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Cheap Tattoo
Run your own tattoo shop and actually do the tattooing. Dial in voltage and needle depth, line it, shade it, wipe the blood — and keep the customer from walking out. Too shallow and the ink won't hold. Too deep and you'll hear about it.

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Features
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔ ✔
German ✔ ✔

Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Cheap Tattoo grew out of me building the thing I wanted to play, and it got a lot better every time someone told me what felt wrong. The tattooing itself — voltage, needle depth, how the skin reacts — is the part I keep tuning, and that tuning only works with real players on real hardware. Early Access lets me keep shipping while people are actually holding the machine.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I'm planning on roughly six to twelve months in Early Access. That depends on what players ask for and how much of it turns out to be worth building, so I'd rather leave myself room than name a date.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“I plan to expand the story campaign, add more body parts and motifs, and grow the ways players can create their own stencils in-game rather than importing them. Some modes currently marked experimental — laser removal and Samoan tatau — are things I plan to develop further based on how people take to them. The overall goal is more depth in the tattooing itself, not just more content around it.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The game is fully playable from start to finish. The story campaign runs from a prison bunk to your own studio, with a machine shop, money, jobs and customer reviews. There are 18 inks, a full range of needle types, voltage and depth that genuinely change the result, a practice skin, a manual and a tutorial. You can tattoo lettering in five styles or import your own designs. It runs in German and English. Some modes are still marked experimental and are labelled as such in the game.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“I plan to raise the price gradually as more content and features go in. Buying early means paying less for a game that keeps growing.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“I already build this way. Features get changed the same week someone points out that something feels off, and I post work-in-progress builds to my following on social media and pick up feedback there. I plan to keep doing exactly that on the Steam forums: post what I'm working on, ask which of two directions people prefer, and let that decide what gets built next.”
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This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: Sep 18, 2026

This game plans to unlock in approximately 4 weeks

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About This Game

Most tattoo games let you press a button and a tattoo appears. This one hands you the machine. You set the voltage. You pick the needle. You follow the stencil line by line, wipe the blood away, and watch the skin react to every pass. Get it right and the ink sits clean. Get it wrong and you have a customer with a story about that one guy who ruined their arm.

THE MACHINE IS THE GAME

Voltage and needle depth are not decoration. Run too shallow and the ink falls out. Push too deep and you shred the skin, the bleeding starts, and the customer stops being polite. Every body part takes the needle differently — a forearm is not a neck. Liners for outlines, shaders and magnums for filling, bugpins for detail. Each cartridge behaves differently under the skin, and you feel it.

18 INKS, 6 OF THEM NEON

Black liner ink for the outline, colour for the fill, and six neon tones that glow. Dip the cap, watch the level drop as you work, dip again before the line runs dry.

THE PRACTICE SKIN

New needle you have never used? Test it on a piece of practice leather first. The marks fade after a couple of seconds, and nobody gets hurt while you find out how hard it pulls.

FROM A CELL TO YOUR OWN STUDIO

Start on a prison bunk with a machine built out of a toothbrush motor. Work your way out, into your own place, and up to a shop with your name over the door. Better machines mean a steadier hand and voltage that stays where you put it. Or skip all of it: Free Mode unlocks everything, and you can type your own text in five tattoo lettering styles or bring in your own design as a stencil.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Parts of the artwork (customer portraits, studio backgrounds, skin imagery, some tattoo motifs), the background music, and some store page images were created with generative AI tools and then edited and integrated by the developer. Game design, mechanics and game logic are the developer's own work. No content is generated while the game is running.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
    • Processor: Dual-Core 2.0 GHz
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Integrierte Grafik (DirectX 11 fähig)
    • Storage: 557 MB available space
    • Sound Card:
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS:
    • Processor:
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics:
    • Storage: 557 MB available space
    • Sound Card:
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