In this post, I will discuss how a game that is very mechanically simple and quite innocent in nature has a very profound message for the gaming community.
When doing some research regarding the game Little Inferno, I came across this quote from one of the game's creators, Kyle Gabler. In the quote he explains how
"We'd been noticing a trend of games that were like slightly interactive screensavers. Like a virtual aquarium. Or a virtual garden. And they seemed so obviously terrible, we thought it would have been brilliant if the developers had hidden a terrifying plot and genuinely great game just below the surface. And maybe only a few players would ever discover it. [...] We loved the idea of creating something that appears to be a silly casual game on the surface, but that gradually becomes a little self aware, maybe a little terrifying, and keeps going. A fireplace simulator seemed like a good, suspiciously simple, cover."
Being an individual who has played countless of these types of games before, I felt he was completely accurate on this new genre of casual games gaining popularity. Unlike games such as League of Legends, where players must set aside at last a half hour for a standard game, idle games can be played practically anywhere, at anytime, for any amount of time. As a result, these temporary cures for boredom end up taking far more time of every day than we even realize.
Little Inferno is a satire of such games. More than just poking fun at things like Farmville, Little Inferno takes an insightful look at what drives people to play games and how real life can be neglected due to how alluring interactive entertainment can be. The gameplay itself is rather simple: there is a virtual fireplace where you burn things. You order stuff from a catalog, throw it in the fireplace and get coins, for which you can order more things. The game itself even announces to you through a burnable letter that there are no points, no score, and no time limit.
However if the presentation and hook of a backstory are enough to keep you engaged, over time the story takes an unsettling turn in a couple of ways. Primarily, regarding the objects you burn. Things such as a school bus upon burning actually make the sounds of children screaming. Also, given the limited room on your screen, you cannot hold on to objects, forcing you to burn a picture of Sugar Plumps, an acquaintance you make, a family photo, and more. This leads me to believe the game makes the argument that if we are not careful, too much addiction to these idle games which don't do anything in real life for us will actually harm our real world relationships, with our children or loved ones.
Building off of this, in one of Sugar Plumps' letters, she challenges the character we play as (or maybe even ourselves) to turn our head, an action we cannot do while playing. When she goes on talking about a potential escape, that there is 'something else out there' and her house burns down, it is quite unsettling. In fact it seems as though she has died, yet we keep on playing with the same game mechanics. When eventually we figure out the way to burn our own house down by burning a certain combination of objects, only then can we reach the game's ending by exploring the outside world, where we are told Sugar Plump is now on a warm beach, we are reminded to dream bigger, and to look elsewhere.
Ultimately, this game is telling us to manage our own time better. It is not saying that video games are bad, or that playing them is a waste of time. Rather, I see it as a warning to always keep one's perspective, especially when playing very immersive games. So while many video games have the power to change the way we think about the world, we must be careful to not let them actually replace the good world we have.
The one aspect of this game I wish I could change, is that it costs money to download and play. I completely understand that game designers need profit to produce more or fund the project they created, however with such an important message to be shared, I wish it were possible to have this game be playable online for free, akin to We Become What We Behold. Or perhaps the cost of playing will help players stay engaged in order to find the ending and reach these important lessons.
Regardless, I found this game to be highly entertaining, and rather thought provoking!
I was also curious about why Tomorrow Corporation decided to charge players, as it seems to limit their potential customers. Though I agree that purchasing a game may incentivize players to “get their money’s worth,” I believe their decision relates to Little Inferno’s themes. In purchasing the game, players effectively buy into capitalism and its byproducts, particularly in regards to climate change and consumer culture. This transaction mimics how Phone Story critiques its own platform and reminds players that they are complicit in the abuses behind creating phones. By criticizing our current economy, Little Inferno prompts individuals to reimagine more just systems and question how we engage with capitalism.
It's an interesting observation that Little Inferno is a satire game of the idle games, since I have been playing them as well. The parallel between Little Inferno and idle games, both of which we stare into one place and earn coins by just clicking, reminds me of the ending of the Little Inferno, which implied that we are missing our social life and chance to be outside the house because of such games.
I agree with your premise that Little Inferno is a satire on video games that seem to make us forget or neglect the real world. Little Inferno shines light on the harmful nature of immersiveness which a topic that is rarely discussed. While we typically tend to equate the success of video games to our ability to be immersed within the game, Little Inferno provides a contrary viewpoint about immersion and warns us about how our beliefs and ideologies can be easily susceptible to what we see on the screen in response to the buttons that we press.
After playing Little Inferno, I wholeheartedly agree with this observation translating to the overall mobile gaming movement that has glued people to there hand held smartphones. And I think that the symbolism of fire is especially important given its importance in human history. I also think that the game serves a cathartic purpose for the player, a release and process of destruction that could also add to the commentary of how this very pursuit for technology may lead to our end.