Fighting Fire with, well... Fire – A ‘Little Inferno’ Review
By Owen Jones (Indie Game Pyromaniac)
I’ve literally just finished playing Little Inferno, and I
can confidently say it’s among the stupidest and strangest games I’ve played,
and that’s by no means a bad thing. Little Inferno is, as the title suggests, a
game about burning things, so if you don’t particularly fancy defacing property
or getting in trouble with the law then Little Inferno is a great way to satisfy
the pyromaniac within you. I have no idea who thought up this game or who
thought it was a good idea, but I’m damn glad they did.
Here’s a wacky trailer for a wacky game:
The trailer doesn’t show any gameplay so I’ll try to briefly
explain that now. Clicking and holding the mouse creates fire for you to burn things in
your 'Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace'. Items cost money and
take time to deliver, but do not fear you gain money and stamps by burning things
for reasons that are never fully explained, so you can buy more items to burn
and receive them faster. There are also combinations for you to find, adding a puzzle
element to the game. Though the gameplay gets very dull after two hours or so
watching things burn was more fun than I expected, and managed to keep my
interest for long enough to complete the game, though only just.
And that’s my primary criticism, the game gets very dull. It’s
trying to tell us something about video games, micro transactions and so
forth, and though this is interesting stuff it sacrifices a lot of the fun I
originally got from Little Inferno. Having to wait for the items to be
delivered before I could burn them was a pain, and though the stamps that speed
the delivery up lessen the blow they weren’t enough, and as a result I spent
many minutes waiting rather than playing.
Prometheus stole fire from the Gods so that Man might burn miniature scarecrows |
The game is surprisingly theme orientated. Consumerism plays
a huge part in Little Inferno, as does its critique of Video Games and its
effects, as I mentioned before. The plot is existent though not prominent until
the end. As you burn things letters are delivered from your neighbour or the
Weather Forecast reporting on how cold it is. The writing was often humorous; but never really laugh out loud
funny, though it broke up the gameplay well.
The game takes an unexpected twist towards the end, becoming
surprisingly charming and even heart warming (no pun intended). I don’t want to
spoil it to you but the gameplay and even tone of the game changes completely,
and in my opinion for the better.
Er, thanks... I guess |
The ending is terrific; it’s just getting there that’s the
problem. I appreciate what Tomorrow Corporation were trying to tell us, but there
was just too much grinding and waiting to get any real joy after the first few
catalogues of items.
And this is a
great shame because watching things burn is a lot of fun. The fire animations
are gorgeous and the developers have poured a lot of creativity into the items
and how they burn. Perhaps with more stamps or shorter deliveries I might have
appreciated all this a lot more, but as it was I was left merely smirking at
the game’s gags.
And the themes are interesting, and I can't help but feel they could have found a way of discussing them without all the grinding. As it is I feel the sacrifices to the gameplay are too great a price to pay, which is strange because I often disagree in cases like this. I think, however, that the general premise of the game is enough to convey the portrayal of consumerism, and though the delivering of items expands on this it isn't necessary and is just too long to wait between burning things (which really is a lot of fun).
Why settle for a bike or a pirate when you can have both? Because it's a stupid idea? Yeah, good point. |
But does it justify buying the game? Certainly not at full
price, currently just under £7 (around $11.50 or €8.50). Considering I got it
in a Humble Bundle it felt more like a nice inclusion than a full purchase, and
I’m not sure how I’d see the game if it were the other way round. Though that
Bundle’s long gone if you can get it in another bundle or in a particularly
good sale then it would definatly be worth buying, but not at full price. Don’t get me
wrong, Little Inferno isn’t a bad game, just rendered dull and repetitive by a few unnecessary mechanics. There are
defiantly some very good things in here, but these are unfortunately separated
by these mechanics.
You can buy Little Inferno from Steam or directly from the developers, Tomorrow Corporation. It's also available for the Wii U or your tablet/phone (which might work better than on the computer).
Generally good advice for life |
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