WARDOGS
WARDOGS
Game
Game2024
REKA
Developer Emberstorm Entertainment
Channel your inner witch! Build your cozy chicken-legged hut, practice witchcraft, and forage for ingredients in autumnal woodlands. Solve quests & uncover the great mysteries of the legendary witch Baba Jaga… From the Steam store page
506 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
294 positive · 74 negative
95% range 75–84%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 294 | 74 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 47 | 2 | 81 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 7 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
2,101 of 2,495 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
72% recommend · 177 yes, 69 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 246 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (2,919 of 3,538 positive).
Players love the game's atmosphere, music, and witchy aesthetic. [1][2][3] Many reviewers note the game is buggy and unoptimized, especially in early access. [4][5][6] Some players feel the game lacks content and has repetitive quests. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [9]
Unless 1.0 (due out "Early 2026'" as of time of writing this review on May 11 2026...) brings a massive overhaul, I cannot in good conscience recommend this game. Certainly not for $20, and maybe not even for $5). The atmosphere is extremely appealing; I love the witchy Witcher vibes of the world. Character customization is limited but still miles better than many similar games. Mostly I just like the currently …
- [1]
Is it buggy? Yes. Are there mistakes? Yes. But honestly, I don't care how much time it takes for this game to be finished, it is clear as day that it's made with love and developers want to give us pure magic ✨. I see you, I appreciate you. 💜 It's been a while since a game spoke to me to this degree and I fell in love immediately. Not only is the vision absolutely beautiful, the music, the mood and the lighting... …
- [4]
I am going to be transparent, I will not thumb down this game because the idea and the game, the atmosphere, the art is literally perfect. I am obsessed. But it's basically unplayable in this state. I have a $5,000 PC and I cannot play this game unless I lower the settings, and I run in slow-motion if my settings are high. I really hope there is an upcoming fix because I really want to binge play this game so badly.
- [7]
I’ve been playing for an over 20hrs at this point and been thoroughly enjoying it so far. I would recommend it, but only with the right expectations in the game’s current form. It’s clear that a lot of care and love went into this game, but it still has plenty of room for improvement. I’m really enjoying building the home, the game’s atmosphere, and the interactions with Baba Yaga. My 3 main issues are: …
- [2]
Reka completely pulled me into its world in a way very few games ever do. 🌙✨ From the moment I stepped into the forests, built my little witch cottage, gathered herbs, planted my garden, and wandered through the fog with my lantern… I felt genuinely peaceful. The atmosphere in this game is absolutely magical. The sound design, lighting, weather, forests, and cozy witchcraft aesthetic are BEAUTIFUL. Every part of …
Summarised from 34 of the 316 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 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
72% of the 246 Steam reviewers we collected recommend REKA. The complaint that keeps coming up: frequent bugs and game-breaking issues. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 506 · most liked firstAutumn in the air? Feeling a bit witchy? Then REKA is OUT NOW on Steam EA! This was a wonderful game and team to write for. Play here: t.ly/RekaSteam
positive · AI labelView post →I love the content for this game very much, and it is so beautiful! However I have been waiting for three updates since my purchase a couple of months ago for some reported bug problems to be fixed. I am unable to advance past the second chapter due to not being able to pick up items when hovering over with my mouse. And instead the updates consist of new items instead of game play quality. I have found out that several other people have had this problem as well, even after switching to the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →REKA is a gothic, dark fantasy, deep magic, witchy-as-it-gets game. There is a certain amount of joy and love I derived from the characters, spirits, story and customization. It scratched an itch for a game about a witch. You can choose to be good, or bad. However, I can't in good faith recommend others pay for this game. It is certainly far from finished, with clunky gameplay and once you've finished what storyline there is, there isn't much else to do (except obsessively decorate). To…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →REKA 1.0 makes Baba Yaga your teacher and hands you a house on chicken legs #FireshineGames #RhiannaPratchett #EmberstormEntertainment
