Bloody Ink
Bloody Ink
Game
Game2022
Ikai
Developer Endflame
Fear and anxiety prevail after the darkest tales from Japanese folklore come to life in this first-person psychological horror game. Set in a feudal era, Ikai revolves around the priestess of a shrine struggling to defeat the spirits of her past and her present. From the Steam store page
125 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 7, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
79
LovedLoved
86 positive · 23 negative
95% range 70–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 86 | 23 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 4 | 2 | 10 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
91 of 116 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
78% recommend · 87 yes, 25 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 112 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (214 of 269 positive).
Players praise the game's atmosphere and Japanese aesthetics. [1][2][3] Many find the game too short. [4][5][6] Some reviewers criticize the seal-drawing mechanic as frustrating. [7][6][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
Incredibly short. The whole time I was playing, I kept asking myself: "When are we finally going to leave this shrine and start the game?" Never, as it turns out. I kept thinking it was a really long tutorial and was stunned when the credits started rolling.
- [1]
Ikai is a good immersive horror, walking simulator (in part) with minimal but challenging objectives, not super scary but a great atmosphere with a constant tension. In terms of gameplay, it's mainly walking and looking around, every now and then you will find yourself in a challenging part of the game where you have to work either logically, insightfully or patiently, the combo of all aspects and the great …
- [2]
Ikai's atmosphere shows how much care and love the team has put into the game. You spend most of the game running around the halls of the temple, and every room feels unique and well thought-out. If you like the look and aesthetics of feudal Japan, I believe they did a really good job portraying it here. Also, the sound and the ambience do an outstanding job setting the mood. Regarding the different yokais you'll …
- [3]
Awesome game! 💓 It’s packed with Japanese aesthetics and atmosphere. You play as miku, a shrine maiden facing cruelty from both the living world and supernatural creatures. The story unfolds progressively as you play, with notes filling in the details. I really liked the huge yokai list included in the game—featuring creatures that are quite obscure, too. Therefore you find items referencing Japanese culture …
- [4]
It's really short, but good. If you like horror this is for you. Buy it on sale =)
Summarised from 34 of the 128 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Ikai talk about great atmosphere and tension; those who didn't talk about game is very short. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 125 · most liked firstI was very excited for this game, however the head bobbing gave me motion sickness and it became difficult for me to play. Aside from that, the gameplay itself and graphics are great. I will change my review to positive if a head-bobbing toggle option is added. EDIT: I appreciate that the developer responded and listened to reviewer feedback. I now fully recommend this game after the update and seeing the responsiveness of their team, cheers!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ikai is a good immersive horror, walking simulator (in part) with minimal but challenging objectives, not super scary but a great atmosphere with a constant tension. In terms of gameplay, it's mainly walking and looking around, every now and then you will find yourself in a challenging part of the game where you have to work either logically, insightfully or patiently, the combo of all aspects and the great old-fashioned Japanese style with a pinch of horror blown over will definitely have you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic game, just after the first 30 min you are already scared of your own shadow. Great mood and well crafted art and audio puts you on your edge. I recommend playing it during the night with headphones, really scary!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Incredibly short. The whole time I was playing, I kept asking myself: "When are we finally going to leave this shrine and start the game?" Never, as it turns out. I kept thinking it was a really long tutorial and was stunned when the credits started rolling.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kaizō Chōjin Shubibinman 3: Ikai no Princess It's um... already done. I wasn't expecting a long game, but I thought it'd try to stretch its 30+ minute runtime into at least an hour of playtime. Dammit. Now I can't think of anything to say. #retrogaming #turbografx
negative · AI labelView post →Ikai's atmosphere shows how much care and love the team has put into the game. You spend most of the game running around the halls of the temple, and every room feels unique and well thought-out. If you like the look and aesthetics of feudal Japan, I believe they did a really good job portraying it here. Also, the sound and the ambience do an outstanding job setting the mood. Regarding the different yokais you'll face through the game, I felt like some of them were too easy to get around and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The voice acting is bad to the point of pulling you right out of any sense of immersion you had at any point. The game feels like an asset dump, the story is...there....as far as any sense of fear, there is none, not at all. I really am having a hard time writing a negative review for this because despite the fact that i think the game is more or less....half baked...I still think it's good for a couple of people taking their first swing at publishing a game. I do feel like the game is just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love Japan and I like horror