Enter the survival horror with Ink Ribbon, a tabletop RPG inspired by videogames like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Alan Wake. Make every bullet count as you fight through hordes of zombies and deadly bioweapons to escape a doomed city!
Ink Ribbon is a survival horror tabletop RPG inspired by video games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Alan Wake, and many more. You and a handful of other survivors must fight to escape Sparrow’s Rest, a city in the midwestern United States that has been overrun by the walking dead. The shambling hordes fill the streets, and you’ll need to make every bullet count if you want to live through the night — but there are worse things lurking in Sparrow’s Rest than just zombies.
Enter the survival horror as you try to live through the last days of Sparrow’s Rest…
Ink Ribbon is a tabletop RPG that captures the feel of classic survival horror video games. It puts you in the shoes of everyday people (or a rookie cop having the worst first day in history) as you try to survive a zombie apocalypse caused by a shady pharmaceutical company. You’ll need to manage your inventory, keep an eye on your ammo, search for healing herbs, and face down rotting zombies and terrifying bio-weapons — all while trying to escape a doomed city that is just hours away from being nuked out of existence.
Ink Ribbon takes inspiration from Legacy-style board games and encourages you to play each scenario as a different group of survivors. Play through parallel stories happening over the final hours of Sparrow’s Rest and discover how different groups deal with the outbreak — and who survives. Use the city map to mark what buildings have been explored, when bridges were destroyed or roads collapsed, and where each survivor died. Maybe their corpse has some valuable gear another group can use — that is, if they are really dead…
Old Oak Games firmly believes in human creativity — AI is far more repulsive than any zombie. All of our projects are 100% human made and no generative AI is used in their creation. Human Made icon created by HINOKODO.
Latest from the Creator
Old Oak Games
about 4 hours ago
Designer Blog: What I Love About Ink Ribbon
Hey folks, Emmet here. I’m the designer of Ink Ribbon and founder of Old Oak Games. I created Ink Ribbon to be the survival horror TTRPG I’ve always wanted to play, so today I’m sharing three things I love about Ink Ribbon and that I’m excited to see folks experience. Before I dive in, be sure to check out my chat with Ciarán at FOXOF RPG here, which was the catalyst for this little update! And if you haven’t already, be sure to follow the campaign to get a sneak peek at some lovely new art below! As always, don't forget to join our Discord to chat to other Ink Ribbon fans.
NOTE: Last week we said "Six Weeks to Go!", but it turns out I can't count, and it's actually six weeks this week. Whoops!
Combat is Quick and Deadly
Nothing breaks immersion and kills tension like long, drawn-out fights with convoluted rules — especially in a horror RPG. Combat in Ink Ribbon is quick and brutal. Most enemies and survivors will drop or be in life-threatening peril after just a few hits, and supposedly easy fights can quickly become FUBAR. Combat is swingy in the best kind of way, and it’s fast. We use Zones and abstract ranges (Short, Medium, Long) to define a battlefield, which keeps things fluid and keeps the focus on the narrative instead of counting how many feet you are from someone. Doing this also lets the players and GM affect the world by barring doors, shooting out lights, and kicking over explosive barrels. Combat in Ink Ribbon is one of the most exciting and fun parts of the game — as it should be!
Inventory Management
Oooh exciting! Who doesn’t love organisation? But yes, sad to say that one of the most exciting things to me is a well-maintained inventory. Beyond the aesthetic pleasure of seeing your gear neatly lined up, I love when what you bring with you actually matters. Having a limited inventory space means that you can’t just pick up everything you see. You need to make tough decisions about what to take. Sure, a shotgun packs a serious punch, but it takes up two precious inventory slots — slots that you could keep vital healing items in. I also love how a limited inventory encourages cooperation between players, with items being traded back and forth in the most efficient way while also trying to make sure everyone has a weapon in case the proverbial sh*t hits the fan.
Followers, be sure to check out a well-maintained inventory in our art sneak peek below!
