''Fireboy and Watergirl'' (stylized as ''Fireboy & Watergirl'') is a

puzzle-platform A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

video game series created by

indie game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

developer Oslo Albet and released between 2009 and 2021. The first four games in the series were released on the now mostly discontinued software platform

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...

and later converted to

HTML5 HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5) is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommend ...

Gameplay

''Fireboy and Watergirl'' is a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

game. Fireboy can be moved by using the

arrow keys Arrow keys or cursor movement keys are keys on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor (computers), cursor in a specified direction. The term "cursor movement key" is distinct from "arrow key" in that th ...

and Watergirl can be moved using the

WASD keys Arrow keys or cursor movement keys are keys on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor (computers), cursor in a specified direction. The term "cursor movement key" is distinct from "arrow key" in that th ...

. Fireboy can only go through fire whereas only Watergirl can go through water. If either Fireboy or Watergirl touch the opposite element, they will die and the level will have to be restarted. Green acid can kill both characters. Red and blue diamonds can be collected by players, and mechanisms like levers and buttons will have to be operated carefully in order for both characters to complete the level. Once a level is completed, a chart depicting how many diamonds were collected throughout the level will be revealed to the player(s), as well as their rank.

Development

Oslo Albet said that he developed ''Fireboy and Watergirl'' because he had "always found puzzle games to be fascinating". He finalized the

game mechanics In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics define how a game works for players. Game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide player actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, whi ...

before creating the characters as he was more interested in the gameplay. Albet said it was "pretty obvious" that he required two characters with opposing elements for the game to feel natural to players and designed Fireboy first before spending "quite a bit of time" finding the right design for Watergirl. After several changes, he designed Watergirl's "waterfall" ponytail to counter Fireboy's fiery hair. He added that when developing the story and characters he knew that they had to appeal to "boys, girls and families as a whole".

Release

The first game in the series, ''Fireboy and Watergirl in the Forest Temple'', was released in November 2009 on the software platform

and hosted on the online web portal

Cool Math Games Cool Math Games (branded as Coolmath Games) is an online web portal that hosts HTML and Flash web browser games targeted at children and young adults. Cool Math Games is operated by Coolmath LLC and first went online in 1997 with the slogan: "Wh ...

as the games' target demographic were people aged 10-15 years old. In June 2019, it was rumoured that Cool Math Games would be shutting down as Adobe Flash was set to be discontinued in 2020 but the company confirmed that they would continue to operate and Flash games. The games were later converted into

. The fifth game in the series, ''Fireboy and Watergirl: Elements'', was released on

Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...

on December 9, 2018, later on

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

on December 20, 2018,

Apple App Store The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be download ...

sometime in 2018 and

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

on January 24, 2019. The sixth game in the series, ''Fireboy and Watergirl: Fairy Tales'', was released on

on November 1, 2021.

Reception

''GamerBolt'' praised the pacing of the game by stating that the "too-easy" introductory levels did not take too long to complete before the game became more challenging. They stated that the game was "extremely well-executed" and there was a "decent number of levels" which meant the game potentially had several hours of gameplay. However, they stated that it did not necessarily have the complexity or the longevity to compete with other 2D platforming games such as ''

Spelunky ''Spelunky'' is a 2008 platform video game created by independent developer Derek Yu and released as source-available freeware for Microsoft Windows. It was remade for the Xbox 360 in 2012, with ports of the new version following for various ...

'' or ''

Super Meat Boy ''Super Meat Boy'' is a 2010 platform game designed by Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes under the collective name of "Team Meat". It was self-published as the successor to ''Meat Boy'', a 2008 Flash game designed by McMillen and Jonathan McEnte ...

''. Daria Paterek of ''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

'' cited ''Fireboy and Watergirl'' as a game that made her "fall in love with gaming" and praised the games'

replay value Replay value (or, colloquially, replayability) is the potential of a video game or other media products for continued play value after its first completion. Factors that can influence perceived replay value include the game's extra characters, se ...

as each new installment has levels of varying difficulty and takes place in a distinct setting such as a forest, a desert and during winter. Nicole Clark of ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'' described the game as a "classic" and said that playing it "feels like traveling back in time". Clark stated that fans of ''Fireboy and Watergirl'' had found characters in

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

's ''

Elemental An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsu ...

'' to be similar in design, though she said that elemental characters were not a novel idea citing ''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions, is an American animated series, animated fantasy television, fantasy Action fiction, action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino a ...

'' and '' The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl'' as examples.

References

{{reflist Browser games Children's educational video games Cooperative video games Fiction about the classical elements Indie games Puzzle-platformers Puzzle video games by series Video game franchises introduced in 2009 2009 video games