neutral · AI labelView post →Unless 1.0 (due out "Early 2026'" as of time of writing this review on May 11 2026...) brings a massive overhaul, I cannot in good conscience recommend this game. Certainly not for $20, and maybe not even for $5). The atmosphere is extremely appealing; I love the witchy Witcher vibes of the world. Character customization is limited but still miles better than many similar games. Mostly I just like the currently available hairs, and the fact that the eye colors have very fae/witchy names. I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →NO! I do NOT recommend this "early access" game. Skip it until it's actually FULLY finished. I've logged 350+ hours and endured 4+ forced restarts because game-breaking bugs made progression impossible. PROS ✓ Forests can be visually appealing ✓ Witch-life theme is typical but okay ✓ Baba Jaga and Slavic folklore inspiration ✓ Typical Baba Jaga-style chicken house ✓ House decorating offers decent customization ✓ Exploration can be enjoyable for a while ✓ Animal collecting exists ✓ Relaxing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to like this game so bad. The vibes are phenomenal and the gameplay is enjoyable, but WOW do the devs need to figure out how to optimize a game. Even on the lowest settings this game CHUGS. I mean 30-40fps drops every few seconds, for a game with PS2 graphics. (I say that lovingly) Don't buy this, on sale or otherwise, until the devs get it under control.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This breaks my heart to leave a "not recommended" review for this, because it should be literally everything I love in game form. I was patiently waiting until it was close to 1.0 to try it because I was SO excited and didn't want to ruin it by playing an unfinished version, especially when the initial EA reviews weren't great. I thought I was safe getting it a few weeks before full release and taking some time to catch up, but oh my god this game is so freaking buggy, and not the cute janky…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's been more than a year now and this game is still in early access with basically no updates that adds to gameplay. A new window won't make me come back to this. The vibe is nice and there was a reason I bought it, but so far it's underwhelming.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is just not in a playable state. I have run into several bugs as I have played, all of which range from frustrating (such as not being able to complete a quest) to entirely game-breaking (being unable to move around or enter the next level). Currently, my longest and best save is completely broken, and I may be unable to continue the game, I might be forced to restart entirely, which isn't fun or fair. I have owned the game for almost a year now, and it feels like very minimal…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Is it buggy? Yes. Are there mistakes? Yes. But honestly, I don't care how much time it takes for this game to be finished, it is clear as day that it's made with love and developers want to give us pure magic ✨. I see you, I appreciate you. 💜 It's been a while since a game spoke to me to this degree and I fell in love immediately. Not only is the vision absolutely beautiful, the music, the mood and the lighting... oh the lighting. Tears rushed to my eyes so many times it's embarrassing. I'm…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to enjoy this game, it looks really pretty and I like the game play but there are so many bugs I have to restart every half an hour as something breaks, Ive been stuck in chicken mode, had entire zones unplayable and had to restart my entire game with a new save. This is also one of the few games where the lag gets worse the longer you play, it needs serious optimisation.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Important/adorable REKA announcement: We're adding foxes to our game! 🦊 #gamedev #cozygame #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →Cool concept, nice artstyle but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is it buggy. It says its Early Access but it feels more like an Early Alpha. Most things on the map are floating, saving the game often wont save, quests break constantly and triggers to unlock abilities wont trigger. There are a lot of other small things and those would be fine in an early access, but its really not helping. So only buy it if you are fine with restarting the whole game a few times in order to get lucky enough to progress. I would…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The art style and Idea of the game is amazing, It's not often you get to be a witch- let alone the Baba Yaga... But PLEASE, for the love of god, optimize this game. It runs HORRIBLY, and it is absolutely riddled with bugs. The maps are extremely small with really nothing going on- but I also haven't been able to make it far at all because I spend more time messing with the settings than I do actually playing the game. I want to love the game, I really do, but there are so many issues that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've also been obsessed with the game Reka lately. I found a cat that looks like mine IRL. 🥺🐈⬛ The kitty purrs when you pick them up, in game!
