Fire Tonight is an indie title from developer Reptoid Games and publisher Way Down Deep. It’s set in a time where mobile phones aren’t available, cassette tapes are your custom playlist and CDs are still new. This charming throwback to the early 90’s is complete with neon colour schemes and synth tunes.
The game’s namesake “Fire Tonight” was inspired by the song of the same name by the group, Information Society. The lyrics and mood of this song are reflected throughout the story of the game, as well as the soundtrack utilizing its own synthwave tunes.
In Fire Tonight, a young couple, Maya and Devin are talking on the phone one night when suddenly the phone line goes dead. Maya sets out to find a payphone and discovers that there is a fire breaking out in the town all around her. Playing as Maya, you will have to puzzle your way through the town to find a safe path on the way to Devin’s house.
Various objects tell you quirky little stories, while keys and a cassette player will be valuable to your advancement. The controls are quite simple with only 2 buttons needed for interacting with objects and using the cassette player. Fire Tonight has an isometric view where you can rotate the level around to find pathways to new areas or spot objects that you want to pick up. The cassette player runs out of charge fairly quickly and you will have to rummage through trash cans to find more batteries to top it up. It’s quite important to keep the cassette player in working order to prevent yourself from getting trapped, so fill up whenever you can! If you do find yourself cornered, you can restart the level.
To mix it up, in between Maya’s levels you will have short intermissions of Devin waiting in his apartment. You can point the cursor at various objects for his thoughts on them, as he anxiously waits for Maya to safely arrive. In addition to the point and click style scenes with Devin, there’s lovely little 2D animated scenes in between the levels to help tell the story. Throughout the game is a vaporwave colour palette of blue, purple and pink that evokes that nostalgic feel of media from the 90s.
Fire Tonight is a short game that you should be able to finish in one sitting, which makes it great for busy adults that don’t have time for a long game, but it is also a good starting point for young gamers that are new to puzzle games, as it isn’t overly difficult. Overall, I found Fire Tonight quite relaxing to play and loved the visual style paired with the chilled soundtrack. With an easily affordable price tag, Fire Tonight is an enjoyable game that you should check out!
Fire Tonight available now on Nintendo Switch and PC via Stream.
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