Layers of Fear VR
Layers of Fear VR
Game
Game2023
Kujlevka
Developer Callback
A flying saucer crash-lands in a distant Russian village, turning a rundown kolkhoz into the first, thin bridge between civilizations. As the first point of contact, you must dictate how this encounter unfolds and ultimately determine history’s outcome. From the Steam store page
33 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Nov 1, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
84
LovedLoved
27 positive · 5 negative
95% range 68–93%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 27 | 5 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Positive
40 of 45 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
89% recommend · 34 yes, 4 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 38 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (629 of 687 positive).
The game is best appreciated by those familiar with post-Soviet culture and history. [1][2][3]
Liked
Representative posts
- [3]
I am probably not recommending it. And not because it's niche. Perhaps I am comparing it too much to Indika, which I finished before playing this, but it's just not that great. Firstly, unlike Indika this one is definitely for people from post-soviet lands. A lot of humor and references in general will fly over the head for people not familiar with what it was to live there. Heck, it probably won't be understood by …
- [4]
Deeply philosophical and disturbingly realistic game. It's all about your choices, but do they even matter in the end. As a person born in the USSR I can totally relate to the protagonist nostalgia and decisions he makes, but it all seems wrong in the grand scheme of things. Really good game which makes you think, but also masterfully made. Great visual and sound design, and I really want to have a soundtrack as a …
- [9]
Kujlevka is a game that tries to do something different with the alien invasion trope. Instead of fighting off hordes of hostile invaders or sneaking around secret bases, you play as a humble chairman of a collective farm in a remote Russian village that becomes the first point of contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Your job is to manage the visitors who want to enter the crashed flying saucer and …
- [6]
5/10 It's fine. Not for me. I like the vibe and presentation. The music slaps. It just can't seem to decide what it wants to be. It's a weird mixture of abstract, philosophical topics, combined with some memes and humor while at the same time trying to be serious. The writing is mostly decent, although some meaning is definitely lost in the English translation. But it's probably kinda hard to localize some of the …
- [2]
A great choice-consequence game. Game has no action component, only the story and consequences of player's decisions. It has a very atmospheric post-soviet depression style an is just enjoyable to walk through. Total game length is about 3h, but, since choices might have severe consequences, it is not limited by one walk through. Yet you probably wouldn't play it more than two times. upd: Those, who haven't …
Summarised from 27 of the 39 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 14, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
89% of the 38 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Kujlevka. The complaint that keeps coming up: translation issues and mismatched subtitles. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
33 of 33 · most liked firstDeeply philosophical and disturbingly realistic game. It's all about your choices, but do they even matter in the end. As a person born in the USSR I can totally relate to the protagonist nostalgia and decisions he makes, but it all seems wrong in the grand scheme of things. Really good game which makes you think, but also masterfully made. Great visual and sound design, and I really want to have a soundtrack as a premium item!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Actually a pretty entertaining and well-done Soviet-political game. The negative review is because the Linux version crashes (see Discussions tab), and the Windows version under Proton doesn’t share saves and soft-locked for me at the “entering words on the TV” stage. So I can’t actually play it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kujlevka is a game that tries to do something different with the alien invasion trope. Instead of fighting off hordes of hostile invaders or sneaking around secret bases, you play as a humble chairman of a collective farm in a remote Russian village that becomes the first point of contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Your job is to manage the visitors who want to enter the crashed flying saucer and interact with the mysterious aliens who seem more interested in studying human desires…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What at first looked like a satire of USSR transition to Russia actually turned to be a philosophical discussion of the whole humankind point of existence. As a person in his 40s I didn't expect to find a fresh look on what's being explored for the last 2500 years, and I actually stared for a minute or two while credits rolled. Unfortunately, the most impact this game makes is if you speak Russian and understand the political and economical world of early 90s. If you don't, it's still worth a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Men would make a whole game about how they HATE HATE HATE Yeltsin and the fall of the USSR instead of going to therapy. It's nice and surprisingly heartfelt, if you can bear the themes.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Country in existential crisis. Somewhere on it's periphery, ageing disabled man with PTSD... in existential crisis. In his living room: crashed spaceship with miraculous technology capable of granting wishes. At least if you translate the interface well... Will it bring hope to the vast, abandoned land? Or at least give extra udders to the old neighbour's goat? Kujlevka is absurd comedy. Very bitter and introspective though, on personal level as well as societal. You can laugh at crazy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An interesting indie game about a wishing well. People get one wish but you as an overseer decide whether they get to get their wish executed to the T or if it is sort of a monkey paw scenario. Probably the best thing about the game were some interesting ideas to think about. I enjoyed some of the dream sequences, some of them seemed little out of place. The writing is mostly good. It was exactly the right amount of leght for a single playtrough. If I had to criticise something, the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good, original story-rich game, with choices. Planning to replay it to see different branches!