Hey there fellow firefighter-to-be's,
We are sooooo close - tomorrow is the day! Tomorrow Firegirl will finally be released for the PC. Before that, I'd like to tell you a little bit about how Julien and I (Hi, I'm Gabe! 😊) came to develop the game together in the first place.
It all started at Bit Summit in 2016. My wife had ended up at a booth, captivated by a roguelike game called Illumine made by some French guy named Julien. She insisted that I try it out and YEAH, it was really good! By the end of the event, I had shared drinks with the man and years later we would be releasing our project: Firegirl: Hack n’ Splash Rescue
Julien had been living in Japan for a few years with his wife when I met them. A phD in astrophysics, he was pursuing a new career in indie games while his wife worked at the university of Hokkaido. Julien created a game called Illumine, a roguelike game driven by player choice and audio queues. It had few art assets, but I found the experience really compelling. It was clear to me that he knew how to make a complete game with very few resources.
I had been living in Korea and working as an English teacher for several years, using all of my free time to try and find a good indie project to get involved with. Upon meeting Julien we began working together on a few demos, but those failed to materialize into anything worthwhile. We decided to go all in on one final demo: A cute pixel platformer about a fire fighting girl. We would give it a few months and see if the idea had legs.
It started as a simple pixel game, but we continued to add more 3D elements and more lighting effects. We created more detailed animations, and even played with a firetruck level at one point. As the concept expanded we had a good reception and we felt confident in following through with the project.
We took a lot of inspiration from classics like Mickey’s Magical Quest and the Firemen. There’s also a bit of Contra and MegaMan in there. We’ve been trying to thread the needle of making something that is action-packed but not too violent. Challenging but still accessible and fun. Serious, but not too dark. We ultimately made a childlike fantasy of firefighting with a noir twist. Obviously, you can expect a lot of cat-saving, hose-jump action, shady characters, and moody night scenes. And yeah, you can pet the dog! 🐶
As a roguelike, the focus is primarily on creating intense moment-to-moment gameplay. You will always keep your upgrades between runs even if you fail. AND YOU WILL FAIL (if you don’t then you’re much better at the game than we are 😂). Failure is a part of the experience, and you can jump back into another mission within moments. As you get the hang of the technique, your goal will move from surviving to achieving the elusive perfect mission. It’s a game you can pick up for a few minutes or a few hours and have a lot of fun with.
A lot has happened since we began making Firegirl: Hack ‘n Splash Rescue. Julien and I both became fathers, and in 2019 we received the IGN Japan Media Spotlight Award at Bitsummit. Due to the pandemic we have been stuck at home for long periods of time. Our lives hardly resemble what they were before we started this, and it’s hard to believe that we are releasing to the world in a few days!
It will probably take you about 8-10 hours to complete the story of Firegirl. But you can play it forever if you want. I have been playing it for nearly three years, and it still brings me thrills. We hope you will enjoy playing the game as much as we enjoyed creating it!
See you all at the start of your firefighting shift tomorrow! 🔥🚒
Gabe, Julien & the Dejima Team
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1608550/Firegirl_Hack_n_Splash_Rescue/