Legacy Storytelling
One of the things I’m most excited about (and one that I have probably done a terrible job of talking about!) is the Legacy-style element of Ink Ribbon. The intended way to enjoy Ink Ribbon is by playing each scenario as a different group of survivors, with stories happening almost simultaneously across Sparrow’s Rest. This way you can then track where each group was and when on the Sparrow’s Rest map, marking what buildings they explored and looted, and scribbling in how and when characters died. Then, when you play your next adventure, you might witness the aftermath of the first group’s actions, or find the remains of the fallen — or worse, come face to face with the zombified version of your old character!
Alright, there’s a tonne of other reasons I love Ink Ribbon, but I’ve gone on long enough — and I’m slightly biased anyway! So you tell me: what is your favourite thing about the game and what are you most excited for?
Hello survivors, and welcome back. We have just 6 weeks to go until Ink Ribbon shambles to life on Backerkit, so we’re hard at work preparing everything for the campaign. In the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing you to our guest writers, who will be penning scenarios with the explicit purpose of terrifying you — it’s gonna be great! We’ll also be sharing what to expect from our stretch goals, including one in particular that many fans have been asking for…
In the meantime, there’s plenty of Ink Ribbon for you to enjoy!
First up, Emmet hosted a Q&A on the Old Oak YouTube channel, which you can watch here. He chatted about the rules, his inspirations, using Horror, and lots more. It was a fun hang, and we’re definitely going to do more — so we’re asking what you’d like to see from future livestreams! Cast your vote below.
We also recorded our first episode of Dead on Arrival, which you can catch up on here. Episode #2 will be live this Saturday the 8th of August on the Emerald Collective Twitch Channel here. The stream kicks off at 7:30pm GMT +1 | 11:30am PST | 2:30pm EST.
Next up, Emmet will be joining Ciaran at FOXXOF RPG to discuss Ink Ribbon and what to expect from the game. The interview will be live on the FOXXOF YouTube Channel on Tuesday the 11th, so keep an eye on our socials for a link when the stream starts!
And last but not least, we’ve had some news coverage, with articles from Tabletop Sentinel, Wargamer, and Zatu. Nice!
If you haven’t done so already, be sure to join our Discord. We have a super active community of awesome fans who are already playing Ink Ribbon, so it’s a great place to learn more and chat with other fans as well as the people making the game.
Until next time, stay safe and keep your inventory organised — it could save your life!
Hello survivors, and welcome back. Today marks just 8 weeks until Ink Ribbon launches on Backerkit! In the run-up to launch on 22nd September, we’ll be giving you insights and a behind-the-scenes look at what went into creating Ink Ribbon. Designer Emmet Byrne will be live on our YouTube channel this Friday, talking through how to make Tests and run combat in Ink Ribbon, plus answering all your questions. So, if you have any questions about the rules, what to expect from the campaign (and our stretch goals!), or want to learn more about the secrets of Sparrow’s Rest, drop your questions below! We’ll gather up all the questions from here and our Discord channel (which you can join here), and Emmet will answer them live on stream this Friday the 31st July at 9pm GMT+1 | 1pm EST | 10am PST
Dead on Arrival: Episode #1
In case you missed it, this past Friday Emmet joined the crew of the Emerald Collective for a playthrough of Dead on Arrival, the introductory scenario for Ink Ribbon. You can watch the first episode here, and be sure to join us for episode #2 on Saturday, the 8th of August.
Welcome back survivors! In case you missed it, last week we asked you what your favourite survival horror videogame is and, somewhat unsurprisingly, the winner was Resident Evil — with Alan Wake and Silent Hill tied for second. Nice!
This week we have some exciting news: starting this Friday, the 24th July, we will be livestreaming an actual play of the Dead on Arrival scenario for Ink Ribbon! Join designer Emmet Byrne as he sicks his shambling hordes of zombies on the unsuspecting players of The Emerald Collective while they try to escape the Sparrow's Rest Police Department.
