One-Eyed Likho (2025)

If you’re looking for something action-packed or traditionally scary, this isn’t it. But if you like games that feel like falling into a dark, ancient fairytale, something strange, cerebral, and a little off-kilter, then there’s a lot here to love.

One-Eyed Likho is a first-person horror adventure that takes the player in pursuit of a legendary creature from Slavic folklore: the Likho.

One-Eyed Likho belongs in that rare category of games that take such a dark narrative and setting and manage to infuse it all with a surrealism that often verges on the comic. Even the epic conclusion of the story raised a smile at its presentation and effect. While not a long game and one that follows a very linear path, there are more moments and images here that will stay in your memory than many far longer games can muster.

One-Eyed Likho is a fascinating, surreal, and almost hypnotic experience. The strong visual style and artistic direction of the game make it a truly enthralling title to behold. While the puzzles and overall gameplay are a bit lacking in terms of crafting an engaging or exciting adventure, the atmospheric elements are unmatched.

I wish One-Eyed Likho leaned a little more into the horror aspect of things. Such as more attempts at scaring the player. But overall, the story telling was excellent and did really well with keeping my attention. Especially with the tales and puzzles within the game. I had some minor frame drops when entering a new area of the Refectory. But nothing that ruins the experience. Puzzles are fun and don’t require you to know all the world’s knowledge. Smith and Tailor are enjoyable as characters, and Morteshka has done a great job of bringing them to life. One-Eyed Likho deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award for successfully breathing life into an old tale. I would have given it a platinum, but as I already mentioned, I wished there was a little more horror. Since that’s what grabbed my attention when playing the demo.