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is a montage of scenes from the events of 1989 to 1993 in the former Soviet Union, serving as a music video to Kino’s harrowing song, Кончится лето or Summer is ending. When the song was released Tsoi was already dead and republics of the union already breaking away. This montage haunted me for many nights, often accompanied by a drink or two, seldom accompanied by tears—mind-numbingly swift dissolution of this corrupted worker’s state, this union of deserters of internationalism, this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am probably not recommending it. And not because it's niche. Perhaps I am comparing it too much to Indika, which I finished before playing this, but it's just not that great. Firstly, unlike Indika this one is definitely for people from post-soviet lands. A lot of humor and references in general will fly over the head for people not familiar with what it was to live there. Heck, it probably won't be understood by a significant portion of people born after 2000. Unless you are russian, that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →5/10 It's fine. Not for me. I like the vibe and presentation. The music slaps. It just can't seem to decide what it wants to be. It's a weird mixture of abstract, philosophical topics, combined with some memes and humor while at the same time trying to be serious. The writing is mostly decent, although some meaning is definitely lost in the English translation. But it's probably kinda hard to localize some of the dialogue. Not much gameplay but there seems to be quite a lot of decisions you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game with intriguing plot, beautiful audio and very pleasant atmosphere. Definitely worth its buy, and worth you to play it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A bit rough around the edges, suffers from some translation problems,there is also some mismatch between the english dub and the english subtitles, and the story at some points can be a bit hard to grasp, so i would only recommend grabbing the game for the experience and if you like the genre when it's on sale. Not a bad game but more like middle of the road of a recommendation.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well. I was expecting something unexpected, but not this load of pseudo-philosophical crap.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A well thought through game which takes a different, very Russian approach to the alien invasion genre. A good selection of central characters which explore the attitudes of different sectors of Russian society immediately after the fall of the iron curtain. Perhaps some things are lost in the English translation, but it is still recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →MASTERPIECE WORK OF ART MAX/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best indie adventure experiences of my life. Bizarre, philosophical, peaceful & chaotic. What a ride. And that soundtrack is top notch. You might not get some references if you do not know some Soviet/Russian history and historical figures, however that only makes the whole experience somehow more enjoyable - I did not understand every detail either and I still consider it one of the most interesting joyride. LIFE IS STRANGE, BUT RUSSIA WITH ITS MANY ISSUES You owe it yourself to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game! Very funny!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good idea, boring execution.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What an awesome hidden gem of a game. Fantastic voice acting, writing, decent staging, not too much to do except think and enjoy the choices while the story unfolds. ---edit--- I put more time into the game and it feels like it, as a whole, it assembled a lot of great ideas and rushed them and then made them a bitter pill to swallow. The choices become less realistic and more like it doesn't matter what you choose. There are some different unlocks in the dialog, sure, and cool achievements,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The writing is great, the 4 main characters interacting never got tiring, and the different situations you are put in, whether abstract or straightforward, were always interesting, and frequently funny. A bit janky on the steam deck, but I really can't say anything bad about this, it was a blast and didn't overstay its welcome.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kujlevka is a narrative experience that thrives on atmosphere, ambiguity, and the quietly surreal, presenting a story that unfolds more like a dream than a traditional adventure. Developed by Callback and published by Crytivo, the game situates you in a remote Russian village in the early 1990s, a time defined by uncertainty and post-Soviet disillusionment. You play as Valery Potikhonchenkov, a wounded veteran whose solitary existence is upended when a UFO crashes directly into his home. From…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Your Indika section makes me think you would enjoy Kujlevka, a game that's also sneak-up-on-you surrealist with a lot of talk about religion and communism, where you play a disabled old veteran going through dreams inspired by the war and also interact with an UFO with your 3 friends, very funny!
neutral · AI labelView post →Very nice atmosphere to play for evening or two
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great choice-consequence game. Game has no action component, only the story and consequences of player's decisions. It has a very atmospheric post-soviet depression style an is just enjoyable to walk through. Total game length is about 3h, but, since choices might have severe consequences, it is not limited by one walk through. Yet you probably wouldn't play it more than two times. upd: Those, who haven't encountered post-soviet depression, lead by Boris Elcin, might not understand most of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game about humanity and its flaws.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →highly recommended!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A lot of commie propaganda on top of a bunch of slavic memes added absolutely without any thought behind it. Story and dialogues are written specifically for one type of 40 year old post-soviet men who are very nostalgic about the country they never lived in. Unless you're on one page with them, pretty much unbearable writing. Also moves slowly and raises your GPU temperature as if it has a hidden miner.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A wonderful game in a great setting and atmosphere, also with colorful characters. It was recommended to me as similar to Disco Elysium. It is somewhat similar when it comes to certain themes, style and humor (and I suppose gameplay). As I enjoyed DE, I enjoyed Kujlevka. It was a great experience and I definitely felt that a lot of love and thought was used for its creation. I had a great time and I cannot recommend it enough.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a surprisngly polished and rich game that deceptively looks simple. It is humorous and surreal, I'm not sure I understood the ending, but it's quite alright, there's multiple of them depending on your choices. The alien communication mechanic wasn't immediately obvious. Spent maybe half the game not calibrating my responses. I loved the pop-culture and political references. I also loved how the game isn't sci-fi focused, it's more of a philosophical take on facing the unknown. The game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I expected less
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Chillout Great
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very fun game, very funny. My gameplay video of it so far. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYO__NXvQLS6rqyFqyc0RQEkY2fbCv12a
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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