Using two hands to control one hand xD Innovative!

The controls are really difficult but the game is pretty good :p

Interesting take on the theme! I feel like nothing I tried worked the way I wanted, but somehow I made a fire and listened to the tape :D. Good job.

Well this was more difficult than I thought. Blackened quite a few fingers, I've never played surgeon simulator but this is pretty mych how I imagined it. A tip for the itch page would be to lower the screen size of the browser game window, it would not fit my window and I had to scroll sideways to find the fullscreen button.

@leorid @jean-francois Thanks for playing! Yeah, the controls are clunky and strange - but I sorta like that - trying to convey that clumsy numbness of frigid fingers. The frantic grasping, dropping, and pushing to keep the sticks together and lit reflects the short story it is based on, and reminds me of my own feeble attempts when camping. A frustrating experience, but hopefully there is a smidge of fun in the frustration!

@devvex Thanks! Good for you - even keeping getting a small fire lit is quite difficult. Well done!

@bjornstahl Ah, thank you - sorry to hear that. I tried unity's dynamic resizing, but it is not completely straightforward, and unfortunately, it seemed just changing the size on itch crops the game rather than scaling it. Every jam is full of learning experiences!

Fullscreen is available if it helps!

Hey I really liked this! The casette is absolutely hilarious. Just like building a real fire, I'm horrible at it. But I got a big log burning. Hands died. Oh well. Good entry.

As others have pointed out, the controls are a bit difficult, but I think it definitely adds to the game. This reminds me of surgeon simulator from back in 2013. Well done!

the controls are a bit difficult. But the graphics are nice. Really creative concept. Well done!

@mrevilguy Thanks! Yeah I was just able to work the cassette in right at the end - maybe the only code that has ever worked first try! Lucky me

@matterlinx definitely surgeon simulator was an inspiration - another game I am very bad at, but is always a joy nonetheless!

@taran95 thank you! As a New Years resolution, I made myself use blender every day of 2021, and my speed has way increased. In the past, I would never attempt 3d for a game jam, this was my first. My models may not be very artistic, but all assets combined were made in, maybe, 45mins? In that way, the practice definitely paid off

Feature with hand rotation kinda useless, you can be perfectly fine with horizontal position of hand. Also fingers is overrated too.

Controls are difficult, but it was really fun to try and keep the fire going. Nice job!

I really like how this relates to the theme! Maybe I'm biased because we also made a fire-fueling game, lol. But really, I like the theming and I really think it's cool that you worked in some classic literature, it really enhanced the mood.

A lot of people are comparing to surgeon simulator, which I never played but I get the concept. I have, however, played QWOP, of which I was immediately reminded—both make you use more bits of your brain to keep track of things. The controls did get quite frustrating, but mostly due to webpage chaos before I found the fullscreen option. Still, quite difficult to master, though impressive enough considering the complexity and time limit.

Also, love the fabulous manicure :nail_care:

Well I found it quite difficult to play, at least to me xD. I think the controls are not comfortable and complicate the management, perhaps by simplifying that you can enjoy the gameplay much more. Since the difficulty can go on the other hand, due to the freezing time, to place the ingredients correctly, in a certain place and in a certain order. In general, it is very good, I think it can further polish the gameplay and improve the sensations, good entry!!


Love this! The sound is fab and Mike Vendetti is pro. I think that the controls are perfect for this- the clumsiness of the frostbite setting in before you notice. The story is fascinating as a hook. I love how I burnt up my matches accidentally. I will replay. Thanks for the great game!

Very difficult, but I guess that's the name of the game haha! I appreciate that you went experimental with your idea to accompany the short story with matching gameplay. Sitting by the fire listening to a short story about someone freezing to death is a big mood :laughing:. I think if grabbing things was a smidgen more forgiving, I would've been able to listen to more of the story. I ended up googling the rest of it haha!

I saw many games about fire at this Jam, but this one is unique! Good work! Controls are awesome!

@kro Wow! You must be a master of dexterity! Well done - I know it is possible to play without rotation, or even without grabbing (just pushing / scraping) - but I only could use it as a last resort, haha

@captainexpo @emaigualmc2-art yeah, haha, it is definitely a difficult and clumsy game - but you should know any ability to get a fire started is great work! Just learning how to operate the hand is the primary challenge of the game, and congratulations to anyone who is able to do just that!

@joemid @boxedmeatrevolution Thanks for playing, and well done! I myself was never able to use all of the fuel, and certainly never able to make it to the end of the cassette
(@boxedmeatrevolution - Makes me smile to hear you sought it out to listen in full - I remember when my S.O. first introduced me to the story, and now it is a favorite of mine)

@gardenovena yes, hearing QWOP makes me very glad - definitely the silly, strange rewiring of the brain I was going for. Also, I just played 'Against the Dying of the Light' - and you (and your team) are clearly masterful artists and designers. Sorta cool how we explored two very related but disparate experiences - just how different it feels to tend a fire in the intimate and hopeful pursuit of saving a beloved, versus simply staving off ones' own, lonely demise. Cool to see both things on display in a single jam (though, of course, I don't want to conflate my pilfering of Jack London with your amazing piece of original storytelling).

