Should You Bare Your Soul in Fireside Feelings?

I recently realized that I hadn't bought or received review codes for any 2025 LGBTQ+ games. We are getting a Coffee Talk installment and a Boba Tea shop simulator, the latter of which is in Early Access on Steam, but for June 2025? We still have some queer fluff and comfort during dark times. Fireside Feelings, but indie developer Team Empreintes, just came out with 2D animation and feels, and you know how much I love an underdog.

Fireside Feelings is a game about trust. You collect memories and photos while talking about your lives. And maybe, just maybe, your faith in humanity is restored for an hour or so.

Quiet conversations

In the game, you meet a sentient campfire named Spark, who introduces you to different people...or, rather, you all choose a different animal persona and customize them accordingly. Spark then asks several icebreaker questions. We type in our answers, and in so doing learn about these strangers. When the conversation wraps up, we take a selfie and Spark expands our customization. More areas in the game unlock, allowing us to travel a digital landscape and schedule more fires.

Here's a twist: these people aren't NPCs. We also don't have any generative AI, thank goodness. Your conversation campfire partners are real individuals that have also bought the game. As the campfire explains, the game developers have recorded answers from previous players that bought the game and introduced a time delay, so no responses are in real time. Automatic and manual moderation goes through the answers to avoid bad actors. Everything remains anonymous and we get to keep talking.

Your conversation campfire partners are real individuals that have also bought the game.

Fireside Feelings presents reasonable boundaries. Settings allow you to filter out conversation categories that risk triggers, like drugs or specific trauma. You can adjust those settings as you go if a conversation topic becomes uncomfortable. In addition, you can leave the campfire if needed and return to it later.

I haven't verified if these moderation policies are real, but teams working with developers on Reddit have stated they intend the game to optimize safety. At the very least, the game having a price point means that no one can just download it and start trolling the system. You do have to pay for Fireside Feelings and say yes to the user agreement. These aren't hoops but reasonable filters, and we also get to compensate the developers for their hard work.

Since I was streaming the game and knowing the whole world could watch, I kept my answers short. My conversation partners told me more about their lives. I do admit that it's not a great streaming game unless you are completely confident in talking about your life outside of playing games.

Trusting strangers

Of course, there is the big question: can we trust the users and the game? We'll find out as a community grows around it. The game does have a link to send feedback to the dev team, and the game and Steam page both have a link to a community Discord. It's all about leaning back and diving into the pool of the unknown.

I've become a bit jaded about meeting people. Recently, I've experienced people I've known for ten years changing, and you don't know the signs that you missed. There was one time I tried a website that an ex recommended to me, where strangers could comfort you, and said stranger got into a fight with me.

Here is the contradiction: everyone needs other people. Even introverts like me. The pandemic made me feel stir-crazy, yet I thought I could handle being inside all the time. With that said, I've learned that you can't tell people everything. Baring your heart, even to someone you've known for a long time, can hurt all the more when they flip 180 degrees and stab you in the back.

The two conversations I had were eye-opening and relaxing. Individuals talked about their relationships with work and family. And yes, they felt comfortable saying "partners", so this is a game that is safe for LGBTQ+ players.

Here is the contradiction: everyone needs other people. Even introverts like me.

Maybe Fireside Feelings will restore my faith in people and prove good for my health. That talking bear, honeybee, or cat sitting opposite me is someone I don't know talking in a safe space but from a far distance. We can choose the topics and answer them accordingly. Even for playing only an hour, there were two conversations that made me feel good.

The only way to go is upward with simple icebreakers and insights.