Whispers Among the Poppies – a hand-drawn Ukrainian game about a child and war

This year, Ukrainian Games Festival 2025 is truly packed with announcements. Another game that was presented during the festival is the silent adventure Whispers Among the Poppies from the author of Shapik: The Moon Quest and Shapik: The Quest, Pavlo Podberezko from Rapid Snail Studio.

Whispers Among the Poppies is a hand-drawn narrative journey through the eyes of a child who experiences war and has the gift of communicating with the spirit world.

"During a full-scale invasion, a young boy flees the destruction and wanders through familiar, yet shattered cities — empty, broken, filled with silence and shadows. Alone, but not truly alone. Able to hear the voices of those who are gone, he tries to understand what happened, listening to thoughts that still linger in the air." - says the game description.

The game, which began as a project for the Ukrainian Narrative Game Jam, has no words or voices. Just footsteps, thoughts in bubbles without text, and silence, through which whispers of memory sometimes break through. The visual part of Whispers Among the Poppies is stylized as an emotional and naive children's drawing. The author of the game himself is an immigrant from the Zaporizhzhia region, so he understands what he is talking about.

Whispers Among the Poppies already has a demo on Steam, so you can try the game out for yourself. And of course, add it to your Wishlist if you like it. Or even better, recommend this game to your Western friends who don't understand what's going on in Ukraine.