games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty game with some good ideas... but poorly executed story, cheap jumpscares and writing the kanji is the worst gameplay mechanic ever. Also it's pretty short. There was a lot of potential to this game but somehow it feels like they lost interest in finishing it... If you really wanna give it a shot, get the game on sale. Don't pay full price, it's just not worth it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's really short, but good. If you like horror this is for you. Buy it on sale =)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The sound and atmosphere are on point, The voice acting is not good but acceptable, the GAMEPLAY is like a crime against the player. The painting of kanji for seals is probably one of the most frustrating gameplay elements I have ever experienced. The slightest wrong motion or even sometimes not and Naoko would just go, "Its not right" add the timer on this already frustrating thing and you have a horrible core gameplay mechanic. Other main complaint is the constant jump scares to the point i…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can you smell the leaves changing colors? We can smell the sales we've got during the Steam Autumn Sale🍂: 🦗Cricket: Jae's Really Peculiar Game - 50% 🐲Dragon is Dead - 20% 🌍Hoa - 50% 👻Ikai - 50% 🔥Krimson - 50% 👽Exophobia - 40% 🍃Extremely Powerful Capybaras - 30% 🪼Squish - 75% ⚽️Guts and Goals -75%
neutral · AI labelView post →My honest review of Ikai; To start off this review, I want to emphasize that Ikai is NOT a bad game. So, why am I not recommending it? For a couple of points. But warning there will be spoilers. Point 1: Severe lack of pacing. The game centers around your character an otherwise faceless shrine maiden whose been tasked with her uncle to perform duties in and around the shrine. When a disastrous curse threatens the shrine and opens the gateway to Yomi allowing 4 distinct Yokai to escape you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short, sweet and to the point. If you're already loosely familiar with Shinto, you're more likely to get mileage out of the game as it assumes you're familiar with the base concept, which it then builds upon with lesser trivia through an in-game codex of sorts. Across the game, you'll find scattered artwork and objects that tell you about yōkai and Edo-era practices. The premise is simple enough, the main character - a shrine maiden, or a miko in Japanese - goes about her chores until thing™…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All I can say is... I wish there was more to the game. I thought we were going to travel to various shrines and cleanse them, but in reality you encounter 4 main Yokai, and other Japanese spirits. I'm not sure if i broke the game, but the only time I felt in danger was when I was writing the seals to banish the Yokai. So it just became, draw a small line, stop, draw one more line, stop and finish. The game rewards you with exploring the shrine and finding collectibles but in the end its just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Introduction Ikai is a horror game set in feudal era Japan. The game is developed by small group of Indie developer from Spain. I had tried Ikai's demo once it was released and have high hopes for it. I eventually bought the game when it went on sale. Honestly speaking, the game is too short and the story isn't really that interesting in my opinion. However the game does have it's up and down. Gameplay Elements & Graphics Starting off on the right footing, the atmosphere of the game is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even if the game is short, it's worth playing. If you like horror games i'm pretty sure you are gonna like this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/cRYL7Qx4Uw8 Love it so far. It has some great scares and the puzzles are decent and not too difficult. It looks fantastic and there is a lot of detail in the game. The price is a bit much and depending how long the game is I think that could be an issue but so far it seem worth it. I did run into a bug at the well where I couldn't interact with the rope to go down but it has an auto save feature (which is a huge plus) and once I quit and jumped back in it was fixed. The story…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a very good puzzle horror game. The themes, graphics, sound, gameplay, interesting storyline. I like the tones of darkness in this game. (Actually, I don't really like some puzzles. But I really liked the art, graphics, sound, gameplay and storyline of this game when I played the demo) I can say it's worth to buy this game and try it yourself
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →disappointed you only get to sweep the shrine once and you never get to finish your laundry i was really hoping to finish my laundry at the end of the game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros: good atmosphere, good graphics, unique concept with drawing seal to defeat the ghost. Cons: short levels, some puzzles are too easy, the ghost wasn't challenging to avoid, drawing seal with mouse is Awful. Only recommend to buy at a discount.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Terror Meter 4/10 Narrative Intrigue 3/10 Visuals 6/10 Difficulty 3/10 Length 1hr+ Ikai is a really difficult game to balance from enjoyment to annoyance, and just barely do I give it a recommendation. The game is mainly an exploration horror, with the use of mini games / side objectives which make up the bulk of the game. The problems come when my playtime is inflated because of getting lost, redrawing Seals repeatedly, and getting stuck on puzzles. Throughout the game the player will be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started the game Ikai. It's awesome so far and just gorgeous. You're a shrine trainee experiencing a spooky night when a bunch of yokai show up. You find lore pages with stunning artwork for each type of spookie. I've seen bouncy heads and fire sprites and a fuzzy snake.
