for the rest of the game. We can choose from six “personalities” – backstories, choose our skin color, name, and some clothes and accessories. Our character is positioned in the style of a classic medieval painting. In Story mode, the commissions we will be fulfilling will earn us money, which we can use to upgrade and beautify our scriptorium- our studio.

Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts has a well-matched medieval-inspired soundtrack. The game has basic audio and video settings. Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts has Steam achievements and Trading cards. There’s also a demo available on its Steam page.

Conclusion

Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts might be a bit of a niche game, but if you are in the mood for humor and creativity and you are in a medieval mood, Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts might just be the game for you.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot

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