When I saw the footage of this game on the latest Nintendo Partner Direct, I’ll admit that I was pretty well baffled by it. Really? A game where you’re just trying to build a fire? How is that a game? Well, as someone who has now spent time with it I’ll admit that I was wrong. No matter how simple it may seem, and no matter how many fires you may have actually made in your lifetime, somehow this actually works and can be fun… even if only for a while.

In terms of its economy of design, I can respect the fact that the game makes no real attempt at being more ambitious. There isn’t some greater purpose to it all, and you’re not given some complicated introduction, you’ll just be dropped into a campsite with some basic tools and set out to get your fire going. Using your hatchet you’ll be able to break down some bigger wood to make your kindling, then using your tongs you’ll be able to move your wood into place, and finally you’ll set off your firestarter and see how big you can make it and how long you can keep it going. 

Don’t be surprised if you fail initially though, since all of the wood is damp and you’ll really need to get a system going in order to ensure success. You’ll need to have wood in a variety of sizes, and placing wet pieces of wood close enough to the fire to help it dry out, without ruining what you have going, takes some care. Then, by keeping an eye on pieces that are dry and getting closer to lighting, you’ll need to begin getting things into position to get bigger and bigger pieces lit. It is truly a bit of a dance, since your burning logs will slowly run out, so you’re almost constantly having to stage the next pieces of various sizes to dry and ready to take over for the previous set and so on.

In order to keep you more engaged there are plenty of achievements to earn, whether for the size of the fire, how fast it got going, or even how few logs you had to chop in order to succeed. These will then give you currency for a store where you can get improved outdoor gear for your campsite, to help make it more cozy. Once you’ve gotten your fire to Level 10, you’ll then also have the option to try out another site… and in general they just get more challenging to deal with, so they’ll put your skills to the test. Much like all real-life sims, it won’t be for everyone, and to many folks this will likely seem like a waste of time. That said, as these sims go, this has an uncommon amount of charm, and doesn’t bite off more than it can chew. It knows what it wants to accomplish, does it well, and doesn’t try to over-extend itself. I appreciate that, and am looking forward to seeing what task can be effectively gamified next.