There’s a softness to The Last Campfire that permeates everything it’s doing. From its main characters that look like knitted Jawa puppets, or the clay-like world that refuses to have any sharp edges, to the accessible, but satisfying, puzzles or the game’s heartwarming message.

This warm blanket of a game comes in the form of a timid fairy tale. Its creatures — allegedly inspired by Brian Froud, but really only retaining the more pleasant aspects of his work — are presented as towering versions of common animals with distinct personalities and intelligence, as if seen from a child's perspective, not informed by scientific knowledge. And they give most of the charm to a fairly dull backdrop, mostly composed by regular rocks, regular grass and regular dirt.

The allure that is lacking in the landscape is compensated by its interactive elements, that not only uses the platform it was primarily made for (the phone) to give weight and texture to your actions — something Chris Symonds and Steven Burgess probably brought from their Wii days —, but also seamlessly integrates (some of) the puzzles to the environment very elegantly (interweaving this with other puzzles that happen on isolateds screens, like Breath of the Wild shrines). That provides a good variety in types of interactions, but at the same time limits its complexity, as it is not building on a single idea again and again, the ceiling is lowered.

In that somewhat clunky way only video games know how, the puzzles here tell a simple but sincere tale of empathy as a source of hope against paralyzing fears, be of acceptance, the uncertain future or the inevitable end. It shows how those worries are shared among all of us, whether you are a shy sock puppet or a helpful robot, and are better faced together.


“It matters that we try”
“It matters that we fail”
“It matters that we hope”