Why does this game get so much love?

[AlienHuntinYeti]

I just got through playing this and I gotta say, this was horrible. The gameplay is literally toss item in fire, collect slightly more coins than item is worth, order more items, repeat. This was pretty much what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting a wait counter for you to recieve your items, like I'm playing farmville on my iPhone or something (seriously, WHY). Then when you get your items and burn them, for the most part (with few exceptions) its not interesting or entertaining in the least. And the story is terrible as well. It's perpetually snowing and you're bored, so burn stuff. Then they try to force a lesson in about wasting time playing this game instead of following your dreams. Oh, and there's characters in it too, but the majority of them talk like a 12 year old texting their dialogue to you.

I don't normally come on here to rip into games that people enjoy, but I forced myself to play this piece of crap for 3 hours until I beat it, just so I didn't feel like I wasted $5 of the $20 my girlfriend gave me as a gift. I can enjoy games that don't have much gameplay, Monster Loves You! is pretty good for instance and it's nothing more than a choose your own adventure book. This game might have been salvageable if they took out the wait time and charged WAY less, but if you ask me $2 is too much for this crappy half-hour flash toy with more grind than most RPGs.

[Rem Sleep]

Well it's not even close to the really a hard-core game out there. I just play it when i feel like burning stuff to be honest.

[lunaleaf_]

It's more of a parody of said Farm Ville or other mobile iOS games. Just like spec ops to most modern shooters. It being on steam is a bit weird, as the price is higher and it doesn't reflect most of the games on steam. It does have a mobile version, which makes more sense to play because you can tell it is a parody of the games on the platform you are playing, be it iOS or Android.

The game is a narritive on how people waste time, looking at a screen. There are a lot of youtube videos out there explaining the game. When I was playing the game I was put into it, it felt mysterous and I wanted to see what was going on with the characters and the outside world. The wait times aren't that bad if you're getting all the combos and collecting the stamps, and saving them for the later items which do have quite a long wait time, just like most mobile games out there today.

I suppose it is just a different experence for everyone because I have friends that feel the same way you do. http://steamcommunity.com/app/221260/discussions/0/828923952195699872/ That discussion might help you out a bit, because I was confused too until I read the people talking there.

[AlienHuntinYeti]

That's the thing, I clearly get the point of the game. It's just that when the whole point of your story is "stop consuming and wasting your life staring at a screen" and you get the point across by getting gamers to purchase this overpriced garbage that forces you to wait and stare at a screen to play it, that is total BS. They parody the wait time of iOS games by... putting a wait time in this game? Then why is it on steam, and why would I have purchased this if I knew that was the case? No, the ending was just a final FU to make sure you know that you wasted your time and money playing this crap, and I am utterly shocked to know that there were so many gamers that needed this padded app toy to figure out that playing video games in general is an unproductive waste of time (and I'm saying that as a hardcore gamer who plays games almost daily). That's why it's called playing.

I sincerely feel that they could have gotten that point across without forcing you to wait (or use stamps) for the objects. Also, I forgot to talk about the combos, which I thought could breathe some life into this game at first. That is, until I figured out fairly quickly that the combos were just phrases that the developer made for you to figure out to artifically lengthen the game some more, and the combos do absolutely nothing different when on fire then when you use the individual parts by themselves. Seriously, I've played free flash games with this same premise that have more creativity. Games like this should be about making combinations and having fun with the fire physics, not waiting to use your items so you learn a lesson about wasting time.

And not to seem like I'm attacking you or anything, but I noticed a few people compare this to iPhone games like spec ops to modern warfare, and it infuriates me. Spec ops actually had a deep plot with some meaning behind it and was enjoyable as a game, this game shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Spec Ops. This game is the definitionition of pretentious.

[lunaleaf_]

Yeah I can understand where you're coming from definitly.

I think there was another part of the story that you might have noticed but I'll mention it anyways. The ending was mostly about dreams. "You can't go back" or "You can go as far as you want" I always thought these were talking about peoples dreams and motives. I could talk more about this but I think you get it. I feel like steam was a bad platform for this game to be on, and it prob should have just went to mobile and stayed. I'm not sure but did this game come to steam through greenlight? I will agree that this game is overpriced, I played it for free due to the steam family sharing because my friend got it in a humble bundle. I would have not have bought this game normally, and I didn't even buy it on my apple account. I think if you got this via the humble bundle along with other games and an extremely low price, then this game was worth it. But I do feel bad for you and others that bought this game full price expecting something amazing, and getting something that really should just be taken with a grain of salt and passed on. I do understand where you're coming from though, I don't think the waiting times were nessecary, I saw a couple that were just under 5 minutes and, I used the stamps, but I couldn't imagine playing the game without stamps. I would probably have spent an extra hour on the game just sitting there waiting to be honest. But if the stamps just bypassed the waiting time, and I never really ran out. I come to ask the same question as you, what is the point of the wait times even? I guess it is the developer's job to make sure the player invests time and likes their game, and this might have been a stab at that. But it wasn't really nessecary.

