Fireside—Devlog 7, the Core Mechanics

Today, we’re finally explaining the core mechanics of Fireside’s gameplay to you. Fireside comes alive through its characters and their stories and is carried by its cozy, non-violent gameplay.

Fireside has three core mechanics: trading, cooking, and talking. First up is the bartering system, where the player can trade items with NPCs using a scale. The items have no specific value. Instead, each NPC has their own desires and ideas as to what each item is worth to them. This creates a sense of bargaining—instead of just paying for items, the player has more freedom when trading.

The second core mechanic is cooking. When players barter or travel to campfires, they receive mainly building materials and groceries. Groceries can be thrown in a wok and combined to create delicious food. Cooking also provides players with recipes that NPCs request.

The third important mechanic is talking to each other. At campfires, the player can talk to NPCs and learn about their wishes and needs. At times, the player can also select dialog options.

All three mechanics generate soul energy, which can be used to rebuild shrines and the player’s house. This is a rogue-lite loop. In the beginning, this loop felt punishing for players, as they constantly lost soul energy and were teleported back home. Now that you have a fixed number of days after which you return and try to gain soul energy instead of trying to survive, it no longer feels frustrating.

The three core elements, as well as the overall gameplay, are designed to create a relaxed and heartwarming atmosphere. The gameplay doesn’t cause stress through battles or other complicated mechanics. At the same time, it offers depth and variety. This mixture makes Fireside unique. There are hardly any games outside of the narrative genre that manage without a combat system.

This aspect of gameplay was crucial for Paul: Fireside should feel cozy. That’s why there’s no fighting and no currency, just a barter system where players can experiment. They aren’t forced to think in terms of maximizing profit. For CP, weighing items was also an important aspect. Trading with a scale feels different from haggling with money. Finally, Fireside’s cooking system gives players the opportunity to experiment with food without actually being forced to cook.