Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts Review

Have you ever looked at mediaeval artwork and thought, “Damn, I wish I could make some of these”? Well, don’t worry, because Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts is the game for you. Whether you want to make some goofy little pieces in sandbox mode or live the life of a freelancer and do what the court tells you to, both are possible.

In Scriptorium, you can create your character, each with their own unique character backstory that will do nothing but amuse you, dear reader. In this scenario, I became a pious nun who is deeply interested in cats, because let’s be honest, it’s the most accurate to me. Well… the cat part. The nun part, maybe not. Dedicated to the arts, I went to work with my uncle, whom I had never met before, and soon, the two of us started in business together.

I say we started in business together, I worked on half a piece with him… and then he buggered off somewhere, leaving me alone with some kind of demon who tricked me into letting him live there. Now I’m looking after Basil the basilisk, and I’ve got to handle client requests.

Most of the clients have some hilarious requests, and you can imagine them however you like. There are also secret requests within these ones, and well, it’s up to you to figure out what they want. However, as long as you fulfil their main objectives, like say, ensuring the dogs are wearing several pieces of clothing and aren’t naked, then you’re fine. Usually, this means you’ll need to put on a specific number of clothing items, put things in the background, or just include a set number of weapons.

When designing a manuscript, you’ll have a bit of a draft to start off with, and it’s up to you to build on that. It’s not too challenging, but it’s absolutely a game that works best on a PC.

Each day, you’ll also find a selection of objectives to get items from Basil’s egg. These tasks will change daily, but you’ll get more items to decorate your studio with. Some will include discovering pigments made from flowers and bars of gold. Others? They may include adding in words to a manuscript, whether your client wants it or not. Overall, it does give you a lot of options for creativity. Plus, you’re free to decorate the studio however you like, and some of Basil’s tasks include finding an item that needs to be there.

While there’s not a lot of colour and sketch options at first, adjusting pigments and cleaning your swatches will give you a bit more. Oh, and that demon I mentioned? You can purchase sketches from him, even if you’re mid-work. With that, you’ll have more options, especially if you want more clothes for your dog. Or other weird creatures that you can buy. Yes, all the people there are essentially naked, but there’s a host of them available. He’ll also offer you Mystery Boxes, with special items that he finds while scavenging about, to give your parchment a bit more texture.

When working on your painting, you’ll be able to add sketches and place them on the page, and you can adjust the layers or rotate, flip, and resize them. If you’ve ever messed around with Photoshop or other editing software, it’s pretty easy. It’s also surprisingly relaxing, and I’m not going to lie, I giggled to myself a lot.

As you progress, you’ll receive more prestige, which means you’ll get more customisation options. For example, you can purchase more flowers that you can crush and combine to increase the number of pigments you can use. While some paints and equipment can be purchased for 200 gold (or fewer), others will only be available as you progress through the storyline. After getting more flowers, they’ll be available in your garden to adjust your swatches whenever you want for your clients’ more… extravagant requests.

Objectively, these do become a little more unhinged as time goes on. Also, as long as you fulfil the client’s request, you can absolutely make it as ridiculous as possible. Got a quest from Basil to put in 50 sketches on one page? Then don’t worry, do the client’s orders and then add so many eggs and naked chaps. Trust me, it is absolutely worth it. I was giggling to myself, especially as in some cases I was considering the client’s own background.

Each client has their own storyline, with the King and Queen apparently going through major marriage difficulties — you’re essentially their go-between at this point — while others are trying to woo their partners or build something from memory. Many of your orders will actually be as a direct response to the King or Queen’s latest ban, and I appreciate just how tired their servants are of their utter bollocks.

However, I would suggest avoiding it on the Steam Deck for now. While you can play it on there, it’s not optimised yet, and it’s a lot more finicky when you’re using the right analogue stick or the right touchpad to point-and-click your way to artistic perfection. Naturally, I shifted quickly back to my laptop for this game, as Scriptorium works a lot better when you’ve got a mouse on hand.

Overall, if you enjoy messing around with funny pictures and giggling to yourself, then Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts could be right down your alley. There’s a lot of creative freedom that anyone who’s ever looked at a mediaeval picture will enjoy. However, if you aren’t a fan of editing pictures, then this might not be your cup of tea. Thankfully, I was the target audience for this, and I enjoyed the simplistic gameplay and the atmospheric music.