INKWAVE Glossary

Every term the game and these guides use, defined in plain language. Each entry links to the page that explains it in full.

Alpha

One of INKWAVE's two teams, with Bravo. Alpha spawns at one end of the arena and Bravo at the other, and the stage is mirrored so both teams play an identical field.

Boss Battle

A co-op mode in public beta where one squad of up to eight players fights HULLBREAKER. It plays offline with bots and online with friends, on every stage except Cargo Terminal. Read the Boss Battle guide.

Bravo

The second of INKWAVE's two teams, with Alpha. The team score is always shown for Alpha and Bravo.

Crablet

A small crab that HULLBREAKER hatches from phase 2. Crablets chase the nearest squidkid and burst for 40 damage; they have 30 health and pop in one or two hits.

Dodge roll

The Twinfin Dualies' sideways roll: 7 ink, 0.3 seconds and 2.8 metres. Two rolls are stored at a time, and a roll tightens the guns' spread for 0.5 seconds.

Enemy ink

Ink of the opposing colour. It slows you to 1.9 m/s and deals 20 damage per second, capped at 40 total, and it can never splat you on its own.

Host

The player who creates an online room. Their browser runs the bots, the match clock and the results, and if they leave, the room moves to the oldest remaining player.

HULLBREAKER

The giant armoured hermit crab in the Boss Battle. It fights in three phases, takes 2.5× damage at the eye stalks and belly, and sinks when its health reaches zero before the timer.

Ink tank

The 100 units of ink your weapon spends as ammunition. It refills at 42 per second while you swim and 9 per second in kid form after a short delay.

Ink Tempest

The special carried by the charger, blaster and splatling kits. It throws a cloud that drifts for 6.5 seconds, deals 34 damage per second and paints the ground beneath it.

Kid form

Your running form: 6.0 m/s, full weapon fire and a slow ink refill. Hold Shift (or LT) to dive into your own ink and switch to squid form.

Loadout

The kit you take into a match: one of seven weapons, its Splat Bombs and its special. There are no locked loadouts; every kit is allowed on every stage.

Locker

The screen where you build your squidkid's look from presets, hair, headgear, face and outfits. Your team's colour always shows in the hair. Read the locker guide.

Private room

An online match for you and your friends. Create one, share the five-character code, and up to eight players join; there is no public matchmaking. Read the online guide.

Room code

The five characters that open a private room. The alphabet leaves out look-alike characters such as O and 0, so the code is easy to read aloud.

Special

The charged ability in every kit: Tidal Slam or Ink Tempest. Press F (or Q, or gamepad Y) when the gauge is full.

Special gauge

The meter that fills as you paint, at one point per square metre of turf. It caps at the weapon's cost and halves when you are splatted.

Splat

A knockout. A splatted squidkid returns to spawn after 5.5 seconds with 1.6 seconds of protection, and loses half of the special gauge.

Splat Bomb

The sub weapon in every kit. It costs 70 ink, arms on landing and explodes with a 3.1-metre blast of 35 to 180 damage that paints a wide circle. Read the specials guide.

Splashtag

The two-word title and four-digit number the game builds from your name, shown with your squidkid.

Squid form

Your swimming form. In your own ink you travel at 11.8 m/s, refill your tank, regenerate health and climb inked walls. Read the strategy guide.

Squidkid

The character you play in INKWAVE. Every squidkid is generated in code, and its hair always shows your team's colour.

Super jump

A jump to a teammate or your base, launched from the map (hold Tab or M, then press 1–4 or click a pin). You are invulnerable in flight.

Tidal Slam

The special carried by the shooter, roller, dualies and slosher kits. It leaps with 75% damage reduction and lands for 180 damage inside 3.2 metres.

Turf

Painted ground. Each square metre painted counts as one point, and the team covering more of the arena wins a Turf War.

Turf War

INKWAVE's main mode: two teams of four, three minutes, most turf wins. A 90-second match length is available. Read how to play.