We are incredibly excited to once again partner with our friends at The Emerald Collective to bring you this fortnightly stream and give you a chance to watch Ink Ribbon in action. The stream will be live this Friday, the 24th July, on the Emerald Collective Twitch Channel, and will continue fortnightly until launch (or until all the characters are dead!). The stream kicks off at 7:30pm GMT +1 | 11:30am PST | 2:30pm EST. Be sure to join the Discord and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky so you don’t miss out!
To celebrate the upcoming stream, we have an exclusive follower-only art drop!
Hello survivors, and welcome back. In our Meet the Designer update, you got to learn a little bit about the video games that inspired Ink Ribbon. But today we want to hear from you! We want to know what your favourite survival horror video game series. We’ve listed a bunch of classic and modern games below, so cast your vote! Drop us a comment and let us know what your favourite in the series is and what the first-ever survival horror game you played was. Likewise, if your favourite isn’t here, let us know!
Hello survivors! We’ve had a lot of excited fans asking what to expect when the Ink Ribbon campaign goes live, so today we’re taking a look at what’s in store. Before we dive in, I want to say a massive thank you to the over 1,000 people who have already joined us! The excitement and support for Ink ribbon have been off the charts, and the community is in full swing taking the rules for a test drive. If you haven’t already, be sure to join our Discord to get in on the action.
I’m a massive fan of boxed TTRPGs full of lots of stuff, so Ink Ribbon will launch with two boxed sets packed with booklets and other fun bits. You’ll be able to choose from the Core Set or the Deluxe Set, and both will also be available digitally. If you back at a physical tier, you get the PDFs for free!
Core Set
The Core Set will be €60 (€30 digital) and will include:
Survivor’s Handbook: Contains the core rules, quick and easy character creation, and a plethora of weapons and gear you’ll need to fight for survival.
Welcome to Sparrow’s Rest: A visitor’s guide to the picturesque city of Sparrow’s Rest, revealing the dark history and hidden secrets that lie beneath the surface (literally and figuratively). Includes optional rules to tweak your campaign, making it more action-focused or ratcheting up the horror!
Heal-X Pharmaceuticals Research Dossier: Uncover the truth that Heal-X doesn’t want you to know, with a dossier full of twisted experiments and bio-weapons gone wrong. Packed with all manner of weird monsters and mutated beasts.
Dead of Arrival: Take your first shambling steps into Sparrow’s Rest as you crash (literally) into the centre of the virus outbreak. In this introductory scenario, you’ll explore the Sparrow’s Rest Police Department in search of supplies and weapons, all while you try to figure out how the hell you’re going to escape the doomed city.
GM Screen (Standard): A black-and-white three-panel GM screen filled with important rules, reminders, and tables for finding supplies.
Map of Sparrow’s Rest (Standard): A black-and-white fold-out map of Sparrow’s Rest to keep track of where you’ve explored.
Deluxe Set
The Deluxe Set will be €100 (€50 digital) and will include all the booklets from the Core Set, plus:
Lone Survivor: Solo rules for exploring Sparrow’s Rest alone — survive as long as you can!
Unexplained Phenomena: Heal-X has been up to more than just mad science — they’ve been dabbling in the occult! This booklet adds new supernatural character options and monsters, so you can experience a whole new kind of horror
New Scenarios: Two new scenarios, written by two fantastic guest writers (soon to be announced)!
GM Screen and Map Upgrade: Larger, full-colour version of the GM Screen and Map.
Character Sheets: 10 blank character sheets (spares for when survivors get eaten)
Tokens: Easily keep track of Horror, Stress, and Adrenaline!
Custom Dice: A set of 8 custom six-sided dice.
Storage Box: An ammo-style storage box for keeping your tokens and dice!
So that’s what we have on offer — so far (we may be adding some extra stuff!). Fans who back the Core Set can pick up the other booklets for €15 (€8 digitally).
So, what are you most excited about? We want to know! We’ll be back next week with a new update — and an exciting announcement! So stay tuned.
Thanks again, survivors. Keep those medkits close and watch out for zombies!