positive · AI labelView post →REKA is sooo good I’ve been beating myself like the dark souls skeleton gif wishing for a witch customization game and it’s here
positive · AI labelView post →The game feels like its in early alpha testing and not early access. The game is wonderfully cozy and once its fully out or at least a little more updated it will be great just not right now. the land generation is funky half the time with roads and trees floating, the people in the villages will all spawn as the same character with the same name, sometimes ppl spawn without faces. theres just a bunch of issues with the game that all combine to make it kinda not the greatest to play right now.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Currently playing Reka. It’s a indie PC game that lets you create a Witch who becomes the apprentice to Baba Yaga. You get coo Witch powers. You get to help locals by expelling demons and spirits. And you get to create a walking Chiken leg house!!!
positive · AI labelView post →It's a shame that I have to give this game a negative review, I really wanted to love it so much! Numerous game-breaking bugs aside, the game is just incredibly boring and it does not value the player's time. I received the game as a gift from a friend, but in my opinion, it's not even remotely worth its price. I'm happy that the developers have created a Slavic folklore-inspired game and I really hope they continue working on this game - I will continue to keep an eye on it and hope for the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like being a boy, but there was a part of me that said, "yeah, but as a boy, you'll never know what it was like being a witch of the woods,". Then this game showed up! Just a story of a apprentice witch working under the great Baba Yaga. The game is devoid of action, and thank goodness! im a cute witch of the woods, not a huntsman! Its not my job to slay beasts or protect myself from night terrors. Its my JOB it make my chicken hut look nice, make pancakes, and cast a few spells to make…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played some of the game Reka and in it I stole a goat and it is my goat now.
positive · AI labelView post →It‘s very rough. I really like the ideas and the setting, but it feels like barely an Alpha playtest. Seeing as its available for 1,5yrs now i would expect it to take 5+ more years to reach a playable status.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoy Reka a lot. It is exactly what I was hoping for. A cozy exploration game, no rush, no threat. Just explore, collect and enjoy the gloomy, yet comforting autumnal vibes :) I'm a little peeved about the UI navigation when playing with controller, but I'm sure that's gonna be fixed as the game grows. If I, a bald and bearded man, can enjoy being a little forrest witch so can anyone. It's a lovely game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So. I see the vision. I see what the developer is trying to do and I applaud them for it! However...the game is...how to put it the good: It is very faithful to what you'd expect from a witchy atmosphere. Many things seem to feel like they are following genuine...celtic? nordic? folklore when it comes to witches and Baba Yaga. However... The game is incredibly buggy as all hell and back. I tried lowering the settings to the bare minimum for the graphics and the game was still constantly…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I do still like and recommend this game, I do think that the devs have gotten a bit lost in their community pandering. The discord is a lively hive of brilliant creators and builders of amazing chicken-houses, and the devs add a lot of extra stuff to the game on the regular, but it seems the story progression and actual game development have kind of fallen by the wayside. I hope the team regathers their motivation to actually finish this game because it is such a good start. But it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you like to build, or, you get motion sickness from video games, DO NOT BOTHER. There are no settings to alleviate motion sickness, and the game is constantly spinning the camera view (example: open any storage chest). When you finally settle in and start really building your house, the build controls are so wonky that you will never be able to snap a simple roof to anything. The theme and story are fantastic. I really tried to make it work. The nausea coupled with inability to build is just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Extremely buggy in 2026. The gameplay is dull. Designs are good but not when it comes to locations being randomly generated. Dialogues are fun and lively tho.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playing a lot of Reka lately while I rest my injured back this weekend. I'm always blown away by how gorgeous the sky is in this game!
positive · AI labelView post →If you want to take some time to escape into a cute video game world, my current recs are: 1. Little Kitty, Big City. Favorite cozy game, truly. 2. Hello Kitty Island Adventure to just really shut off your brain. 3. Reka because being a witch in the woods (with cute animals) is a good time.