positive · AI labelView post →Now that #Halloween🎃 is getting closer, here's a recommendation for all our new friends. Ikai is a psychological horror game set in feudal Japan where a young priestess will have to defeat the spirits of her past to protect the shrine ⛩️ (🤭before doing cozy, we did horror games) #horrorgame
neutral · AI labelView post →I was not able to progress past a certain point. Maybe the game is broken, or just VERY unclear. Whatever it is, I was not able to finish the game so I cant really recommend it. =[
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Atmospheric Japanese indie horror for 3-4 hours, with a variety of gameplay, great atmosphere and graphics. Optimization is also good, haven't encountered any bug. The puzzles are moderately difficult. There are a lot of frightening sounds in the game. If you are looking for a walking simulator with a gloomy atmosphere, riddles and folklore of Japan: this is your game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ikai is a psychological horror game by the new Barcelonian developer Endflame. This team of three worked together on projects while at their university and have come back together to start developing games that they hope will immerse players into remarkable experiences by bringing stories to life. Their first attempt at this feat is Ikai. Set in feudal Japan, Ikai has us take the role of Naroko. She is a young priestess who assists the priest of the shrine with his duties. Recently, there has…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm going live playing a scary game I never played called Ikai before on twitch right now. Come and watch me play #twitch #twitchaffiliate #smallstreamer #happypridemonth #pridemonth
neutral · AI labelView post →This game was absolutely amazing. It's hard to come across a game that keeps my attention and wanting to keep playing and playing. Surprises left and right and the story was great and very unexpected. I'll be playing again to get all the achievements, I got 50% of them just playing through the first time. If you are questioning playing this, DO IT!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Enjoyable! A short game with good puzzles and great atmosphere. Had a good spooky time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short but fun little horror game. Be prepared for jumpscares and a creepy Japanese setting. The painting controls definitely feel a bit wonky at times, but don't let it deter you from this awesome 2 hour journey.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ah yes, Shrine Maiden Simulator 22! Would like VR
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite everything this game does well I can't recommend it. Unfortunately most of the game just felt painfully generic. It does a great job at representing traditional Japanese yokai and I never felt like any section went on for too long, but the story is practically non-existent, with the beginning and ending feeling way too contrived. I also encountered a room with massive texture bugs toward the end though this was the only major issue I really ran into. Sadly the highest praise I can give…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →one of most scary jumpscare on horror games ive been played
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if you like psychological horror . you might like this ..so far i have completed the game with no issue ..yes there was that slug monster keep eating me and get detected in a room but if u remain crouch and run toward door ..u might beat him .. love the puzzle parts .. so far no complaints ..you should give a try ..and do please use the Japanese as voice language.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game! 💓 It’s packed with Japanese aesthetics and atmosphere. You play as miku, a shrine maiden facing cruelty from both the living world and supernatural creatures. The story unfolds progressively as you play, with notes filling in the details. I really liked the huge yokai list included in the game—featuring creatures that are quite obscure, too. Therefore you find items referencing Japanese culture scattered throughout the locations, which further immerses you in the atmosphere.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting stuffs in this game but unfortunately executions pretty meh. Drawing the seals did not have to be more frustrating than it had to
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good horror game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⭐️Only 5 reviews to reach 200🤯 If you have played Ikai, please, leave a review. It would mean a lot to us to know what you think about the game. Even if you didn't like it! We want to learn for our future games. But if you loved it, also tell us😊 It helps us stay motivated💪✨
neutral · AI labelView post →Got some horror games lined up ready for streaming from tomorrow - we have BABETTE, Ikai, Master of Puppets and, just to break it up, the adorable shop keeping while murdering animals game, Recettear! Starting tomorrow, so which would you like to see me fail at?
