Indika console release date: A Russian orthodox nun talks to the devil in acclaimed indie game

Indika, one of the most original games to come out this year, just received a console release date after debuting on PC earlier this month.

In this haunting and beguiling indie, a Russian orthodox nun makes friends with the devil. Together, the odd couple set out on a bizarre journey beyond the walls of the monastery where Indika lives. What follows is a darkly humorous and emotionally resonant allegory on the limits of faith, free will and temptation. 

Here’s what you need to know about the game, including when you can play it on PS5 and Xbox, and what the reviews say.

Earlier this week, Indika’s developer Odd Meter Games revealed that it will be out on PS5 and Xbox series consoles on Friday, May 17. 

Neither store currently lists a price for the title, but it launched on PC for £21 on May 2. A special edition of the game, including the original soundtrack and an artbook, is available on Steam for £23.91.

Indika is a single player game that switches between realistic, unsettling visuals during long stretches of exploration, mainly in the barren tundra that surrounds the gloomy monastery, and a pixel art style for its numerous puzzles.

Taking four to five hours to complete, it’s mercifully shorter than the unwieldy open-world titles and neverending live service fare that represents the glut of modern blockbusters. In that sense, it belongs in a small pool of celebrated recent indies with distinctive looks and gameplay, which include Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (and its upcoming sequel) and Stray. It’s also drawn comparisons to Resident Evil, although it swaps the flesh-champing zombies for evil incarnate.

The gameplay trailer is awash with unsettling imagery, from bizarre close-ups of the characters to Snorricam-style shots. You’ve probably seen the latter in hit movies like Snatch and Inside Man, where in certain scenes the camera is rigged to an actor to make it seem like the scenery around them is moving while they stand still. The technique is supposed to provide an unnerving sense of vertigo for the viewer.

Indika is the brainchild of Odd Meter Games, an independent studio formerly based in Moscow and now run out of Kazakhstan. The developers have likened it to the comedic and tragic works of renowned Russian authors Dostoyevsky and Bulhakov.

Indika has an 80 score on review aggregator Metacritic, indicating generally favourable feedback. Meanwhile, it has a “very positive” user rating on Steam, which is a notch below the top grade, after almost 2,000 reviews.

“Indika tells an intriguingly dark tale players will have a hard time putting down,” said Game Rant. Meanwhile, Windows Central hailed it as “exactly the kind of story that indie gaming is made for.” 

Try Hard Guides, which gave it a full 10 out of 10 in its review, said: “INDIKA is an utterly unique, psychedelic, and strange title, telling a wonderful, thought-provoking story filled with striking imagery and wonderfully bleak humor.”