GAME CLEAR No. 250 -- Indika

Indika (2024, Multiplatform)

Developer: Odd-Meter
Publisher: 11 Bit Studios
Clear Version: PS5
Clear Platform: PS5
Clear Date: 8/25/25

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Why should I care?
Indika is a clever and surreal satire that will keep you smiling at just about every turn.

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Losing my religion

Indika is a game I bought at the recommendation of a single trusted source, in this case, Brandon Sheffield of Insert Credit fame (among other ventures). In the linked post, he bemoan’s the game’s relatively muted critical response, especially compared to his belief that it was the clear 2024 Game of the Year. I don’t have a strong enough knowledge of 2024 releases to throw down such a claim, but I can wholeheartedly agree that Indika is a special game that left me delighted and amazed when its credits rolled.

An eponymous nun is the protagonist of the narrative adventure game. She lives in a convent where she is widely disliked and forced to do the least desirable tasks. This is due in part to her odd behavior, which is influenced by her tendency to hallucinate as well as by the voice of the literal Devil in her head. After another of her embarrassing gaffes, Indika is sent out of the convent to carry a letter to the Danilov monastery, setting forth the primary events of the game.

To get through the game, you’ll have to guide Indika through a variety of environmental puzzles. These range from brilliant and satisfying at best to merely mildly engaging at worst. They do not suffer from the abject triviality that some puzzles do in, say, broadly-appealing AAA games of late (nor do they have some obnoxious companion give away the solution after a minute or two). They seldom involve more than moving objects around or engaging switches in the right order or other such rudimentary tasks, but despite the mechanical simplicity, they always demand a bit of thought.

As Indika marches on, surreality begins to creep into her adventure. Refreshingly, it is seldom acknowledged and is left for you to interpret as you please. Why are all the animals in this world huge? Why was the world briefly non-Euclidean? Why does the game have an experience and leveling system that grants no abilities or statistical improvements to the player?

Well, these little tricks the game plays interface nicely with Indika’s personal struggle, which is one of identity and purpose. She’s obviously quite uncomfortable with her life as a nun and not particularly good at being one. She constantly bickers with the Devil in her mind, defending a life any belief system she struggles to adhere to. Perhaps the weirdness of the world if Indika is reflective of the state of mind of our narrator. Perhaps not. Perhaps the game’s useless experience points are meant to be a metaphor for the pointless religious drudgery Indika has endured throughout her life. Or maybe they’ll be worth something at the end of the game?

I won’t endeavor to analyze the game’s themes much more deeply in this GAME CLEAR post, but the idea of doing so for another post is enticing. Suffice it to say that the game engages in mischief with you and with Indika at nearly every turn. Whether it be puzzles, visual presentation, or Indika’s dialog with herself or others, the game always gives you something to consider.

Despite its rather cold and dreary setting of late-19th century Russia, the game is exceptionally stylish too. Its environments are often striking and sweeping. Flashback sequences change things up completely to a 2D pixel-art style (and it’s a bit of a cute thing to suggest that video game characters of today were lower-fidelity in their younger years). The electronic and chippy soundtrack at times feels incongruous with the game’s setting but always in a way that surprises and delights. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I literally “oohed and ahhed” at various points in this game either because I rounded a corner to something visually interesting or because I really dug a particular musical cue.

In all, it will take you probably 4 hours to get through this game if you take your time. I promise you will be amused throughout, and maybe you’ll even be left with some thoughts to chew on about your own life. Please play Indika.