positive · AI labelView post →This game has a great concept, perfect ambiance (wish it was a little less orange) and wonderful crafting and building mechanics. The only issue is that I can only play it in short periods of time because there's a debilitating motion sickness from the camera fov, getting caught on bushes, and when entering any buildings. I hope this is fixed soon, I wish so bad to enjoy the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has almost everything I’m looking for---playing as a witch, building a house, going on adventures, and an interesting storyline. There’s honestly so much potential here, which makes the bugs even more disappointing. Every time I reach the end of a mission or start a new one, the game suddenly freezes and won’t let me save my progress. I’ve had to go back to my last save point and restart the entire mission, only to discover that some things were missing during the first cutscene. It’s…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's celebrate the best season of the year! 🍂😉 Our game is set in autumn so we couldn't resist taking part in this Steam sale! 🫖✨ REKA is 25% off for one whole week: t.ly/RekaSteam #indiedev #gamedev #cozygame
neutral · AI labelView post →REKA does not have a fishing minigame but it does have fishing *decorations*!! #reka #indiegame #gaming #videogames #fishing #fishingminigame
positive · AI labelView post →Reka is by far a stand-out pagan/witchcraft game; the concept is utterly fantastic. I enjoy how in-depth the spellcrafting and magic system is, the environment is beautiful, it has all the desirables of a cozy crafting game and overall I'd recommend it. The statements I have about the game below are personal and, quite frankly, blunt; However, I do truly hope that they inspire creativity rather than discouragement. This is both for the devs and also anyone considering buying the game. That…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hey, witches! 🧙♀️ We have some exciting news about REKA 1.0 to share during the online Mix Summer Game Showcase on June 1st! 🍄 Tune in to see what's new with our autumnal world 🧡 #indiegame #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →let me preference, i really really want this game to succeed. but is absolutely nowhere near polished enough for a full release!! every time there is a new update i start a new save, and every time the same exact same bugs pop up. its been years now. with the latest update the frame rate has broken. merchant vanishing, animals spawning inside of scenery, random tiles in the house not allowing to be built on for no reason, turning your house into an asymmetrical mess. also it is missing some…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →REKA – Great theme, but too much friction I bought REKA at launch because I love Baba Yaga folklore and games inspired by it. I really wanted to like this game, but after revisiting it more than a year later I still can’t recommend it. There have been some improvements since launch, especially with onboarding, but the core problems remain. Main issues: Performance Even after a year, performance is still rough. The game only becomes reasonably playable after lowering many graphics settings,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ugh gods I have waited a year to get this game and I love everything about it but I can't play it if it's going to crash to the point that I have to do a hard reboot. The suckier part of it all is that about a year ago people were having crashing issues and nothing has been done about it?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am going to be transparent, I will not thumb down this game because the idea and the game, the atmosphere, the art is literally perfect. I am obsessed. But it's basically unplayable in this state. I have a $5,000 PC and I cannot play this game unless I lower the settings, and I run in slow-motion if my settings are high. I really hope there is an upcoming fix because I really want to binge play this game so badly.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a creative and fantastical concept for a game, but it is so buggy that I have to exit out of the game and start it up again multiple times in one play through. Also the settings for audio don't work for me, so even if I mute all sounds it is still deafeningly loud. I love the art and idea of it all, just wish it was more flushed out.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm giving this game a review while recognizing that it is still in early access, i got it on sale, and i want it to succeed. It gets a 'positive' review becasue i don't regret buying it. This game deserves a mixed review given how close it is to release, it's current technical state, and the MSRP for the game. There is much to like about Reka regardless, and it scratched a very specific itch. Reka is at it's core a bad first game, poorly built in unity. I would consider it in a playable…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Reka completely pulled me into its world in a way very few games ever do. 