What makes a good game? This is something I think about a lot. Since I write about games, I have to try to tease apart this question. I can’t just write a ten-word review and say: “This is a good game.” Unless I included nude photos of Michael Fassbender, that wouldn’t be a review that would get much attention.

No, I need to explain a little better why I think a game is good or not.

After much thought, I’ve come up with a list of seven questions I ask about a game. Here they are:

• Is the game pleasing to look at?
• Does it create a world in which I want to spend time?
• Is the gameplay fun?
• Does the game have challenges that are fun to try to conquer?
• Does the game make me think?
• Does the game inhabit my imagination when I’m not playing it?
• Does the game have an intriguing setting and story?

To be considered a Good Game, the answer to at least four of these questions needs to be “Yes.”

Six “Yes” answers makes for a REALLY good game. I love recommending these games to you, Dear Reader!

Every now and then, there’s a game that gets a “Yes” answer to all SEVEN questions. And when that happens, I have to shout from the rooftops, “YOU MUST PLAY THIS GAME!”

Seven-Yes games are the ones that are the reason I’m a gamer.

And I’ve found one for you! 

It’s called Little Inferno and YOU MUST PLAY IT.

Developed by Tomorrow Corporation, the same folks who brought you World of Goo and Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, this little game will get under your skin in a big way.

The gameplay is simplicity itself. You order stuff from a series of catalogs. When an item arrives, you burn it in your new Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace. When things burn, they drop coins, which you collect, and use to…you guessed it: buy more stuff to burn!

The sheer variety of items you get to incinerate boggles the mind: Everything from framed photos to batteries to plushie animals to credit cards and much, much more.

Does that sound like a weird game play mechanic. I’ll admit that it does. But trust me when I tell you that it’s awesome. You’ll feel yourself turn into a Junior Pyromaniac as you gleefully set things aflame.

Of course, that’s not the only thing that happens in Little Inferno. You also can try to get rewarded for burning interesting combos of items. There’s a long list of secret combos you can go for.  Example: Burn corn and a television at the same time for the “Movie Night Combo” bonus. 

Also, sometimes the items have fun effects when you burn them. They explode. Corn pops into popcorn. My favorite: A toy school bus with toy children who scream when you set the vehicle on fire.¹

In addition to this stupidly addictive game play mechanic, the game also has a weird, creepy, unsettling setting and story which I won’t spoil here. You learn about the world mostly from letters you receive, from both the catalog company and from a mysterious neighbor. As the game progresses, you begin to wonder, “Why am I just sitting here burning stuff? What’s really going on?” 

The visuals in the game are fun and imaginative, and feature surprisingly realistic fire physics effects. 

The music is top-notch as well.

Little Inferno won’t take you long to play, but it’ll haunt you for a good long time. 

You can play the game on Android, iOS, Wii U, PC, Mac and even Linux!

Uncle Ray says PLAY IT!

Final Verdict: Play It! + Stupidly addictive gameplay mechanics.  + Fun and imaginative. + Top notch music.

 

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¹Yes, I probably need counseling.

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