Little Inferno is one of those rare games that, upon reaching the title screen, offers you total reassurance that you are about to have fun.
Created by the team that offered us World of Goo (another indie marvel, as far as I'm concerned), the game's main attraction is a simple one, and certainly effective: Get some things and burn them. That barely sounds like a game, you might think, fleetingly, before you remember that fire has always had a very serious connection with our childhoods. Fire is one of the big dangers we're warned about even we're really too young to understand the concept of colours, let alone the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. So as a result, it wasn't often that we were given boxes of matches and told to go nuts.
Little Inferno gives us a box of matches and access to loads of items that are so much fantastic pixellated fuel. Not only that, but it fully ensures that neither we nor our loved ones nor our belongings will end up looking like melty-face-man and the meltlettes. It even throws in wonderfully characterful artwork and an immersive, sometimes moving soundtrack. And the sheer satisfaction from burning a stack of wooden Tetris blocks, a talking pirate doll and an exploding school bus together into a digital maelstrom of flames, detonations and a crackling "Ya-harr!" is unparalleled in casual gaming.
It's downright therapeutic. Especially as you progress and discover the oodles of objects you can set light to, not to mention some of the visually-gratifying Combos - little awards for burning certain objects together. For example, one of the first objects you're given is a little wooden doll that sings when you burn it. This thing fascinated me. And later on, I found another. Two hours later and I found the third one. The sheer glee was almost overwhelming. So I sat down and took a solid five minutes to put this together:
And that swiftly became this:
Oh, it was joyful to hear those little idols singing together as the flames merrily devoured their fragile wooden bodies. And the opportunities for rapid oxidation fun just go on and on!
But if I'm totally honest, it's the story that I love. There's no real plot to speak of, sure, it's just buy things and burn them, but what about the reason you're burning all these things? Why does The Tomorrow Corporation keep giving you money to buy more things to burn? Why IS it so cold outside? When will that mental girl stop sending me these horrifically misspelled, grammar-starved letters? What shall I burn next?
The dialogue for the few characters in the game is well-written, and somehow, despite the near-total lack of voice tracks (the Pirate and the Gentleman Adventurer toys don't count!), perfectly delivered. And it's actually delivered, too. Virtually all of the game's dialogue is composed of letters written from other Little Inferno characters who want to make sure you're staying warm. The idea seemed a bit frustrating during my first hour of play, but the way the advances in the story are done had me anticipating the next letter with all the enthusiasm of a slightly inebriated, overweight nerd on the wrong side of twenty-five, wearing a superhero t-shirt and playing what might be a contender for his new favourite video game.
It's way more enthusiastic than it sounds, believe me.
Little Inferno is a labour born of creative minds doing what they love and it shows. From the art style to the audio to the story and the gameplay, it's a beautifully crafted indie masterpiece. It is sweet and sinister, serious and silly, and I can do nothing but recommend it for anyone who appreciates a game that doesn't have a kill-counter or a number after it's name.
Anyway, I'd best be off to bed, so thanks for stopping by!
Love, Odsox.
P.S.
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