🌙✨ From the moment I stepped into the forests, built my little witch cottage, gathered herbs, planted my garden, and wandered through the fog with my lantern… I felt genuinely peaceful. The atmosphere in this game is absolutely magical. The sound design, lighting, weather, forests, and cozy witchcraft aesthetic are BEAUTIFUL. Every part of the game feels handcrafted with love and intention. I found myself slowing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So right off the rip I'm going to tell you. if you get this game, you need to have patience. if you dont have patience for a early released title. this is not for you. This does have its bugs. thats to be expected with any game. let it be early release or in our gaming companies current standards of a "fully released game". filling out a bug report is super easy. and the community if you join the discord is helpful and just a awesome group a people. these bugs do eventually get adressed. cant…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am the type of player that enjoys the farming and cozy story telling. I look forward to games that allow me to sit back, decorate and not worry too much about grinding for supplies. This being said, Reka checks off a lot of boxes for me. I like the house decorating, and there are so many items and decorations I have yet to find. I do enjoy running around the maps and trying to find knick knacks or new puzzles to solve. I have not found many animal companions yet, but that's okay! I look…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The aesthetics and the overall idea is very nice. I really like the story and all, however the game has issues. I decided to replay the game recently and I can't even get past the first area because the cooking is totally busted. As the game is at the moment, it's not worth the price tag and I seriously wish I could refund it...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →✅ Raining outside ✅ Mug of hot tea ✅ Fluffy socks on ✅ Playing the perfect cozy game If you need inspiration on how to spend these colder evenings - we recommend REKA! 🍵🧙♀️
neutral · AI labelView post →Unfortunately, experienced an unplayable bug about an hour in (lighting the candles). Could not progress the game at all. After, game would not start - stuck on loading dependencies.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My review: This game is amazing in my personal opinion, there is building, exploration, magic, and overall fun. Yes its buggy, no its not abandoned, yes you will have fun if you give it patience. For the negative, whiny complaints: Y'all, it says "Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development.", in layman's terms, hold your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to enjoy this game but unfortunately it is a buggy and unoptimized mess at present. I get deer spinning wildly, lag spikes despite my graphics and such being way above the necessary. Some items are not placed correctly and others you can phase through them. I really think that instead of putting out new content that the developers should focus on finding and fixing the bugs. I understand that's tedious but there's no point in new things if the existing ones are still breaking.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →playing a new game called REKA! i got a key from fireshine games to try it out !! yibbee!! raelaveire.stream
positive · AI labelView post →I really really love this game so far. Still early access. The only drawback is you start getting a bit of that lonely isolation feeling you get while playing Minecraft and the like. I’d love if they had some more content that helps you connect to individual villagers and/or a homebase village. Maybe they’ll add something like that later!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ITS 100% STILL BUGGY AS ITS STILL IN EARLY ACCESS BUT ITS CUTE AND AESTHETIC + YOU PLAY AS A CUTE WITCH IN THE WOODS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH <333 but I truly can't wait to see what they do with this game going forward :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stream ended with some Reka and it looks like we beat what there is of the game to play!! I hope that everyone had fun, but make sure to give a follow to these amazing friends who raided into me tonight!! We took the coffee cart over to: www.twitch.tv/shawnthehuuman
positive · AI labelView post →I went ahead and got Reka cuz it was on sale and I haven't played much but very unique game already. Too bad it runs like absolute ASS on the steam deck even in the lowest settings. Very beautiful game tho. I like the witchy vibes and building the chicken legged hut c:
neutral · AI labelView post →a Little while back i was inspired by Reka, game were you become Baba Jaga apprentice, soo here is my take on Baba Jaga (one day i will cosplay her) #digitalart #BabaYaga
neutral · AI labelView post →I think REKA will be my comfy game this winter break This looks so cute, I want to be a witch and make my own chicken castle
positive · AI labelView post →Played for 4 hrs. Got to the 2nd map and saved to come back later. Game now crashing when trying to load that save. Those first 4 hours were pretty buggy, but mostly stuff you can play around, just really sloppy and clashing with the otherwise great vibe the game has visually and thematically. I had held off from getting this after their demo before they went into EA because it was so rough and figured this close to 1.0 it would be in better shape. The performance vs fidelity is still way off…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playing this game for the first time in 2024, I immediately sensed it has a unique soul and promising potential. The idea of playing as Baba Yaga's apprentice is so cool, but it's obvious the game is still in early access and needs a lot of polish and debugging. About a year later, the game feels somewhat bland, and even the character customization has lost its spark, which is disappointing to notice. I'm still hopeful, and part of me wants to see the game finished and improved because the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Check out my video on REKA! The cozy Autumnal witchy exploration game. We cover a lot of secrets! youtu.be/XMA5B52ux2A?... #reka #cozygames #indiegames #letsplay #youtubepromo #gamingsky
neutral · AI labelView post →
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