Morteshka, the studio behind Black Book and The Mooseman, has announced the release date for its upcoming folk horror adventure, One-Eyed Likho. It will launch on Steam on July 28, 2025.
To give players some insight into what to expect from the game, Mortheska released a new trailer, exposing the dark and mysterious setting of One-Eyed Likho. The world is painted in greyscale within the trailer, adding to the grim, fantasmical feeling.
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As the protagonist journeys through the trailer, everything scales from being larger than life (with one particularly remarkable shot of the night sky) to claustrophobia. Such is the trap of misfortune. Once it grips you, the walls may feel like they are closing in until you can’t escape.
Don’t wake the Likho up when it’s quiet…
Rooted in the Slavic tale of The One-Eyed Likho, the game takes players to a grim corner of 19th-century Russia. In this stark, monochrome world, you’ll wander through dense forests and decaying cottages in search of Likho, the one-eyed embodiment of misfortune, as you try to escape your cursed fate.
In this first-person horror adventure, players uncover a tale of mystery, dread and an inevitable fate. With nothing but a few matches, you’ll navigate the shadows, using fire to solve puzzles and fend off the darkness. But time is running out, and the Likho drawing nearer.
What begins as a journey for answers soon turns into a fight to understand the curse that haunts you. And now, there’s no turning back from the path that led you to Likho.
In One-Eyed Likho, players can expect:
- Folk horror – Explore a game world inspired by a Slavic fairy tale set in the early 19th century
- Story-focused exploration – Uncover hidden truths and piece together the full story as you explore
- Unique style – A unique visual experience captured through detailed greyscale
- Burn mechanics – Use matches to light your path and solve fire-driven puzzles.
Tapping into folklore offers fascinating places to explore
One-Eyed Likho is not the first time Morteshka has tapped into folklore from its region. The studio draws much of its inspiration from mythology and folklore to create narratives and worlds grounded in historical facts. The Mooseman, its debut game, released in 2017, specifically pulls from Komi folklore.
Similarly, the studio’s second project, Black Book, launched in 2021, draws heavily from Russian and Komi folklore. It focuses on a heroine named Vasilisa, a familiar name for those who have grown up with some of these stories.
With the upcoming release of One-Eyed Likho, the studio taps into folklore that is set to terrify and, based on the trailer’s opening dialogue, is sure to remind us why it is that folklore tales are still explored to this day.
One-Eyed Likho arrives on Steam July 28, 2025. Add the game to your wishlist and confront what was best left alone.
