Ukrainian studio creates a horror game about Odesa

The Ukrainian studio Judas Brothers has released Arcadia Cafe on Steam, a domestic horror game set in the Ukraine of the early 2000s.

According to Village, the game was made in PSX-style (the aesthetics of the 32-bit PlayStation 1 console). The story takes place in the Arcadia cafe in Odesa.

"Every Ukrainian who has ever been to Odesa has seen such a place, where local marginalized people are like family, and it is scary and dangerous for an ordinary citizen to enter," the game's description says.

The main character is a girl named Alina who works in a cafe. Her routine work turns into a nightmare. After her shift, she returns home via the Health Trail, where she encounters strange people and disturbing situations that turn into psychological horror.

Among the game's developers is Artur Aleksandrov, a quest designer at GSC GameWorld, who created S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl. At the Gamedev forum, he said that the idea to create a household horror came from the Odesa Telegram channel about the eccentrics on the Health Route.

"We realized that we didn't want to make a mysticism about curses, monsters, or anything like that. Horror is with us every day, but we don't realize it," the developer explained.

An old Soviet apartment with a game console near the TV, neon signs of cafes next to panel houses, and Mr. Twister street machines near the house - this is how the developer describes the aesthetics of the 'noughties that inspired the game. The game also features stylized items such as Chornobaivske beer and Cohve 3-in-1 sticks. The game has a Ukrainian localization.

It should be noted that this is not the first time Odesa has been associated with the computer game industry. For example, Odesa-based theater and film actor Hryhorii Baklanov, known for his role in the TV series To Catch a Kaidash, where he played Lavrin, voiced 23 characters at once in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, which was released in the fall of 2024.

Кирило Бойко