Fireside Feelings Review

Anxiety-wise, sitting at a fireside and having an open heart-to-heart with someone else sounds nothing short of a nightmare to me, which is exactly why Fireside Feelings caught my attention. In this cosy title, developed by Team Empreintes and published by The CoLab, players won't do much else other than talk about (and listen to) deep subjects... except it's not live, and you'll never meet them. This title might stretch the boundary of what a "game" is, exactly; at its core, it's more of a therapeutic experience than any actual gameplay. You sit across another character around the campfire, and the flame (a sentient fire) prompts you with questions, kindling your writing spirit to get you to talk about a range of topics.

Upon booting the game, players get to choose their avatar from a handful of animals and then customise some of its aspects to make their own, such as colour and markings. While it's nothing overly fancy, it offers enough options that I was able to find one that could comfortably represent me.

But you don’t get to jump into conversation yet, as before anything begins, the game brings up a few topics that the user might want to avoid hearing about. This works as the first line of defence for those who want to avoid getting triggered, as others can mark the conversations they've had with them; there are quite a few, and they cover a large range of heavy topics, from drug use to animal abuse.

While there are several areas to go to, they’re not available immediately; players get to unlock them by having conversations in each one. There’s a varied selection to accommodate several likes; I, for example, really enjoy the ones outdoors in nature, but there are options for beaches and indoors, too.

The last step before conversation is to choose the topic, and like most features in Fireside Feelings, there are various options. I really appreciated this because I wasn’t always in the mood to talk about deep and emotional subjects, so I also dabbled in the more superficial ones, like food. During a day I was feeling particularly unstill, I quit mid-conversation to do something else, and when I returned, I was offered the chance to go back to it or move on. 

During conversations, players will watch their avatar interact with someone else’s, but the person isn’t there; they've already answered the questions, and they're not reading your answers. It makes them nothing more than an NPC with real and human stories to share, and although this sounds like it should be a bad thing, it's actually very liberating.

In a world where the "loneliness epidemic" is at an all-time high and AI has become mainstream and available, Fireside Feelings offers a place of respite. Whether it's because you get to tell your story anonymously without fearing judgment or because you get to avoid the anxiety part that comes with socialising, it's a breath of fresh air. You get to be selfish and ramble for as long as you please, knowing very well that the people who will see it won't have to read it, and they won't even get to respond... but it's out there, and someone else got to hear your story, and you get to hear others'.

The Steam page mentions that answers are moderated and filtered to ensure a safer place for everyone, and I think that's great... but not just to avoid players getting triggered. While playing, I realised how imperative it is for mental health to have a place where we can open up, pour out our feelings and thoughts, and find catharsis.

When I first bought Fireside Feelings, I expected a nice and cosy experience. Something akin to Kind Words: somewhere you go to make the world a better place and feel good about listening to others and sharing your story. I didn't expect it to be as relieving as it was. Aside from offering a place to release emotions and thoughts, the gameplay does a great job at cleansing the heart-to-heart from social anxiety and expectation. 

Thankfully, that doesn’t mean the interactions lose the humanity aspect. Because of some small yet meaningful details, like the subtle avatar animations that give them a positive and encouraging body language, you still feel like you’re spending time with people.

Another thing that initially worried me was the few that there might not be enough avatar options to feel like I was hanging out with different players, but the way Fireside Feelings allows us to customise our speech bubbles in subtle ways stopped that from being the case. I’m not just talking about choosing a colour, as each person gets to use the text animation to add emphasis or pizzazz to their words… or not. That alone makes its own distinction. 

In general, it’s quite comfortable to type in-game because you can't accidentally hit send before you're ready; you can type as much as you want and hit Enter to split your text into various speech bubbles, but it won't finalise until you click the little paper plane. Another thing I appreciated was the ability to edit the messages that had already been bubbled (though you can't edit them once you hit the send icon).

Of course, that's not all there is to Fireside Feelings. Every conversation finished will net a badge and a Steam achievement, sometimes unlocking decorations or new locations. Each place can be spruced up with the items unlocked by listening to others and sharing your story, and it can be changed endlessly without limits. The items sometimes stand out because they don’t match the same style, but considering it’s not a decoration game, it isn’t that big of a deal.

There's also a feature called the Adventure Diary, which keeps track of the achievements (called goals in-game) like a bucket list full of nostalgic doodles. It's not necessary to complete or interact with, but it's a nice addition for those who enjoy getting games to 100% or need guidance about what to do next.

For those who might want to revisit a previous conversation, there’s a section called Memories, which allows players to do just that, as well as enable whether the chat gets shared or not and add content warning labels.

I like to think that I am lucky; I feel loved, cared for, and seen by many. I feel lonely sometimes, sure, but I wouldn't say I am lonely. Despite how emotionally fulfilled I feel, I was surprised at how nice it was to just sit down and have a chat with the NPC-like humans. It was so special that I decided to take it slow and only visit when I'm craving that warm sensation.

Team Empreintes made something special with Fireside Feelings. It might not be for everyone, and it might barely be a game in the technical sense, but I think it has a place in the world, and it's a beautiful experience. If any of what I said throughout my review resonated with you, I really recommend picking it up. It's a cosy world that offers a gentle pick-me-up.