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Ink & Iron

Created by: Eli Nelson
2 devlogs
6h 34m 50s

Ink & Iron is a TS terminal-based, choice-driven RPG set in a supernatural reimagining of the Song Dynasty. Players take on the role of a time-traveler—a "Ripple in Time"—who arrives in 11th-century China carrying the Dragon Seal, a relic capable …

Ink & Iron is a TS terminal-based, choice-driven RPG set in a supernatural reimagining of the Song Dynasty. Players take on the role of a time-traveler—a “Ripple in Time”—who arrives in 11th-century China carrying the Dragon Seal, a relic capable of binding or releasing ancient spirits.

This project uses AI

Gemini Used for Banner Image.

Demo Repository

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Eli Nelson
Eli Nelson worked on Ink & Iron
2 days ago
3h 46m logged

Devlog #2: The Iron Cloud Opens

The second big commit finally pushed Ink & Iron into Chapter Two.

The story now climbs into the Iron Cloud Monastery, where the mountain gets colder, the rules get stranger, and the player starts to feel the world pushing back. I also got a proper combat system in place, so fights now run on Qi, HP, Yin, and Yang instead of just vibes and hope.

The other big cleanup was structural. I split the game into real scene files for Chapter One and Chapter Two, and moved the shared terminal stuff into a library. That means the typewriter effect, menus, and transitions are finally reusable instead of living in one giant main.ts.

What’s working:

  • Chapter Two is playable
  • Combat is now turn-based and stat-driven
  • Chapter files are split cleanly
  • The monastery atmosphere is landing well

What’s next:

  • Expand the monastery arc
  • Tighten boss combat
  • Make the Dragon Seal matter even more

It’s still rough, but now it feels like a real game instead of a long experiment.

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Eli Nelson
Eli Nelson worked on Ink & Iron
3 days ago
2h 48m logged

Devlog #1: It’s Alive (and 110MB)

I finally hit “Publish” on the first version of Ink & Iron.

It’s a text-based RPG set in a dark, supernatural version of the Song Dynasty. You play a time traveler caught between a humble shopkeeper and a very suspicious monk. I’ve spent the last few hours wrestling with Bun to get the I/O feeling just right—typewriter effects, custom menus, and a stat system that tracks your “Yin” and “Yang” balance.

The highlight of the week: Accidentally trying to push a 110MB Windows binary directly to GitHub. Turns out, bundling the entire Bun runtime makes for a chunky file. GitHub wasn’t a fan.

The fix: I’ve moved the builds to the Releases tab and added a zipping step to my build pipeline to keep those Linux/Mac permissions intact.

What’s working:

  • Act I Narrative: The “Awakening” sequence is fully playable.
  • The Engine: The custom TypeScript/Bun CLI wrapper is solid.
  • The Vibe: Using chalk to make the terminal feel like a shifting, ink-stained world.

What’s next:

Moving into Act II. The player is headed to the Iron Cloud Monastery, which means I need to start building the combat mechanics and refining how the Dragon Seal actually interacts with the world.

It’s unfinished, it’s a bit rough around the edges, but it’s a start.

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