A game about setting things on fire ay? To some of you pyros out there, this’ll be the perfect game to make time fly by, with virtualised fire being just as mesmerising as the real thing, but with no pain!
If you’d had given the pitch of a game where you can set things on fire, watch as items burn slowly and give coins after they demise, to a boardroom ten years ago, the executives in there would laugh you out of the room, claiming you were crazy and that it’d never make any money in a million years. Little Inferno is just that, but has been released in a time where it can be truly appreciated with the current indie renaissance. It’s a premise so crazy, you’d be surprised that Tomorrow Corporation could even make a game out of it, yet alone one with an intriguing and cute story.
The Fire physics are something else in Little Inferno. Flames slowly destroy everything in their path, reacting differently depending on the item they’re burning. A picture doesn’t do this core game mechanic justice.
You start off as the game means to go on: in front of a fire place called little inferno, sold to you by the Tomorrow Corporation (an in-game company that makes products of all shapes and sizes). Using coins collected from burning items, you can in turn buy more lavish items, creating different effects every time. It’s a perfect feedback system, which doesn’t require much thinking on the users part: you just spend the money, and watch the new animation/flame dynamic take place.
There is a story and a point to all of this burning though, which will become apparent the more you progress through the game. The world is freezing, with a Winter that hasn’t ended for years, and with no sight of it ending, everyone stays at home burning precious items to keep themselves warm. Notes will be delivered every now and then, giving context to whats happening in the outside world at that given time to ensure you remember there is a world beyond the fireplace. The notes are only a one way dialogue though, as you never get a chance to respond or reply, with your only feedback being to burn the letter itself, so expect quite a few jokes and childishness throughout this pleasant story.
Shopping for products is as easy as clicking the item you want, spending gold, then waiting for a given period of time for the item to be delivered. There are plenty of items to choose from, with each item giving more cash than it costs to purchase after being burned to the ground.
For a game based around burning house hold items, oh boy do they make the burning a joy to behold. The game could have been sold as a virtual screensaver years ago, with flames dynamically dancing across items in realtime, giving a different effect every time, leaving you with nothing but charred remains of what used to be a usable item.
The real beauty is in how Little Inferno manages to keep the game engaging after 4 hours of a main story. The answer is Items. Yes, all the items you can buy are all unique in their ability to burn. Some will statically burn, causing your flames to increase in size, whilst others will grasp for your attention, screaming dolls or coffee will always make me chuckle, but items that make your flames change colour or extinguish them altogether are certainly noteworthy.
Caesoose Studios 