Also, yes- frostbite just helps to make the nail polish pop!

@gandelianna Thanks for the comment! The other day, I played (and loved) 'Star Keeper', and it makes me very happy to see you checked out mine!

(also you @gandelianna you and @gardenovena have a matching pair of names that would make, like, a badass swordwomman duo)

Oh, also @joemid - I don't know how I didn't see it first - you beat my high score! Funnily enough, I use more fuel, but never made it to the 15min mark - that makes you current world champ 💪 congrats king 🔥👑

@ugly-robot Our nicknames is a coincidence. But If we will meet in real life there might be that great duo, I'm sure^^

This is the first time I see so similar nickname, that's great)

I saw your comment for "Star Keeper" and decided to check your project. I'm glad to play your marvelous game!

Nice game, I thought the controls managed to be intuitive without being "easy", and I liked the variety of things to burn. The hints at the bottom of the screen were also nice. I wasn't very good at picking things up so I tried to push things around with my hand instead, but the physics were too soft to allow it, maybe that was intentional?

Haha very surreal, I did manage to get quite far before my fire went out. Loved the audio book experience as well great stuff!

Honestly, this game was too hard for me, fortunately I had a real gamer stream their gameplay via discord. That experience was completely different. While I tried to play it on my own, it was just frustrating, just like surgeon simulator and it's like. But by watching another person play, it was a relaxing experience. Like a ten-minute fireplace video with a nice calming audio track. The stacking of wood as not as smooth as I would demand of an ASMR game/video, but we can always get what we want :)
The psychopath hands did not make it calming either. I'm not sure what you aimed for, relaxing or frustrating, but you got it both ways :)

I had fun with this game, it was a very unique experience and a nice take on the theme!

Zen + Qwop + Crane Game. Calmly burning stuff is super relaxing and therapeutic. The manual control of ASDF+SPACE was silly and super sticky. Thanks for making something that made Friday at 4:15pm a lot better! I love your "ugly" explorations!

Nice game! The idea is very unique. The layout of the controls (the key mapping) is very thoughtful and fits the shape of a hand/the fingers very nicely. Picking up stuff feels a bit clumsy at times, but I think that's where a lot of the fun comes from^^ All together a very nice game and great accomplishment considering you developed this as a solo! :)

This game is really tough! took me a few tries to actually get any kind of fire going. I appreciate the inclusion of the cassette, it helps distract from all the lost fingers. The physics can be a little bit wonky and I would love to see a better indication that you can rotate the hand, but this was a really cool project!

@baconinvader Thanks for playing! Yeah, pushing is quite difficult, and although it could be used in a pinch, it serves to ramp up the difficulty as you lose your fingers. Wish I could have tweaked the physics more - but as with all jam games, never quite get the time to fine tune

@mechanicallife Thanks! And good for you! Really, getting any kind of fire lit is quite the task in this game, and must be commended

@landberglife haha that's very kind of you to be willing to watch another play - yeah, it is surprising that even in a frustrating game about dying in the cold - there is still something relaxing and satisfying about the crackle and glow of a campfire

@emmatw Thank you! Very glad you were able to enjoy it :smiley:

@panic (hah, what a good name) - thank you! Definitely hard to find the fun in a clumsy control scheme, glad you were able to adapt to it!

@kingofspill Congratulations on pushing through! Yeah, in many of my testing few playthroughs, I would die with hardly a twig scorched! Definitely appreciate the note on informing the player on hand rotation - it's too bad folks have to just randomly try it to discover, I undoubtedly should have included a note on l-click/r-click. A learning experience, and something I will make sure to include next jam!

Absolute chaos in the best way. After I got used to the controls (Not that I was actually good with them!) was feeling pretty good until I accidentally swiped a match alight and the amazing base for a fire I'd been working on had to be frantically thrown into the matches instead. Then did pretty well, managed to get most of the sticks aflame and then a few fingers which gave me a good laugh. Had a blast with this, normally I get quite frustrated with games like Qwop/Surgeon Simulator if I'm not playing with friends but I didn't feel that way with this for what it's worth. Great job!

Cool game! Great theming, really clever to have each of the fingers freeze/burn separately. Nice job!

Interesting concept - haven't played a lot of games from the genre and I think there are not a lot so I find it innovative! Yes, it is weird and wonky but it kind of feels right. Big ups for the effort, such a gem.

@dan-allison thank you so much for your comment! Makes me so happy to hear these tales of frantic flame tending - exactly what I was hoping for. :blush:

@animawish Thank you for playing! And thanks to my S.O. who tossed up with this great idea pretty much immediately upon hearing the theme.

@sopata Very kind of you to say - I always have fun experimenting outside my comfort area, and I learned some great lessons from this jam. That's what it's all about! Thanks for playing