Reka Early Alpha Review: A promising mess

As a man midway through my thirties, I’m not sure how I feel about playing a young witch setting out to find her place in the world. But, you know what? I set aside my reservations and took a dive into the charming and weirdly nostalgic world of Reka.

Here’s my best attempt to collect my scattered thoughts and present something you can actually read — enjoy!

What is Reka?

Reka, at it’s core right now, is a sandbox crafting game with no survival mechanics, no story of substance, no real… anything. You’re a child going through adolescence (presumably), and you meet this old lady who turns out to be Baba Yaga, the legendary child-eating witch.

Well, on her bad days, I guess. On her good days, Baba Yaga is a kind old lady, which is the version we seem to get. If I were a young girl, I don’t think I’d take that gamble.

Anyway, this is a game, so we’re pulled along my mystical forces. The chosen one and all that, yadda yadda.

This leads us on some adventures where we get to meet Harry’s Patronus (please get that reference!), we get to rob graves, and make all sorts of oddities in our witch oven. This game shouldn’t be good, and it’s not — at least not yet.

But I can’t deny that there’s something about it. Why does it attract me so? Let’s explore that for a moment.

What makes Reka enjoyable?

I feel like the gaming community tires of standard old crafting games. They’re a dime a dozen these days, and we really don’t need too many more. Especially not rough, prototype-like entries like Reka. But, you see, as a veteran gamer at this point, I remember a time when graphics like this was peak.

I remember a time when the movements in this game would have been top-class. And so I can’t help but be struck by a powerful sense of nostalgia as I enter the witchy world of Reka. And in that, weirdly, lies some comfort.

But then you play for a while, and you discover a truly charming world with interesting characters and some lore in there already. Look, I’m not going to pretend like Reka is a good game — it really isn’t at the moment, but it’s passable, and shows massive potential.

I really hope this little diamond in the rough does well and that the ongoing development is well-managed, because with some upgrades, tweaks, and a lot more world-building, this could be a genuinely enjoyable game.

However, there are some things that might need to change.

Where Reka can improve a lot

I neeed a magic system. Cooking food and cleansing graves (so we can rob them, yeah!) doesn’t seem all that witchy to me. Oh, we can throw our magical crows at honeycombs to knock them down. Erm… still not witchy enough for me.

Having some kind of serious magic system added into the game could benefit it a lot. I, for one, would love to experience the power of the witches from old folklore that the game is based on. A healing spell here and there, maybe an offensive spell for when the Luthi get a little too friendly.

I don’t know, just anything would be nice. Then again, that’s just me. And what the developer seems to be going after here is a cozy builder-type game.

I prefer action, and that’s my personal opinion. If cozy game are your thing, you might disagree and want more cooking recipes or something. And that’s just fine!

Is Reka worth playing?

In my honest opinion, not just yet. The game is very rough around the edges. The graphics and character movement is certainly off-putting. And… besides a small quest line that could take you thirty minutes if you sped run it, there’s not a whole lot to do yet.

You could build a really nice house though if that’s what you’re into.

It’s an Alpha launch, and I’ve always felt like Alpha launches should be kept well away from the public. Because you get people like me that come along and have judge this game alongside others like Space Marine 2 and Once Human. You can understand my struggle in finding something good to say about this game!

The thing is, I have a real soft-spot for Indie titles. I play new releases very often, and I’m seen some train wrecks! So if I judge this game fairly, it has a chance to succeed, that’s for sure.

As true indie titles go (not the “indie” titles that are backed by billion-dollar studios), this one’s definitely worth checking out. Even if you’re not a fan of cozy builder games, you might want to spend the few bucks just to help a dream come a little closer to materializing.

You’ll love Reka if…

If you like cozy builders, Reka’s your game. It’s a fun little time waster, and though the quest will only keep you busy for a couple of hours, a limitless amount of procedurally generated maps will have you collecting all the possible furniture for weeks to come, so you can really pimp out your witch hut (or castle, you do you!).

Given time, I’m sure we’ll be in for a deep and meaningful story. If you’re a fan of messages conveyed in art form, we already have some of that in Reka, that speaks about environmental sustainability. While it’s a little on the nose, it’s a good message to spread.

Balance in all things, and everything in balance.

If you’d like to show your support for this brand new yet promising title, check out their Steam page here.

Wait, you didn’t give us a rating!

Yeah, that’s intentional. I’m not rating an Early Alpha game, because that rating’s going to be low. I do not want to get on the wrong side of fans of a witch game, so let’s leave that alone for now.

You have my thoughts on the game. It’s rough, it’s promising, and it’s worth a play if you’re a cozy builder. That’s all I’ll say for now. Once the game reaches Beta, we can look upon it more harshly, but for now, let’s give Emberstorm Entertainment the benefit of the doubt here.

Cool studio name, by the way.

One final thing before I close my case here. The graphics, which I thought rudimentary at first, has grown on me. It’s such a charming style that I hope they don’t change it completely, but only touch it up where needed.

Definitely one to watch.