Revealed this week at the Six One Indie Showcase, Kejora is set in a beautifully illustrated Indonesian village, steeped in folklore and local flavour. Alongside the announcement, developer Berangin Creative also released a free demo on Steam.
In our first look at the game, you play as Kejora, a young girl living in a peaceful village — until she starts reliving the same day over and over. Groundhog Day!
Naturally, the answers seem to lie in the mysterious forest everyone insists you don’t go into. So, of course, you do.
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The Studio Ghibli influence is strong in Kejora, with sweeping rice paddies, soft lighting, and painterly backdrops that feel alive. It’s the kind of game that makes you want to stop and take screenshots every few steps (which I did). The attention to detail is lovely — banana trees, a cat you can pet, and even a Rafflesia blooming in the undergrowth. The character names also feel authentic and familiar if you’re from or adjacent to Indonesian culture, which makes sense given it’s developed by local animation studio Berangin Creative.
Gameplay-wise, Kejora, ditches the usual WASD setup in favour of arrow key movement, and the mouse barely gets a look-in. Dialogue can be skipped entirely — a welcome feature for speed readers or those replaying scenes due to the game’s time-looping structure.
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In the demo, I helped cook a meal, solved puzzles with the help of Kejora’s friends, Jaka and Guntur. Between the two of them, they can clear hay bales, throw rocks (at ducks, no less), or boost Kejora over obstacles. The game has strong Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town vibes, with its linear movement and small-town charm — except unlike Shin chan, this one gets creepy fast.
The tone shifts dramatically after you discover a magazine on the occult — a very popular belief in Southeast Asia. Ghosts in forests are a given there. From there, the day resets, but things are not quite the same as before… Blood. Claw marks. The forest has changed, and a man has disappeared. Of course it has.
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Then comes the demo’s most unsettling twist: a massive, shadowy creature lurking in the woods. Think Spirited Away’s No-Face meets Malaysia’s oily orang minyak legends. Sneaking past it is surprisingly tense for a demo, and just as it’s about to catch us — it ends. Cliffhanger.
Does it get us? Do we escape? We’ll find out when the full game launches on September 4th.
In the meantime, Kejora’s demo is well worth experiencing. Just… maybe don’t follow the blood trail.
