MATRESHKA

Trapped in a Soviet apartment block with a nesting-doll monster

MATRESHKA is a first-person psychological horror escape game from solo developer Megame LLC. Players wake up in an elevator inside a maze-like old Soviet apartment building, exploring dim corridors lit by a match that blows out if they run, solving environmental puzzles, and evading a shape-shifting nesting-doll monster in order to escape. This review draws on an English review sample, 16 reviews at the time of research, rated Mostly Positive overall.

Praised repeatedly for tense atmosphere and sound design

The sample's most consistent theme is how effectively the game builds tension through its audio. "The game leans pretty heavily into jumpscares, and honestly, they're done well. The sound design adds a lot to that too, creating a tense atmosphere that keeps you on edge while you're moving through it," reads one review. A separate reviewer independently credits the same strength: "I have to commend the sound design, it is excellent and what makes the atmosphere pretty tense and scary, as you are always hear something new." This review treats that convergence as fair and meaningful: multiple reviewers independently crediting the same specific audio design as the game's biggest strength is credible evidence of considered, effective craft.

Praised for a genuinely unique monster concept

Reviewers also specifically credit the game's central threat. "The monster itself is a really cool concept. That nesting doll design is definitely unique, and when it starts chasing you... yeah, it turns into full panic mode pretty quickly," reads one review. A separate reviewer independently praises the game's broader setting choice: "I have a soft spot for Russian and Oriental horror games, and after finishing, i can tell, it will be memorable." This review treats that as fair: reviewers repeatedly crediting a distinctive monster design and setting, rather than a generic horror-game antagonist, as a genuine differentiator is credible evidence of real creative ambition.

Praised for impressive scope from a solo developer

This review also found specific, credible praise given the game's one-person development. "It is more a more than decent indie horror. It isn't perfect, but for the price and being made by one developer, it is well made... the monsters and the level design, is more impressive, as you really feel you are in that time period," reads one detailed review. This review treats that as fair: a reviewer explicitly weighing the game's quality against its solo-developer scope, and still crediting genuinely convincing level design, is a credible, well-qualified positive. A separate reviewer independently notes the same craftsmanship, adding that the game surprised them with genuine voice acting rather than obviously synthetic dialogue: "No A.I. slop detected and actual voices," reflecting a level of polish some reviewers didn't expect from a low-priced solo release.

A fair, corroborated complaint about unclear direction

Set against that praise, this review found a specific, recurring complaint about how little the game guides players. "There aren't many prompts guiding you on what to do next, and there were a few moments where on-screen text disappeared a little too quickly for me to fully catch it. That led to a lot of wandering around trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing," reads one review. A separate reviewer independently reports the same confusion, more harshly: "There isn't much of a story here because you just wake up in an elevator and kind of wander around with no direction." This review treats that as fair: multiple reviewers independently describing insufficient guidance as a genuine source of frustration, not just a stylistic choice, is a credible usability complaint.

A fair, corroborated complaint about a frustrating death-and-return loop

This review also found a related complaint about how the game handles failure. "If you die in this game it takes you to the beach and you have to walk to the elevator, press which floor you want to go back to and start over from there, no autosave any progression just start over... so it's just boringly waiting a lot in this game," reads one detailed negative review. A separate reviewer independently flags the same design choice, more mildly: "The way that the game handles death, while interesting, can make dying more annoying than it should be, but it isn't a huge issue." This review treats that as fair: two independent reviewers, with different overall verdicts, both identifying the same specific death-loop friction is a credible, corroborated complaint. This review also found a smaller, more specific complaint that some marketing material overpromises: two separate reviewers independently noted that scenes and screenshots shown in the game's trailer and store page don't actually appear in the finished build, one writing that they "were kinda disappointed that a lot of the scenes from the trailer were not in the actual game."

Achievement data corroborates a short game with hidden variety

This review's own check of Steam's global achievement data, across 13 tracked milestones, shows most players reaching the third and fourth floors, at 95.9% and 91.0% respectively, but a much wider spread across the game's apparent branching outcomes, from 45.0% for one resolution down to 14.4% for another. That gradient is broadly consistent with reviewer accounts of a short but surprising game, suggesting a meaningful share of players don't see every ending it has to offer.

Final verdict

MATRESHKA is a tense, atmospheric short horror escape game that earns real credit, especially given its solo development, for excellent sound design and a genuinely unique nesting-doll monster set within a convincing Soviet-era apartment block. This review found that praise tempered by fair, corroborated complaints about unclear in-game direction that leaves players wandering, and a frustrating death-and-return loop that several reviewers found more tedious than scary. For fans of short, distinctive first-person horror willing to tolerate some frustration, it's a reasonable pickup at its low price; players wanting clearer guidance or a longer campaign should temper expectations.