Review of “Chillin’ by the Fire”

Okay, so here’s a thing. I never thought I’d be the type to dig into these ‘job-like simulators.’ I mean, sure, I messed around with Power Wash Simulator for a few hours — no clue why it hooked me. Maybe it was the oddly satisfying jets of water cleaning grime, or maybe I was avoiding real work. Who knows. Anyway, when I heard about a campfire-building simulator, my first thought wasn’t “This genre is losing it!” Nope, it was “Wait, Oink Games is doing this?” Kinda blew my mind they’d jump into fire-starting. And let me tell ya, this game is actually kind of… scorching.

You might have heard of Oink Games? They’ve got titles like Scout and A Fake Artist Goes to New York. They’re Japanese, really nailing that clean, slick art style, thanks to Jun Sasaki and his team. Don’t make games like them anymore. Let’s Play: Oink Games on Switch and mobile — oh man, it’s been my go-to for multiplayer hilarity. Seriously, the amount of laughs I’ve had. Anyway — oh right — back to the campfire game.

Starting out, there’s you, a bunch of logs, and a single igniter. Like a showdown at high noon, but with kindling. Grab the logs with tongs (feels weirdly powerful) and chop ’em down. Bigger logs keep your fire going longer but take forever to catch. I found myself obsessing over log placement, twisting them with the buttons like a firewood Tetris — anyone else do that? You watch that fire spread, trying to keep it alive, meter ticking up and down. It’s chill, but tricky!

Now here’s where it gets fun. Playing this thing with friends — oh boy. It’s like DS Download Play’s wacky cousin, with video chat! Bringing a mate along without them owning the game? Genius, right? My buddy and I were stacking logs, bantering over life advice like “What would you tell your past self?” I mean, props for the conversation starters, game. Never thought a ‘fire simulator’ would spark deep convos. Plus, you get cool stuff for keeping the blaze alive. Weird items, too. Who needs a glow stick at a virtual campfire? Me, apparently.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect. Wish we had motion controls for precise wood placement. And sure, decorating with chairs and tents sounds fun, but they’re just for show. Once you’ve built your mega-fire, it’s pretty… relaxed. Zen, even. Like background noise. I left it on while catching up on shows. Multitasking at its finest?

So, who’d think a campfire game would be this extra — yet cozy? Oink Games tried something downright quirky here, and it works. I never imagined recommending a fire-making simulator in 2025, but hey, it lit something in me. Now I’m just waiting to see who speedruns this thing — gotta be some pyromaniacs out there thinking the same.