neutral · AI labelView post →🎃Need somethin to play for #Spooktober ? Check out Ikai by @endflamestudio.bsky.social ! A horror game inspired by Japanese Folklore!
neutral · AI labelView post →161st game of 2023: Ikai (PS5) It's a total snoozefest. Despite being billed as a horror game, the scariest thing about it was the thought that I could've died from boredom while playing it and this would've been the last thing I ever played.
negative · AI labelView post →Each jump scare was enjoyable. The blood pressure was high from start to finish. Lot's of reviews had their frustrations with the game but I think with more budget and experience the next installment could bring this game to the spot light of horror games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was quite enjoyable; it plays on the player's anxiety while also justifying it; the tale is fascinating; and as we go, we can link hints to compensate for the lack of background knowledge. The drawback of this game is the finish; it began strong, but the ending feels weak in comparison to the rest of the game. 7/10 Great game, great story, but a lackluster ending
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →6/10 | Atmospheric. Puzzle-ish | Tedious. I'm glad I played this game as I definitely found the side-lore/story intriguing and educational almost. The Japanese Mythology was an interesting segment to the game but the game itself felt quite slow and slightly boring at times, sadly. If you didn't figure out what to do or how to do a puzzle quickly you'd just hear the same repetitive ambience over and over which made the horror-element quite stale on a few occasions & some puzzles were totally…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bit buggy and short b ut overall good game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very fun and different from other horrors :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great puzzles, terrific sound design, atmospheric, and has actual original and unique scares. Must buy if you're looking for a good horror game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HD DOLBY SOUND! 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a nice game, but a little short for a 12€ price tag, not that it's expensive, but i beat it within 5 hours and it could be beaten within a shorter period of time too. Either way, if you're interested about Japanese folklore and you like horror games, then i'd recommend getting this on sale. Really good Indie horror game, despite the short length of it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I quite enjoyed the horror aspect of this game. But story telling is lacking for me. Not enough supporting items in-game to be picked up by the player and the puzzles should have some clue. 4/5 for me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →played Ikai with wife. solid 6/10. i like janky folk horror games though store.steampowered.com/app/1315210/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Not that good honestly
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First playthrough was sort of intense at the beginning, not knowing how to avoid getting killed while drawing seals. After that it was pretty easy. Not very scary or hard. You can completely avoid enemies with ease. Pretty short but I liked the story, and it was fun going back to try to get all the collectibles and achievements. I'd recommend it but I'd more so call it an indie puzzle game with a Japanese aesthetic and horror theme. It's only really scary until you get the hang of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great spooky little game with some seriously good scares in it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just another indie puzzle horror game. I can't understand what to do or game does want to tell it to me. At first sight graphics felt appealing but after playing it a while it mostly feels like ready assets. Maybe story or something about it gets better but I don't think I can finish it. But if they polish maybe the next game will be a gem.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decided I needed a shorter game or two in between the long ones I'm engaged with so I kicked on Ikai. Not doing much for me scare wise but I love a game with folklore, mythology, and atmosphere which it's giving so excited to see how it goes when I can finish it.
neutral · AI labelView post →I am really sorry to give a negative review to this game, considering I excited I was to try it. The visuals are not bad, and it gives the Japanese atmosphere that I was looking for. The story is nothing special, but what made my experience negative is the gameplay. Don't get me wrong I love walking simulators and point&click games, but this feels very cheap and it is a pain in the ass. Not to mention that it is far from horror, honestly more annoying than scary. I get this game from a keyshop…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't get the positive reviews, this game is so lacking. It's so congested and having to draw things like they want is just so odd and clunky. The story seems so weirdly paced.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story is not gripping. You're just told to do something to get rid of a haunted object. There is an attempt at some backstory towards the end, but then it's too late and sudden. Weak gameplay. Puzzles don't feel like they are part of the world, but merely game elements. The puzzles are often very obvious, with the exception of one very cryptic drawing puzzle. But I do like that there is no objective marker, you're allowed to figure out where to go on your own. The area is very small so…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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