Saint Kotar

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Two devout men, a missing sister and a town that worships something else.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (74% of 295 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Red Martyr Entertainment (The-Mark Entertainment)
Released: 2021

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What frightens In Sveti Kotar, an ancient God-devoted town in a fog-bound Croatian valley, an unknown presence preys on the weak through devil worship and witchcraft; investigating grisly ritual murders that point to your missing relative, you switch between two realities as hooded cultists, burning effigies and visions close in.
Content: gore, violence, religious themes.

Saint Kotar is a point-and-click psychological horror detective game set in a cursed valley in rural Croatia. As Benedek and Nikolay you search the old town of Sveti Kotar for a missing relative tied to ritual murders and witchcraft, switching between two realities and making choices that shape the story.

About Saint Kotar

Saint Kotar was made by the Croatian studio Red Martyr Entertainment and published by SOEDESCO. It came out on Windows in October 2021, then on Mac and Linux, and on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S and Nintendo Switch in November 2022; the console editions include The Ritual, a free story chapter that is also on PC.

Benedek and his brother-in-law Nikolay, two troubled, godly men, arrive in Sveti Kotar, an ancient town devoted to God, looking for Benedek's missing sister Viktoria. The town is in the grip of something that preys on the weak, and the evidence ties Viktoria to grisly murders, devil worship and occult rites. The question the game keeps asking is whether you, too, are to blame.

You play as both men in turn, exploring hand-built scenes of the misty valley, its houses, church and castle, talking to wary townsfolk, collecting clues and solving puzzles. The game switches between two realities to get at the town's secrets, and your choices change both the story and what happens in play. Hidden locations and side tasks fill in more of the town's past. The Ritual adds about two hours as Viktoria on the night before the main story.

Its fear is slow and folkloric: hooded congregations, burning effigies, dark rooms and the sense that the faithful town is worshipping something else. It suits players of narrative point-and-click horror who like an occult mystery and do not need action.

How to play Saint Kotar

Click to move Benedek or Nikolay through each scene and examine what you find.
Talk to the people of Sveti Kotar and note what they say about the missing woman and the murders.
Pick up items, use or combine them, and solve each location's puzzles to move on.
Switch between the two realities when the game allows to reach what is hidden.
Choose carefully in conversations and events: your choices shape the story.

Screenshots

Saint Kotar screenshot: a woman in a long coat and a young man in a dim wooden room with a stone bust by the window

Saint Kotar screenshot: hooded figures line a stone bridge to a castle in the fog at night

Saint Kotar screenshot: a crowd gathers around a burning effigy in the square of a misty village at night

Tips

Explore off the main path: hidden locations and side tasks tell much of the town's history.
Play The Ritual, the free chapter as Viktoria, for the night before the main story.