Indika [Review]
Darkly funny, surreal third person adventure Indika is an achievement in cinematic interactive fiction.
Indika. Credit: Odd Meter / 11 Bit Studios
Odd Meter and 11 Bit Studios Indika is a narrative-driven adventure game about a nun’s journey of self discovery through the harsh landscapes of an alt-19th century Russia. The game maturely deals with questions about faith and the church, free will and authority, self-determination and mental illness. Indika is a riveting 4-5 hour long work of art that’s sardonic, heartfelt, beautiful, and horrific all at once.
Indika is a young nun living in a Russian convent. She’s shunned by her needlessly cruel peers for reasons we don’t know, though she does hear voices and see visions that she keeps secret. Are they demonic in origin, or perhaps just mental illness? Whatever the source, they cause her to question. Indika is given menial, meaningless tasks to do, until one day she’s asked to deliver a letter to another convent and is given permission to travel. She heads out alone, on foot, to meet her destiny.
Indika. Credit: Odd Meter / 11 Bit Studios
Indika’s gameplay is tied to its narrative. You’ll mostly be walking or running through the world, with occasional climbing. Environmental interaction is minimal—occasionally you’ll need to push a wheeled box, push a button, or operate a machine to solve puzzles. None of this is particularly memorable. This isn’t to say it’s bad; it’s perfectly serviceable, but it’s not the game’s draw. What matters here is all the connective tissue during and between these sequences, of Indika and other characters talking and the world that they inhabit.
The game’s visual approach is cinematic in a way that’s unusual for games. It occasionally makes use of things like wide angle fisheye lenses or shots that mimic the Steadicam close-up rig tracking sequences from films like Requiem for a Dream, to convey claustrophobic, deeply subjective points of view.
Indika. Credit: Odd Meter / 11 Bit Studios
The game also takes advantage of tools unique to its own medium. It externalizes Indika’s inner turmoil and crisis of faith in a few memorable puzzle sections by literally sundering the world around her, forcing you hold things together by holding down a trigger button on the controller so Indika closes her eyes and prays. Indika’s pre-convent youth is retold in flashbacks depicted in a retro pixel-art style, creatively using the medium to create a clear split between past and present.
The gaming metaphor is extended by having votive acts reward Indika with experience tokens she picks up that let you level up her faith. Like points in most games, this is ultimately meaningless, as the game repeatedly tells you in no uncertain terms. It mirrors her struggle between her desire for piety and the inner voice that tells her none of it matters.
Indika. Credit: Odd Meter / 11 Bit Studios
Indika is a game I won’t soon forget. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a game that feels this much like a remarkable piece of cinema. The studio cites Yorgos Lanthimos, Ari Aster, and Darren Aronofsky as influences on the work and the game demonstrates its kinship with them beyond mere surface through its visual quality, tone, and thematic depth. Indika succeeds in ways many games with similar lofty goals don’t. Odd Meter’s adventurous use of the medium to tell an unusual story that isn’t just weird for weirdness’ sake is something I’d like to see more developers do.
Indika is available now for PC on Steam. Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S releases have been announced.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: Steam Deck