Spec Ops is definitly a completely different game and was an enjoyable game with depth. I think people compare Little Inferno to it just because, very loosely, it is based upon the respected genre and audience. Although it being on steam breaks this.

I do like this game, it made me think and was a little time sink from my terrible last week. But I'm not going to start it up again, and I'm not going to play it again. I know what happens, I've played it, I'm done. I'd be pretty angry if I bought it for full price like you and others did, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

It's definitly different, and maybe can even be called an experence over a game. As a simliarly hardcore gamer I can say that the lesson about productivity and the waste of time was not nessecary, I mean my hours on tf2 or other games show that. As a teenager and one who just apllied for their first job, the lesson of dreams and going as far as you can go but not coming back, took me back and made me think and it was nice and gave me a nice feeling. But thats really all I enjoyed from the game, the time sink, the waiting, the restocking time, it was all a little frustrating as I just tried to play through the game.

I can see where you're coming from and agree with you. I just hope you take the way I see it too into consideration. I think thats why people like this game so much, not the game, but the way it makes you think. It's just not for everyone.

[AlienHuntinYeti]

I get it, makes a little more sense now. I get a bit more invested in a game when I'm stressed too, and I know what it feels like to power through a difficult, time consuming, or even a just plain crappy game for a quick 10 second end and still have a warm feeling from the experience. I just couldn't recommend anyone actually pay for this, it was a total let-down. Thanks for sharing though, you made more sense of the positivity surrounding this game than I expected.

On a side note, these iPhone games should have to mention they were on an iPhone first. And... maybe retain their original price? Friggin scam artists, I tell ya.

[lunaleaf_]

Yeah thanks for sharing your thoughts too, it's been nice. I'm not sure the order of how Little Inferno released but I wish the prices were similar, its the same game after all. Although I know Superbrothers: Sword and Swordcery or something like that was a mobile game that came to steam, and is WAY overpriced on steam. It's quite crazy how they can get away with this

[nor333]

i played this game so much and had FUN. i liked the sword when it will play a tune. i only got stuck on the manly combo cuz the razor went crazy! so i just have to say,i love this game.

[ProgTob]

It's relaxing. You can FEEL the game while playing it.

[Αη Ιnτellecτual Tsiραr]

I got this game in the Humble Bundle as well and I still think it's garbage. I don't understand why people like this game when it wastes your time and then laughs at you for paying for it. The issue I have with this is that it doesn't even feel like a parady. What is the difference between this and a typical mobile game? One doesn't make you feel like ♥♥♥♥ for playing it.

[lexilogo]

The problem people seem to be pointing out is the fact that they interpreted the ending in their own way. I don't see that as being a problem. You either feel you came out with a important life lesson, or you feel terrible because you wasted all those hours and money on the game. Both are intended feelings the ending is meant to create. You can get angry about it all you please, but the fact remains the developers accomplished their goal, and that goal is something I personally enjoyed. Also, I'm not quite sure what you expected from the ending in the first place.

[Αη Ιnτellecτual Tsiραr]

Good point. I don't see the Holocaust as a problem either, because Hitler was just trying to accomplish his goals. Regardless of how many people were upset, you can't fault him for his unyielding determination. You can label him a villian or a man who did what he believed was right, regardless of what people thought of him. And really, so what if he wiped out a group of humans? We've caused numerous species to become extinct. What were people expecting the next level to be?

[nor333]

guys, it is a fuunnnnn game. you are not bored in thee gamee.noob.

[Dr. A Egon Cholakian]

Originally posted by a':

Good point. I don't see the Holocaust as a problem either, because Hitler was just trying to accomplish his goals. Regardless of how many people were upset, you can't fault him for his unyielding determination. You can label him a villian or a man who did what he believed was right, regardless of what people thought of him. And really, so what if he wiped out a group of humans? We've caused numerous species to become extinct. What were people expecting the next level to be?

so your saying that if I belive that killing all dogs in the world was right(which I don't)It is okay, no matter how may people lost thier pet? Plus hitler wiped out them people because he was looking for someone to blame thier loss on the first world war.

[Αη Ιnτellecτual Tsiραr]

Originally posted by qwe45:

Originally posted by a':

Good point. I don't see the Holocaust as a problem either, because Hitler was just trying to accomplish his goals. Regardless of how many people were upset, you can't fault him for his unyielding determination. You can label him a villian or a man who did what he believed was right, regardless of what people thought of him. And really, so what if he wiped out a group of humans? We've caused numerous species to become extinct. What were people expecting the next level to be?

so your saying that if I belive that killing all dogs in the world was right(which I don't)It is okay, no matter how may people lost thier pet? Plus hitler wiped out them people because he was looking for someone to blame thier loss on the first world war.

I'm not saying that it's okay, but that's you would be looked at favorable because you accomplished your goal. I'm just using the logic of the person I replied to.

[ArturaxNZ]

Let's be fair here - sometimes it's just fun to burn stuff. This game isn't going to appeal to everyone, so don't feel obliged to trash it in front of the world. For some of us though, it has a certain charm and pyromaniancal attraction that calls us to BURN EVERYTHING IN THE FRICKIN' CATALOGUE, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! X-D ... I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?