Ikai
Released Mar 2022
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.
79% positive · 267 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Where to buy
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Evaluation
Ikai launched on March 29, 2022 as a complete first-person psychological horror experience. The only post-launch update was a small bug-fix patch on April 1, 2022 (v1.2.1), which addressed minor issues like headbob toggling and a corrupted save file edge case. No DLC, expansions, or additional content were ever announced or released for the game.
By August 2024, Endflame had moved on entirely, announcing a new cozy game called Instants — explicitly noting "it's not Ikai 2." Instants launched in June 2025. In December 2025, the studio announced yet another new project, Silent Road, a Japanese horror game unrelated to Ikai. Both announcements confirm the studio has fully shifted focus away from Ikai and has no plans for further content.
Ikai shipped as a self-contained, finished product with a single narrative arc. The developer has never hinted at expansions, sequels, or additional content for it, and all subsequent studio activity points firmly toward new, separate projects.
Evidence
Endflame announces Silent Road, a new Japanese horror game. This is their third project since Ikai, further confirming Ikai's development has long concluded.
Endflame announces their next game, Instants — a cozy puzzle game. They explicitly state it is not Ikai 2, signaling no continuation of the Ikai universe is planned.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
PM Studios, inc.
Achievements
20
Platform
Windows
Controller
partial support
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player
About this game
Ikai is a first-person psychological horror game drawing inspiration from Japanese folklore. Live the horror by the hand of its defining yokais and submerge into the superstitions of the past driven by a unique story and exploration.
Ikai embodies the spirit of the classical psychological horror genre with a defenseless main character incapable of attacking the evil creatures. However, it explores a new sense of horror by making the player face the threats directly neither fleeing nor attacking.
Every mechanic of the game is meant to raise this relatable feeling of helplessness and create a tense atmosphere. The slow, precise and natural movements as a way of interaction resemble real life’s to foster immersion in the uncanny world of Ikai.
Rumors have spread even through the most skeptical villagers, giving way to fear and hysteria. It’s not just a matter of gossip this time. The blood-stained leaves indicate that evil creatures are getting closer and closer to humans. It is believed that a new demon has turned up in the underworld. Its will is to cross the doorway into our world as soon as it finds what it is looking for. Such a situation requires the priest to head to the village, leaving the shrine under his niece’s control, the priestess.
The crowd’s fear hasn’t reached the shrine far away in the mountains, where the priestess, Naoko, works as usual, too busy to worry. Sweeping and sweeping, time goes by, with or without the priest. Without giving much importance to this sort of demon and ghost stories she ascribes to fearful children, Naoko leaves the shrine to get to the river before it gets dark. Villagers’ dreads seem to take shape in the gloomy forest. She keeps walking, increasingly tense, until her doubts are dispelled; but not her fears.
She soon loses consciousness of her soul and body and falls to the ground; almost dead, almost alive. The shrine’s bell screams for help, but it is no longer a sacred place. All Gods have gone, giving way to monsters, ghosts and spirits.
Ikai embodies the spirit of the classical psychological horror genre with a defenseless main character incapable of attacking the evil creatures. However, it explores a new sense of horror by making the player face the threats directly neither fleeing nor attacking.
Every mechanic of the game is meant to raise this relatable feeling of helplessness and create a tense atmosphere. The slow, precise and natural movements as a way of interaction resemble real life’s to foster immersion in the uncanny world of Ikai.
STORY
Rumors have spread even through the most skeptical villagers, giving way to fear and hysteria. It’s not just a matter of gossip this time. The blood-stained leaves indicate that evil creatures are getting closer and closer to humans. It is believed that a new demon has turned up in the underworld. Its will is to cross the doorway into our world as soon as it finds what it is looking for. Such a situation requires the priest to head to the village, leaving the shrine under his niece’s control, the priestess.
The crowd’s fear hasn’t reached the shrine far away in the mountains, where the priestess, Naoko, works as usual, too busy to worry. Sweeping and sweeping, time goes by, with or without the priest. Without giving much importance to this sort of demon and ghost stories she ascribes to fearful children, Naoko leaves the shrine to get to the river before it gets dark. Villagers’ dreads seem to take shape in the gloomy forest. She keeps walking, increasingly tense, until her doubts are dispelled; but not her fears.
She soon loses consciousness of her soul and body and falls to the ground; almost dead, almost alive. The shrine’s bell screams for help, but it is no longer a sacred place. All Gods have gone, giving way to monsters, ghosts and spirits.
GAMEPLAY
- FEAR: Experience the horror in first-person by the hand of Japanese spirits, monsters and yokais
- EXPLORATION: Wander around a feudal shinto shrine and explore to unveil the story behind Naoko, the main character
- DRAWING: Concentrate on drawing protective seals over the strange sounds and events happening around
- PUZZLES: Pit your wits against the several puzzles that will try to stop you
- STEALTH & RUN: Be silent, do not disturb the evil… Or just run, run away from it all, if you can…
Are these done yet?
![[Chilla's Art] Onryo | 怨霊](https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1267310/header.jpg?t=1662352138)
Last evaluated Jun 25, 2026
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